Relationship Development in Selling: A Cognitive Analysis |
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| Authors: | Gerrard Macintosh Kenneth A. Anglin David M. Szymanski James W. Gentry |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Gerrard Macintosh is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Manatoba. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He holds BS and MBA degrees from the University of North Dakota. His primary research interests are the cognitive and relationship aspects of sales performance.;2. Kenneth A. Anglin is Associate Professor of Marketing at Mankato State University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has published his work in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, the Journal of Business Research, the American Marketing Association Summer and Winter Conferences, and at the Association for Consumer Research. His primary research interests are concerned with the determinants of salesperson performance.;3. David M. Szymanski is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Texas A. &4. M. University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his dissertation received the American Marketing Association's Best Dissertation Award for 1988. His work has been published in a variety of journals, including the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research. His primary areas of research interest are sales management, marketing strategy, and international marketing.;5. James W. Gentry is Professor of Marketing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He obtained his DBA in Marketing from Indiana University. He has published in a range of journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, and the Journal of Marketing. His research interests lie in behavioral decision theory, cross-cultural consumer behavior, and family decision making. |
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| Abstract: | Recent research has suggested that trust and relationship-building contribute to the effectiveness of salespeople. This paper reviews the literature on the cognitive selling paradigm and the influence of knowledge structures on the relationship-building process. Next, two recent studies (Anglin 1990; Szymanski 1987) which investigated knowledge, relationship development, and sales performance are reviewed. The findings from these studies imply that a fundamental difference may exist in the manner in which higher and lower performing salespeople perceive the selling process. Higher performers placed greater emphasis on establishing “trust” and also preferred to find out information about the prospect before reciprocating with information about themselves. Lower performers, on the other hand, preferred to disclose information about themselves before obtaining personal information about the prospect. |
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