Trips and tips for negotiation self-defense: Forewarned is forearmed

Continued attention in both the popular and academic press regarding negotiation and the related concepts of influence and persuasion is nothing short of astonishing. The topics on which we focus in this article, however, are rarely—if ever—vetted in such outlets. We venture, with some measure of caution, into the dark side of negotiation: those tactics that may be duplicitous, unethical, and unprincipled. Such tactics provide a quintessential moral hazard, as they are both brutally effective and rarely illegal. It is not our intent to provide a treatise on unsuitable behavior. Rather, our objective is to establish that no one need be victimized by such behaviors, as all of these tactics are avoidable. It is in this spirit that we provide some guidelines on self-defense in a negotiation context to avert and attenuate the consequences of these behaviors.     

Sales Quota Plans: Mechanisms For Adaptive Learning

A vexing problem in managing sales forces occurs when the sales manager does not know the characteristics of a sales territory. In this paper we show how sales quota-bonus plans can be optimally used to learn about unknown territory characteristics over a multiperiod horizon. We demonstrate this process in two scenarios—one in which the sales manager and the rep are symmetrically informed about the territory characteristics, and the other in which the rep is better informed than the manager. Overall our analysis underscores the importance of Bayesian techniques in sales force management.     

Benchmarking sales staffing efficiency in dealerships using extended data envelopment analysis

This study presents an approach to benchmark dealer performance in a business-to-business setting through a rigorous efficiency analysis of sales staff allocation. Using a series of basic and extended data envelopment analysis (DEA) models on data collected from a survey of self-reported financial and statistical information, this research assesses dealer efficiency and compares the efficiency scores to traditional financial benchmarking. Findings support the minimization of outsourcing services that are customer interactive and highly specific to a transaction to differentiate the dealer from its competition. Integrating the results from DEA models, manufacturers obtain a comprehensive view of allocating sales staff to increase dealer efficiency and generating a complementary approach to traditional financial ratio benchmarking in determining best practices to other dealers.     

The effect of media,product and message factors on ad persuasiveness: the role of affect and cognition

The effects of media, product and advertising strategy variables on consumers' thoughts and feelings are investigated. Both direct and indirect paths from the advertising variables to ad persuasiveness measures are also analysed with the indirect paths leading through affective and cognitive responses. Two hundred and forty television and magazine ads are analysed with respect to advertising variables, affect, cognition and ad persuasiveness. Results indicate that advertising variables are indirectly linked to ad persuasiveness with the indirect path occurring through affective and cognitive responses.     

The Use of Persuasion Management Strategies by Identity-Vulnerable Consumers: The Case of Urban Heterosexual Male Shoppers

This paper investigates the relevance of Kirmani and Campbell’s [Kirmani, Amna and Margaret C. Campbell (2004). “Goal Seeker and Persuasion Sentry: How Consumer Targets Respond to Interpersonal Marketing Persuasion,” Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (3), 573-582] typology of persuasion management strategies to one group of identity-vulnerable consumers, heterosexual urban male shoppers of grooming and fashion products. Our informants use seeker strategies to refine their conceptualizations of heterosexual masculinity, or to gain expertise. In addition to the seeker strategies Kirmani and Campbell identify, our informants employ three new seeker strategies and use previously identified sentry strategies as seeker strategies. We offer theoretical and managerial insights for those interested in the shopping behavior of vulnerable consumers, and more specifically, heterosexual urban male shoppers of fashion and grooming goods.     

The impact of sales encounters on brand loyalty

Gaining and sustaining brand loyalty is a key challenge in increasingly competitive markets. Many marketing researchers as well as practitioners emphasize the critical role of the interpersonal interaction between the customer and the salesperson in influencing customer satisfaction, generating favorable brand attitudes and strengthening the bond between the customers and the brand. So far, empirical research that investigates how sales encounters impact brand loyalty by enhancing customer satisfaction with the sales encounter is lacking. Using data from 154 dyads of customers and salespersons of a large automobile brand, this study shows the perceptions of both the customer and the salesperson regarding the impact of sales encounter performance on satisfaction. Sales encounter satisfaction, in turn, leads to brand loyalty by enhancing brand attitude and salesperson loyalty.     

