It’s a matter of congruence: How interpersonal identification between sales managers and salespersons shapes sales success

In recent years, marketing research and practice have recognized the importance of managing frontline employees’ identification. However, investigations so far have focused on identification at the collective level of the self, such as organizational identification, thereby largely neglecting import...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 2013-11, Vol.41 (6), p.625-648
Main Authors: Ahearne, Michael, Haumann, Till, Kraus, Florian, Wieseke, Jan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Associations, institutions, etc
Business and Management
Business success
Customer satisfaction
Employees
Hypotheses
Identification
Industry forecasts
Management
Marketing
Marketing management
Organizational behavior
Original Empirical Research
Sales management
Sales personnel
Salespeople
Services
Social Sciences
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Summary:In recent years, marketing research and practice have recognized the importance of managing frontline employees’ identification. However, investigations so far have focused on identification at the collective level of the self, such as organizational identification, thereby largely neglecting important interpersonal identification processes at the relational level. Using a large-scale dataset comprising information from sales managers and salespeople as well as company data on customer satisfaction and sales performance, the authors make a first attempt to address this neglect by exploring important phenomena of interpersonal identification in the sales manager–salesperson dyad. Results show that initial increases in the level of identification congruence between sales managers and their respective salespeople yield positive incremental effects on sales performance and customer satisfaction. Findings also show that interpersonal over-identification and identification incongruence are negatively related to both outcomes. Results demonstrate how sales managers could mitigate these negative effects.
ISSN:0092-0703
1552-7824
DOI:10.1007/s11747-013-0333-x