Frank Q. Fu

Motivating Salespeople to Sell New Products: The Relative Influence of Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Self-Efficacy

This research explores the relative influence of salespeoples attitudes toward selling a new product, perceptions of subjective norms, and self-efficacy on the development of selling intentions and, ultimately, the success of a new product launch. The longitudinal study employs a nonlinear growth curve model that leverages survey data from industrial salespeople and objective performance records of their daily sales during the first several months in the market of two new products: a new-to-market product and a line extension. By examining salesperson-level variance on new product performance, the authors suggest that managers should focus on increasing salesperson self-efficacy and positive attitudes toward selling the product to build selling intentions and quickly grow new product performance. They also suggest that sales managers should resist the temptation to rely on normative pressure during a new product introduction. Not only are subjective norms less effective in building selling intentions, but they also diminish the positive impact of attitudes and self-efficacy on salesperson intentions and constrain the positive relationships between intentions and performance and self-efficacy and performance.

The Motivation Hub: Effects of Goal Setting and Self-Efficacy on Effort and New Product Sales

This study examines the effects of goal setting on salesperson effort and new product sales. Employing the motivation hub’s theoretical framework, company-assigned goals (i.e., quotas), self-set goals, and self-efficacy are modeled as antecedents to selling effort and new product sales. To investigate the model, longitudinal data were collected from 143 industrial salespeople and combined with objective data from company records. The strength of this multisource, longitudinal data set allowed several important time-dependent relationships to be tested in the model. Seemingly unrelated regressions were employed to address the unique challenges the data provided. Results from the analysis reveal evidence of a nonlinear relationship between self-set goals and effort. Specifically, salespeople expend more effort as goal levels increase up to a certain point. Beyond this threshold, selling effort decreases as goal levels increase. The study also indicates that self-set goals fully mediate the relationship between assigned goals and selling effort. Finally, the longitudinal data indicate that company-assigned goals, self-set goals, and selling effort all positively influence future new product sales. Interestingly, the results of the study fail to confirm an inverted, U-shaped relationship between assigned goals and effort which opens up further questions for future research. Both theoretical and managerial implications are discussed based on this new evidence.

Effects of Salesperson Experience, Age, and Goal Setting on New Product Performance Trajectory: A Growth Curve Modeling Approach

Based on survey data from 314 industrial salespeople, this study sheds light on the growth trajectory of a new product in the first 15 months after its launch, a critical period of new product success. A growth curve model was estimated using SAS Proc Mixed and the findings indicate that new product performance grows nonlinearly during this 15-month time frame. More importantly, salesperson-level factors significantly influence the new product performance growth. Specifically, the salesperson experience has a positive impact, whereas age has a negative impact on new product growth trajectory. These findings underscore the importance of effective alignment of the sales force in selling new products.

Product Innovativeness, Customer Newness, and New Product Performance: A Time-Lagged Examination of the Impact of Salesperson Selling Intentions on New Product Performance

In this time-lagged study, we illuminate the role of the sales force in new product introductions by examining the impact of salespeople’s selling intentions on new product performance. Survey responses from 439 salespeople selling one product and 362 salespeople selling a second product suggest that salespeople’s selling intention is a key mediating variable. In particular, product innovativeness has a positive impact and customer newness has a negative impact on new product performance. However, both variables work indirectly through salespeople’s intention to sell new products. We conclude with managerial implications of our fi ndings and directions for future research.

Information Search and Purchase Patterns in a Multichannel Service Industry

For many consumer service industries, it is critical that marketers understand the segmentation implications of online information search. The potential migration of consumers from “brick-and-mortar” to “bricks-and-clicks” offers a unique perspective on multichannel strategies. This research considers how competitive forces, availability of consumer information, and the changing role of traditional channel structures (e.g., sales agents) might affect the search and purchase phases. In the context of the automotive insurance market, this research found significant differences in search preferences, benefit/cost perceptions, demographic characteristics, and psychographic characteristics among four information search segments. Key distinctions were identified between single channel and multichannel auto insurance consumers.

The behavioral consequences of service quality: an empirical study in the Chinese retail pharmacy industry.

This study focuses on the impacts of service quality and examines the mediating effects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty on willingness to pay more. The authors collected survey data from 479 actual retail pharmacy customers in China and used the structural equation modeling approach to test the hypotheses. The results reveal six dimensions of service quality and the differential impact of these dimensions on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring the dimensionality of the service quality construct and mediating effects of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in a non-Western setting.

The Role of Affective Brand Commitment on Sales Effort

This research delineates the effects of salespeople’s affective brand commitment on their brand sales effort by proposing an integrated model incorporating the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Motivation, Opportunity, and Ability (MOA) Theory. Using survey data collected from 136 field salespeople, the authors demonstrate that affective brand commitment not only positively influences sales effort, but also mediates the effects of salespeople’s attitude, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation on brand sales effort. The study also identifies an interesting three-way interaction effect of affective brand commitment, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation on sales effort. These results provide important implications for sales managers to develop appropriate sales force recruitment, sales training, and coaching strategies in order to improve sales performance.