Antecedents and consequences of adaptive selling confidence and behavior: a dyadic analysis of salespeople and their customers

Personal selling is thought to be a very effective marketing vehicle. The notion of adaptive selling suggests that it should work better than any other means of communication because salespeople are able to develop a unique message for each customer. This research proposes a model of key antecedents and consequences of adaptive selling. In particular, we distinguish, measure, and model the attitudinal and behavioral aspects of adaptive selling, something that is encouraged but not thoroughly examined in the literature. Hypotheses are tested using data from 210 salesperson-customer dyads. The results indicate that a salesperson’s perception of the firm’s customer orientation has an effect on adaptive selling behavior through the salesperson’s adaptive selling confidence, role ambiguity, intrinsic motivation and customer-qualification skills. Adaptive selling behavior increases salesperson’s outcome performance, customers’ evaluations of satisfaction with the product and with the salesperson, which enhance customers’ anticipation of future interactions with the salesperson. The implications for management and theory are discussed.     

The impact of product market strategy-organizational culture fit on business performance

Drawing on the organization theory literature concerning configuration theory, competing values theory, and fit assessment methodologies, we examine the existence and performance impact of product market strategy–organization culture fit. Specifically, we assess the relationship among three important elements of a firm’s product market strategy and the four cultural orientations that comprise the competing values theory of organizational culture using primary and secondary data from the US trucking industry. Using two different conceptualizations and operationalizations of fit, our results provide the first empirical support for the existence of interrelationships among product market strategy decisions and organizational culture orientations consistent with configuration theory conceptualizations of product market strategy–organizational culture fit. We also find support for theorized but previously untested relationships between product market strategy–organizational culture fit and firms’ customer satisfaction and cash-flow return on assets (CFROA) performance. Since product market strategy is heavily reliant on the input of marketers, and organizational culture has long been recognized as having an important impact on marketing-related decision making, these findings have important implications for marketing strategy research and practice.     

The influence of involvement and product class quality on consumer choice sets

The study findings suggest that the level of response involvement (high versus low) and the variability of product class quality (high versus moderate versus low) influence the size of the consumer’s choice set. By manipulating product class quality the authors show that as the variability in product class quality increases, consumers reduce the number of brands they will consider purchasing (evoked set) and increase the number of brands they won’t consider (inept set). They also use the response involvement variable a priori to categorize the (sample) population. The results indicate that, as the variability in product class quality increases, the high response involvement groups form smaller evoked sets and larger inept sets than the low response involvement groups.     

Satisfaction with international marketing channels

This article examines factors leading to a firm’s satisfaction with its marketing channels. The authors build on existing studies of consumer satisfaction and the channels literature. They add a transaction cost factor and use the discrepancy model to examine the determinants of satisfaction. Findings from a survey of Canadian exporters show that a firm’s domestic performance, its previous experience, the uncertainty it faces, and its ability to change channels and monitor channel operations all provide significant explanations for management satisfaction. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto. His research interests are in the areas of international marketing, channels of distribution, and marketing strategy. Professor Klein has published articles in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, andJournal of Marketing Research, andInternational Marketing Review. He received his Ph.d. degree from the University of Toronto. His research interests are in the areas of new product development, satisfaction research, and retailing. Professor Roth has published articles in theJournal of Marketing Research, theServices Industry Journal, andInternational Marketing Review.     

Learning effect in multinational diffusion of consumer durables: An exploratory investigation

Literature reflects that a product/technological innovation introduced later in a country results in faster diffusion as the consumers in the lag market have an opportunity to learn about the new product from the consumers in the lead market. A systematic understanding of the learning that takes place between consumers in two countries—a pair of lead and lag countries—can provide insights for a firm’s international market entry decisions. To provide a richer understanding of the underlying structure and patterns that govern this process, propositions linking factors (country characteristics, product/innovation characteristics, and time lag) to the learning process are drawn. Subsequently, these propositions are tested through an empirical investigation of the diffusion patterns of four consumer innovations in multiple European countries. The findings help provide some preliminary guidelines for manufacturers regarding selection of foreign markets and the timing and order-of-entry decisions. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Houston in 1995. His research interests include global competition and marketing strategy, brand equity and brand extensions, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, and issues pertaining to product development and introduction. He has been recognized with numerous teaching and research excellence awards and has published numerous articles in many scholarly journals in marketing and forecasting. He has coauthored the textbookMarketing Research and is currently working on a book titledInternational Marketing Research, which is based on his marketing research experience across the globe. He is on the editorial review board of many journals and has lectured on marketing-related topics in various universities worldwide. His research interests include developing forecasting models, international marketing strategy and research issues, models for sales promotions, and new methodologies for product positioning and market segmentation. His research interests focus on marketing strategy and international marketing. He has published articles and presented at conferences on research in his area of interest.     