Motivating industrial salesforce with sales control systems: An interactive perspective

This research examines the interactive effects on industrial salespeople's intrinsic and extrinsic (I/E) motivation of outcome control, activity control, and capability control above and beyond their main effects. I/E motivation are disaggregated into their cognitive and affective dimensions. Moderated regressions using a sample of industrial salespeople find that (1) outcome control and capability control have positive interactive effects on task enjoyment and recognition seeking, (2) outcome control and activity control have a positive interactive effect on compensation seeking but a negative interactive effect on task enjoyment, and (3) activity control and capability control have a negative interactive effect on recognition seeking. Moreover, we find that compensation seeking has a stronger positive effect on sales performance when salespeople deal with more new customers whereas the opposite is true for challenge seeking; compensation seeking appears to elevate job satisfaction only when there is a lower percentage of new customers but the positive effect of recognition seeking on job satisfaction is enhanced when salespeople handle a higher number of new accounts. These findings offer important theoretical and managerial implications by providing compelling evidence that sales control interactive effects should be considered when studying relationships among sales control systems, salesperson motivation, and job outcomes.     

Effort or timing: The effect of lump-sum bonuses

This article addresses the question of whether lump-sum bonuses motivate salespeople to work harder to attain incremental orders or whether they induce salespeople to play timing games (behaviors that increase incentive payments without providing incremental benefits to the firm) with their order submissions. We find that lump-sum bonuses primarily motivate salespeople to work harder—a result that is consistent with the widespread use of bonuses in practice, but that contradicts earlier empirical work in academics.

Selling and sales management

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrcst.htm), almost 14 million Americans are employed in sales or sales-related jobs. Many organizations derive their entire revenue stream from the efforts of salespeople. As part of the domain of marketing, the academic study of selling and sales management is relatively young. Consider that the Journal of Marketing has been published for 70 years, while the Journal of Marketing Research has been in publication for 43 years (www.marketingpower.com). For its part, the specialized journal in selling and sales management, The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, has been published for just 26 years. Therefore, while there are a great many widely-used and studied models in the field, there is still much to be learned about this topic. As highlighted in this article, the research published in 2006 indicates the range of interesting and relevant work being conducted in the area.     

Do consumers still believe what is said in online product reviews? A persuasion knowledge approach

The objective of this paper is to examine the effects of knowledge about manipulated online product reviews on the effectiveness of such reviews in influencing consumers' product evaluations. The results of two empirical studies show that consumers clearly differ with regard to their knowledge that product reviews can be manipulated and that consumers who have such knowledge are less influenced in their product evaluations by reviews, specifically by negative ones. Furthermore, the effects of negative reviews are even weaker when consumers acquire their knowledge through a highly credible source (compared to a less credible source).     

All pain,no gain? Why adopting sales force automation tools is insufficient for performance improvement

The dawning of the 21^st century brought a wave of research into the phenomenon of sales force automation (SFA)—technology tools aimed at enabling sales organizations to better practice customer relationship management. While the academic literature has offered great insight into how an organization can increase the likelihood that its sales force will adopt a new technology system, a great majority of research stops there. This is unfortunate in that companies mistakenly infer that use of an SFA system is the major hurdle and that simply motivating SFA use will be the key to unlocking improved performance. However, this is often not the case; many organizations are able to get their sales force to use an SFA system but do not see improvements in performance. As such, after briefly providing an overview of the factors affecting SFA use, this research provides insight into why use alone may not contribute to long-term improvements in a firm's sales performance. Key empirical findings and theoretical arguments from the extant literature are considered and a list of best practices is offered here to help managers bridge the gap between SFA use and improved sales effectiveness and efficiency.     

Persuasion knowledge and consumer reactions to pricing tactics

The current research investigates consumer knowledge of the pricing tactics that marketers frequently employ and the effects of that knowledge on responses to various price offers. In the research, a series of studies were conducted to develop and validate a knowledge measure designed to assess pricing tactic persuasion knowledge (PTPK). Consistent with the persuasion knowledge model, individuals with higher levels of PTPK were shown to have more knowledge-related thoughts regarding pricing tactic information than those with low levels of PTPK. Additionally, pricing tactic persuasion knowledge was shown to be more predictive of consumer choices regarding quantity surcharge offers and purchase interest evaluations following exposure to tensile claim offers (e.g., “Save up to 50 percent Off”) than several competing constructs.     

