Lucette B. Comer

Women And Transformational And Contingent Reward Leadership: A Multiple-Levels-Of-Analysis Perspective

This study provides a multiple-levels-of-analysis investigation of transformational and contingent reward leadership and outcomes involving female leaders. We tested multisource data from male and ...

Active Empathetic Listening and Selling Success: A Conceptual Framework

This paper expands on past conceptual models of listening and delineates the attributes of effective listening in the sales encounter. It argues that the most effective level of listening combines empathy with the techniques of active listening. Empathy is defined as the ability to discern another persons thoughts and feelings with some degree of accuracy and involves listening on an intuitive as well as a literal level. A set of propositions is posited that describe how active empathetic listening can facilitate the personal selling process. Suggestions to improve the quality of salespeoples listening are given.

Relationship between situational variables and purchasing in India and the USA

Explores the universality of Belk’s concept of situational variables in their relationship with consumer purchase within two different cultures. Considers the relationship of five empirical dimensions with two measures of consumer purchase behaviour. The five empirical manifestations of the situational variables were included in surveys conducted in India and the USA. The empirical dimensions of the situational variables (frequency of shopping visit; the usual time of day for shopping; travel time; time spent; and number of companions) were all statistically significant when comparing India and the USA with respect to shopping behaviour (purchase of food or beverage and purchase of other products). Includes examples of how marketers might influence consumer situations within the Belkian framework in order to modify purchase behaviour.

The Top Ten Sales Articles of the 20th Century

The dawn of a millennium brings reflection on accomplishments and progress over the prior century. A common exercise is to identify the “best of the best” in a variety of fields of endeavor (e.g., music, science, art, or literature). In this article we identify the “best of the best” in academic research concerning sales management and professional selling. We conducted a survey of practicing sales academics to identify the “Top 10” sales articles of the century. Each of these articles is briefly reviewed, with attention to its purpose, content and contribution. A citation analysis was also conducted to validate the expert opinion rankings. In total, the results present an intriguing perspective on the accomplishments of the sales academy and its progress as a scholarly community.

Gender Differences in Attitudes Toward Women as Sales Managers in the People's Republic of China

The present study promulgates a research stream in the area of understanding womens position in the management of the Chinese sales force. The study investigates attitudes toward women as sales managers held by Chinese salespeople. Male salespeople consistently rated the female sales managers lower than did female salespeople on three sets of attitude items. This finding indicates the presence of male resistance to women in sales management positions.

Sex-Labeling of Selling Jobs and their Applicants

AbstractBy use of the Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), students were classified in terms of their self-described sex-role personalities (e.g., masculine, feminine, or androgynous) as well as by their relative career interests in each of five distinct selling positions. Results revealed a strong desire on the part of the female students to invade male-dominated selling strongholds. But the reverse was not true. The findings are generally predictive of the broadening of the scope of interests of female graduates seeking entry positions in selling.

Demographic, Situational, and Shopping Comparisons of Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Mall Patrons

This study compares Hispanic and Anglo patrons of an upscale mall. The Hispanic respondents were younger, with higher household incomes, than the non-Hispanics. Fewer of the Hispanics, however, had college educations. There were significant differences in situational variables associated with the two groups. Although the Hispanics spent more time traveling to the mall, they spent less time in it. More Hispanics also tended to come with companions. Furthermore, Hispanics shopped more intensively: visiting more stores, more purchasingfood or beverage, and spending more money than the non-Hispanics.

Gender differences in the response to unfair prices: a cross‐country analysis

Purpose – The research questions are whether there is a difference in how men and women respond to unfair prices and, if so, whether this gender difference extends across national cultures. Is the difference due to nature or to nurture? This paper aims to answer these questions.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses scenarios to conduct a survey‐based analysis of the effects of gender and country on responses to personally and socially unfair prices.Findings – The results indicate that the response to price unfairness is due more to nurture than to nature. Although American females tend to be more sensitive than men to price unfairness, there is little or no difference between men and women in Germany and South Korea: both sexes there react negatively to an unfair price, particularly when the seller has acted unjustly.Practical implications – In the USA, the gender difference in response to unfair prices suggests that different pricing tactics should be used for men than for women. However, since ma...

The Use of Instrumental and Expressive Personality Traits as Indicators of a Salesperson's Behavior

This paper examines the applicability of personality traits to specific selling behaviors. Significant correlations were found between instrumental and expressive traits and instrumental and expressive behaviors characteristic of selling jobs. The degree of congruence between the managers evaluation of instrumental and expressive traits and the salespersons self-perceptions was examined. Much of the evidence supported earlier reports of incongruity due to consistently higher self-ratings. However, rescaling and collapsing the seven response categories into dichotomies improved the agreement dramatically. The implications for the evaluation of salespeople are discussed.

The two components of a fair price: social and personal

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to isolate the effects of personal fairness (the consumers evauation of the magnitude of the price) and the social fairness (the acceptability of the price given the social norms of the society).Design/methodology/approach – This research adapted the scenarios used in the pivotal fair pricing study conducted by Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler. To demonstrate the difference between their results and the results when personal and social fairness were separated, the analysis replicated that of Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler.Findings – The paper finds that an individuals self‐serving concern for a personally fair price is moderated by their other‐serving concern for a socially fair price.Research limitations/implications – This research demonstrates that there is a significant difference in the personal and social fairness of price, whether it is a price for goods, wages or rents.Practical implications – Sellers, employers and realtors can benefit from the knowledge that pr...