Examining the influence of control and convenience in a self-service setting

The constructs of perceived control and convenience have been identified in previous qualitative studies of self-service technology (SST) use as important factors; yet empirically their effects are relatively unknown. Based on the theory of planned behavior, this study explores how control and convenience perceptions influence customers’ utilitarian (speed of transaction) and hedonic (exploration) motivations for using an SST. In addition, we explore how trust in a service provider influences customers’ future SST intentions. Two studies were undertaken to assess both users and nonusers’ evaluations of an SST. The results revealed that perceived control and convenience do impact the intentions of customers to use an SST in the future; however, their impact was mediated through the constructs of speed of transaction, exploration, and trust. Increased control and convenience perceptions influenced exploration, trust and speed evaluations, which in turn were associated with stronger perceived value, higher SST satisfaction judgments, and increased SST usage intentions. Managerial implications stemming from the empirical findings are discussed along with directions for future research.     

Assessing the predictive validity of two methods of measuring self-image congruence

The predictive validity of two measurement methods of self-image congruence—traditional versus new—were compared in six studies involving different consumer populations, products, consumption settings, and dependent variables (brand preference, preference for product form, consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction, brand attitude, and program choice). The traditional method is based on tapping the subject’s perception of product-user image and the subject’s perception of his/her self-image along a predetermined set of image attributes and adding the self-congruity scores across all image dimensions. Three problems were identified and discussed in relation to the traditional method: (1) the use of discrepancy scores, (2) the possible use of irrelevant images, and (3) the use of the compensatory decision rule. The new method is based on tapping the psychological experience of self-congruity directly and globally. The findings demonstrated the predictive validity of the new method over and beyond the traditional method. His research interests are mostly in self-concept, quality of life, and systems theory. His research interests are mostly in pricing and product quality. Her research interests are primarily in family decision making. Her research interests focus on the social psychology of clothing and patronage of clothing retailers. His research interests are mainly in the social psychology of travel and leisure behavior. His research interests are mainly focused on self-concept, quality of life, environmental marketing, and sports marketing. His research interests are mainly in self-concept and value-expressive advertising. He is the Academy of Marketing Science Distinguished Professor of Business and is the founder of the Academy of Marketing Science. He currently serves as the organization’s executive director. His research interests are mostly in consumer behavior and advertising.     

How does product program innovativeness affect customer satisfaction? A comparison of goods and services

This article attempts to provide deeper insights into the link between the innovativeness of a company’s offered goods/services and customer satisfaction. This study proposes an inverted U-shaped relationship between the innovativeness of the offered goods and customer satisfaction. For the innovativeness of services, information economics and services marketing literature indicate an inverted S-shaped relationship. Two separate studies conducted for goods and services confirm the proposed nonmonotonic effects of the investigated relationships. Both studies use dyadic data from marketing managers to assess innovativeness and from customers to indicate customer satisfaction.     

Strategic fit to resources versus NPD execution proficiencies: what are their roles in determining success?

This research examines the roles of strategic ‘fit’ versus execution proficiency in creating superior performance for new products. Specifically, we compare main effects versus moderation effects models of execution proficiency within a resource-based view (RBV) framework. Four new product success dimensions are outcomes. Marketing ‘fit’ and technological ‘fit’ are viewed as resource fit advantages and are antecedents in the model; marketing versus technical execution proficiencies relate to the project’s execution. The results show that the proficiencies-as-moderators model is the better fitting one; marketing but not technical proficiency is the key moderator. The results regarding resource fit advantage show that (1) both marketing fit and technological fit were positively related directly to profitability and to new product advantage; (2) marketing fit had direct positive effects on customer need met; and (3) neither marketing fit nor technological fit predicted speed. Concerning execution proficiencies: (1) technical execution proficiencies led to higher profitability and customer needs met, as well as speed; and (2) marketing execution proficiency was the only construct that led directly to increased success on all four dimensions examined in this research. Overall, support was found for the general premise that both marketing and technological resource fit advantages and marketing and technical execution proficiencies are significant predictors of new product success factors, with marketing proficiencies having additional moderating effects on the relationship of resource fit to performance.

An empirical analysis of spokesperson characteristics on advertisement and product evaluations

This article reports the results of an experimental investigation of the influence of a communicator’s characteristics on respondent’s evaluation of an advertisement when the communicator is in the role of a spokesperson. Specifically, the author assesses the impact of the physical attractiveness, sex and race of a spokesperson, the sex of the respondent and product advertised on respondent’s attitude toward the advertisement, and respondent’s perceptions of the advertised product. The results presented indicate that the effectiveness of the factors mentioned are dependent on the specific objective of the communication. A main effect of physical attractiveness was noted on a subject’s attitude toward the advertisement, on perceptions of product quality and intent to purchase. The sex of the communicator impacted on a subject's perception of product quality and interacted with the race of the communicator to effect the intent to purchase variable. Race was shown to effect the subject’s perception of product quality. A main effect of the sex of the subject was noted for the cognition variable.     