Sales associate's appearance: Links to consumers’ emotions, store image, and purchases

Within the context of S–O–R framework, we examined whether consumers linked aspects of sales associate's appearance to their emotions, to the store's image, and to their purchases. Data was collected from undergraduates (n=65). Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire immediately after completing a shopping trip for apparel, shoes, or accessories in a specialty or department store. Participants noted being influenced by associate's appearance as reflected in their appearance-oriented comments and their evaluative comments. Associate appearance cues referenced by participants varied depending on whether participants were asked about their emotions, store image, or their purchases.     

The different faces of coupon elasticity

Coupons account for over two-thirds of all consumer promotional efforts initiated by the manufacturers of consumer goods. In this study, the impact of coupons on brand sales is investigated and how that impact decays over the life of the coupon is demonstrated. Specifically, we present an econometric model that can capture coupon effects in terms of equivalent price reduction, account for coupon effects over time, allow inference of coupon effects when retailers decide to double or triple the coupon value, and provide both self-coupon and cross-coupon elasticities at different levels of aggregation. A widely used sales response model is adapted, and an analytical model is proposed to estimate both the self-coupon and cross-coupon (face value) elasticities of sales at the store level. From the store-level elasticity estimates for a given week, the authors analytically derive the coupon elasticities for the chain level by aggregating across stores, and over the life of the coupon by aggregating over time. The proposed sales response model is estimated with the data obtained from three markets for various product categories, and the coupon elasticities are computed. The proposed framework allows one to demonstrate the hypothetical equivalence of a shelf-price reduction for a given coupon face value in each week. Also, the effect of doubling the face value of a coupon results in more than a proportionate increase in elasticity. The authors find that both self and cross-coupon elasticities are much smaller in magnitude than the average self and cross-price elasticity measures reported in the literature.     

Stay positive or go negative? Memory imperfections and messaging strategy

This paper studies the optimal mix of message content in elections while explicitly accounting for voters' memory imperfections. We build an analytical model of a political contest between two candidates facing an election with an electorate consisting of supporters, opponents, and undecided voters. The candidates take decisions on advertising sequence and content (positive vs. negative). Our model explicitly considers the role of memory processes, in particular decay (the idea that memories fade with time) and rehearsal (the idea that accessing a memory eases its recall,) that crucially affect how effective ads are in influencing choice. The model yields several interesting insights: (a) when both candidates have low initial support, they invest only in positive messages; (b) when both candidates are endowed with high initial support, their messaging strategies take a “pulsing” shape involving negative advertising accompanied by positive advertising; (c) when one candidate has low initial support while the other has high initial support, the former adopts a “pulsing” strategy while the latter adopts only positive advertising. Furthermore, we show that a candidate with low initial support facing a candidate with high initial support responds with a messaging strategy bunched with negative content towards the end of the election cycle. Our model's predictions are shown to find empirical support in a dataset assembled from 2016 U.S. Senate races.     

Bringing meaning to the sales job: The effect of ethical climate and customer demandingness

Top performing salespeople are attracted to organizations that provide opportunities to make full use of their abilities. Responses from 1450 sales directors from a leading direct selling organization were used to examine salesperson's experienced meaningfulness. Results show that experienced meaningfulness is critical to sales because it impacts salesperson's performance, turnover intentions and felt stress. Further, ethical climate and customer demandingness influence experienced meaningfulness perceptions.     

品牌故事蕾铺的思路与方式

当前,品牌营销面临严峻的形势,信息的海量和媒体环境的复杂多变。特别是社会化媒体、移动互联网的出现和飞速发展,品牌的信息被碎片化,甚至彻底被粉碎,传统的营销方式面临巨大挑战。故事营销作为一种新的品牌营销方式,极具故事性、感染力与沟通力。本文提出了品牌故事营销的四种思路与方式：1．擅用故事的力量;2．让梦想照进现实;3.营造独特体验;4．激发情感认同。