Subhra Chakrabarty

The Selling Orientation–Customer Orientation (Soco) Scale: Cross-Validation of the Revised Version

In a study on the measurement of customer orientation of salespersons, Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan (2001) proposed a shorter version of the 24-item selling orientation–customer orientation (SOCO) scale developed by Saxe and Weitz (1982). This revised version is a 10-item scale, where, the selling orientation and the customer orientation dimensions are measured by five items each. Thomas, Soutar, and Ryan claimed that their version of the SOCO scale is reliable and valid, and the reduction in items from 24 to 10 will reduce response fatigue and acquiescence bias. Further, sales researchers can incorporate the ten-item SOCO scale in larger studies with other constructs. Our study attempted to cross-validate this revised version of the SOCO scale in a business-to-business setting. The results established the generalizability of the revised scale.

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Reilly's Role Overload Scale:

In 1982, Reilly developed a 13-item scale to measure role overload. This scale has been widely used, but most studies did not assess the unidimensionality of the scale. Given the significance of unidimensionality in scale development, the current study reports a confirmatory factor analysis of the 13-item scale in two samples. Based on the results, a 6-item unidimensional scale is recommended. Scores from this scale correlate in predicted fashion with external criterion variables related to role overload.

Distinguishing Between the Roles of Customer-Oriented Selling and Adaptive Selling in Managing Dysfunctional Conflict in Buyer–Seller Relationships

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the relationships among selling behaviors, trust, conflict, and sales outcomes, such as performance and anticipation of future interaction. Results indicate that trust mediates the effects of selling behaviors on sales outcomes, and conflict moderates this mediating effect. While salespeople could use customer-oriented selling as an antidote for the ill effects of dysfunctional conflict on trust, adaptive selling only serves to enhance salesperson trust in customers. Thus, the results of the study distinguish between the roles of customeroriented selling and adaptive selling in relationship marketing. Furthermore, when salespeople perceive that their sales managers are highly customer oriented and highly adaptive, they themselves become more customer oriented and more adaptive. Thus, as role models, supervisory selling behaviors contribute to salespeople’s ability to leverage their trust in customers. Based on these results, the managerial implications for selling organizations are discussed.

The Effects of Perceived Customer Dependence on Salesperson Influence Strategies

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the relationships among perceived customer dependence, cooperative motivational orientation, influence strategies, and sales performance. Results indicated that perceived customer dependence was positively related to sales performance. Perceived customer dependence also predicted influence strategies for closed influencers, noninfluencers, and combination influencers. Direct influencers and business-focused influencers did not use perceived customer dependence in choosing their influence strategies. Further, for combination influencers, salespersons’ cooperative motivational orientation moderated the effect of perceived customer dependence on influence strategies. Based on these results, the managerial implications for selling organizations are discussed.

Selling behaviours and sales performance: the moderating and mediating effects of interpersonal mentalizing

A random sample of independent insurance agents was surveyed to explore the relationships among learned behaviours, such as, adaptive selling and customer orientation and personal dispositions, such as, interpersonal mentalizing in predicting sales performance. The primary focus of this research was to reexamine salespeoples theory of mind in a broader theoretical base of human abilities. The results confirmed that the dimensions of interpersonal mentalizing, such as, taking a birds-eye view, shaping the interaction by creating a positive ambience, detecting nonverbal cues and rapport building have different roles for the effectiveness of selling behaviours. While taking a birds-eye view was a moderator, creating a positive ambience was a mediator of the relationship between selling behaviours and performance. Furthermore, salespeoples ability to build rapport improved sales performance only when they were able to detect nonverbal cues from customers. Taken together, these findings shed light on the complementary role of autonomous abilities of salespeople in improving the productivity of their learned selling behaviours. Several managerial implications were derived from the findings.

The Role of Top Management in Developing a Customer-Oriented Sales Force

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the effects of salespeople’s perceptions of top management long-term orientation, top management emphasis, and top management risk aversion on customer-oriented selling behaviors. The results indicated that perceived top management long-term orientation had a significantly positive effect on perceived top management emphasis and a significantly negative effect on perceived top management risk aversion. In turn, perceived top management emphasis positively affected customer-oriented selling, whereas perceived top management risk aversion did not affect customer-oriented selling. The study underscores the importance of salespeople’s perceptions of top management factors for implementing the marketing concept. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed and several directions for future research are proposed.

Closed Influence Tactics : Do Smugglers Win in the Long Run?

A national random sample of industrial salespeople was surveyed to examine the manner in which closed influence tactics, such as ingratiation, moderate the effects of adaptive selling on salesperson goals. The results revealed that closed influence tactics strengthened the positive effect of adaptive selling on short-term salesperson goals, and weakened the positive effect of adaptive selling on long-term salesperson goals. Thus, smugglers of influence may win in the short run, but they are likely to lose in the long run. Given that adaptive selling is used by salespeople to manage their customer–salesperson relationships, the manner in which closed influence tactics alter the form of the relationship between adaptive selling and salesperson goals have implications for sales organizations. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed and future research directions are proposed.

Measuring market orientation: Further evidence on narver and slater's three-component scale

A mail survey of a national random sample of 2,000 marketing managers was conducted. The data provided by 222 respondents were analyzed to assess the dimensionality of Narver and Slaters 15-item measure of market orientation. A confirmatory factor analysis, using LISREL 8.53, provided support for each of the separate dimensions of customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination. However, a combined 3-factor model of market orientation was not supported. Directions for research are suggested.

Leadership: validation of a self-report scale: comment on Dussault, Frenette, and Fernet (2013).

In a recent study, Dussault, Frenette, and Fernet (2013) developed a 21-item self-report instrument to measure leadership based on Basss (1985) transformational/transactional leadership paradigm. The final specification included a third-order dimension (leadership), two second-order dimensions (transactional leadership and transformational leadership), and a first-order dimension (laissezfaire leadership). This note focuses on the need for assessing convergent and discriminant validity of the scale, and on ruling out the potential for common method bias.

The Effects of Salespersons’ Perceptions of Customer Trust on Selling Behaviors

This paper examines the role of salespersons’ perceptions of the level of customer trust on selling behaviors. Recent empirical studies have confirmed the importance of trust in developing buyer-seller relationships (Morgan and Hunt 1994). This study examines the degree to which customer oriented selling, adaptive selling, and bargaining behaviors of salespersons vary with customer trust. Given that selling behaviors directly affect salesperson performance, the effects of salespersons’ perceptions of customer trust on selling behaviors are likely to have significant managerial implications.