Consumer creations of product meaning in the context of African-style clothing

In this article, the author conducts a multisite ethnography to examine how US consumers construct product meanings and assign them to African clothing worn in different consumption settings. Contextual product meanings both emphasize the changing role of the consumption setting and reveal the consumer’s use of place. A model emerges from the data to show that consumers establish contextual product meanings through the use of interpretive frameworks, or meaning domains, and that the consumption setting influences this process by affecting consumers’ use of meaning domains and their selection of potential influences on that meaning.     

A customer perspective on product eliminations: how the removal of products affects customers and business relationships

Regardless of the apparent need for product eliminations, many managers hesitate to act as they fear deleterious effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Other managers do carry out product eliminations, but often fail to consider the consequences for customers and business relationships. Given the relevance and problems of product eliminations, research on this topic in general and on the consequences for customers and business relationships in particular is surprisingly scarce. Therefore, this empirical study explores how and to what extent the elimination of a product negatively affects customers and business relationships. Results indicate that eliminating a product may result in severe economic and psychological costs to customers, thereby seriously decreasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. This paper also shows that these costs are not exogenous in nature. Instead, depending on the characteristics of the eliminated product these costs are found to be more or less strongly driven by a company’s behavior when implementing the elimination at the customer interface.     

Creating commitment and loyalty behavior among retailers: what are the roles of service quality and satisfaction?

As a result of weakening brand image/loyalty, little differentiation, and intense price competition, manufacturers are now increasingly pressed to ensure retailers’ shelf space and/or salesperson attention. This research contributes to the literature by empirically examining an underrepresented body of literature in the B2B context—retailer loyalty. Specifically, this study fills a gap by investigating retailer evaluations of the technical and relational dimensions of a manufacturer’s order fulfillment service quality as predictors of retailer satisfaction, affective versus calculative commitment, and ultimately loyalty behavior. Results suggest that both technical and relational order fulfillment service quality influence satisfaction, which in turn positively affects both affective and calculative commitment. By separating the affective and calculative dimensions, loyalty behavior is associated directly only with affective commitment. Further examination reveals that relational order fulfillment service quality has a direct impact on affective commitment. When the sample was split based on “share of wallet,” results suggest that satisfaction impacts both affective and calculative commitment, regardless of “share of wallet.” For “high share” retailers, the positive relationship of calculative to affective commitment creates an indirect route (through affective commitment) by which calculative commitment affects behavioral loyalty.     

The impact of customer satisfaction on CEO bonuses

In this study, we build on prior research in marketing and executive compensation to show that customer satisfaction is a significant determinant of CEO bonuses. Findings demonstrate that the success of CEOs in managing customer satisfaction has a direct, personal, and economic impact in the form of their annual bonus awards. Our study contributes to research on the use of customer satisfaction information, marketing accountability, and marketing’s board level relevance. Our research also extends marketing theory by pointing to a previously unexamined role for marketing performance metrics.     

Heterogeneity in sales districts: Beyond individual-level predictors of satisfaction and performance

This article examines the influence of heterogeneity within a sales unit on the unit’s satisfaction and performance.Sales unit refers to a set of salespersons working out of the same office and for the same supervisor, andheterogenity refers to salespersons’ dispersion or variance on key dimensions. Specifically, drawing on theories in social psychology, the authors study the influence of sales unit heterogeneity in terms of (1) demographic characteristics (e.g., gender dispersion), (2) skills and rewards (e.g., reward dispersion), and (3) goal orientations (e.g., learning orientation dispersion) on a sales unit’s performance and job satisfaction levels. The hypotheses developed are tested using data from a study involving 476 salespeople belonging to 105 sales units in a large organization. The authors find that the focal heterogeneity variables account for nearly 25 percent of the total variance explained by the full set of independent variables included in the model. R. Venkatesh is an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business. His articles on product bundling, cobranding and sales force management have appeared or are forthcoming in theInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, andMarketing Science. Goutam Challagalla is an associate marketing professor at Georgia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Texas at Austin, where he won the Outstanding Dissertation Award. He has published articles on sales management and marketing theory in marketing and psychology journals. Ajay K. Kohli is Isaac Stiles Hopkins professor of marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. During 2000–2001, he is on leave from Emory and working at the Monitor Company. He has published in several journals on market orientation, sales management, and organizational buying behavior.     

The effects of expertise,end goal,and product type on adoption of preference formation strategy

The global preference formation model identifies several preference formation strategies (i.e., own-based, other-based, or hybrid) that consumers use to select among alternative product offerings. This article examines how consumers’ expertise level (novice vs. expert), their end goals (satisficing vs. optimizing), and product type (search vs. experience product) collectively influence the preference formation strategy likely to be adopted. Results from an experiment indicate that the adoption of a given strategy is influenced by interactions between subjects’ expertise level and their end goals and the product type. Novice satisficers employed a higher proportion of own-based strategies than novice optimizers, but expert satisficers used a lower proportion of own-based strategies than expert optimizers. When compared to novices choosing a search product, novices selecting an experience product used a lower proportion of own-based and a higher proportion of other-based strategies. Similarly, when compared to experts choosing a search product, experts selecting an experienced product used a lower proportion of own-based strategies, but this was accompanied by a higher proportion of hybrid strategies. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Her current research interests include consumer choice processes, electronic decision aids, and measurement issues in marketing. His research interests include consumer information search, marketing communications, and measurement issues.     

Developing global products and marketing strategies: A rejoinder

In this issue of JAMS, Dr. Lyn Amine presents a “comment and an extension” to our previously published article. Such efforts are often constructive, and in this spirit, we present a discussion responding to Dr. Amine’s comments. Our response, combined with Dr. Amine’s comments, hopefully will provide constructive research avenues in international product and marketing strategy development. He has published extensively in the areas of international marketing and retailing. His research and publication areas include international marketing, high tech marketing, and advertising management. His research and publication interests include sales management, international marketing, and retail management.     

The role of customer service in determining customer satisfaction

Most consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction research is focussed either on identifying product classes and personal/usage characteristics associated with dissatisfaction, or is focussed on modelling the psychological processes underlying the phenomenon. Most retailers, on the other hand, focus only on handling customer complaints. This paper focuses on retailer controllable sources of customer dissatisfaction. Findings from a large scale Canadian survey of 982 cases of recent automobile buyers show that while there are some differences in the determinants of consumer satisfaction among four different car models, it is the dealer-related factors that exert the greatest effects. Specific implications are highlighted for the retailer’s attention and possible retail responses are discussed.     

A longitudinal assessment of change in sales force turnover

The utility of salespeople’s job stress, perceived fairness, job satisfaction, thoughts of quitting, job comparison, and intention to quit for differentiating individuals who remained in the job from those who left was investigated by using a discriminant model, to anlayze data from two points in time. A model that employed residualized gain scores fromn=96 salespeople, was evaluated as were separate discriminant models for both data points. Change in salespeoples’ intention to quit discriminated effectively between sales force leavers and stayers. Intention to quit at the second time period was useful for classifying leavers and stayers. While the study design may account to some extent for the findings, these findings cast doubt upon the utility ofchanges in sales job incumbents’ job stress, job satisfaction, thoughts of quitting and job comparison predictors of voluntary turnover.     

Materialism, status signaling, and product satisfaction

The consumer satisfaction literature has not, for the mos part, integrated individual values into the product evaluation process. Yet a comprehensive understanding of consumer satisfaction can best be attained by including both consumer and product factors. To demonstrate the usefulness of including individual values, this research focuses on one consumer value, namely, materialism. The authors empirically explore how this individual value is linked to consumers’ evaluations of products they have purchased. Using surveys, the authors collected data from a sample of college students (n=211) and a sample of adults (n=270). Across these two studies, using divergent samples and products, they find consistent evidence that materialism is negatively related to product satisfaction in product categories with high potential for status signaling, but unrelated to product satisfaction in product categories with lower potential for status signaling. The consumption goals that produce these product evaluations are empirically addressed Jeff Wang (jianfeng76@yahoo.com; PhD, City University of Hong Kong) is an assistant professor of marketing in the Faculty of Business at the City University of Hong Kong. This work was conducted when he was a doctoral student of marketing in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. His research interests include social networks and consumer behavior, consumer satisfaction and well-being, materialism and consumption meanings, and consumer interests and public policy issues. His dissertation studies credit card debt as a socially embedded phenomenon and investigates how consumers leverage their interpersonal ties as they accumulate and repay their debt. Melanie Wallendorf (mwallendorf@eller.arizona.edu) is Soldwedel Professor of Marketing in the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. She holds an MS in sociology and a PhD in marketing from the University of Pittsburgh. Her articles on the sociocultural aspects of consumption have been published in theJournal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Advertising and Society Review, Addiction, Journal of Macromarketing, andAmerican Behavioral Scientist, among others. Her coauthored article on “The Sacred and Profane in Consumer Behavior” won theJournal of Consumer Research Best Article Award in 1992. Her research has been featured in theWall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, American Demographics, andFortune, and has been funded by the Marketing Science Institute, the Arizona Disease Control Research Commission, and the Office of Earth Science at NASA.