Converting purchase commitments into purchase fulfillments: An examination of salesperson characteristics and influence tactics

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Industrial Marketing Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/indmarman

Research paper

Converting purchase commitments into purchase fulfillments: An examination of salesperson characteristics and influence tactics Melissa Clark Campbell School of Business, Marketing Department, Berry College, Campus, Box: 495024, United States of America

A R T I C LE I N FO

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Influence tactics Salesperson behaviors Commitments Fulfillments

This study explores the roles that salesperson characteristics and influence tactics play in converting customer commitments to sales fulfillments. A sample of 258 salesperson-customer interactions revealed that, by offering recommendations and exchanging information with customers, salespeople can increase the propensity for fulfillment of customers' purchase commitments. Conversely, it was discovered that salespeople fail to convert commitments into fulfillments when they utilize threats, promises, ingratiation, or inspirational tactics. Additionally, long-term orientation, customer orientation, and adaptive selling behaviors were not found to have an impact on the commitment-fulfillment relationship.

1. Introduction The final stage of product merchandising occurs when sales personnel are in direct contact with the customer and the customer has to make the decision to complete the transaction. Salespeople's actions can have a critical impact on the customer's decision to buy because, by that point in the interaction, all other efforts (e.g., marketing and branding activities) are fixed (Spiro & Weitz, 1990, p. 61). The goal of the salesperson must be to first elicit a commitment from the customer and then to ensure that the sale is completed (fulfilled). However, many different things can prevent a commitment from being fulfilled (Plouffe, Bolander, & Cote, 2014). In the office-machine industry, for example, a business owner may verbally commit to using a particular supplier for large, high-volume copier, but that verbal commitment is not the same as a fulfilled transaction. Any number of factors could affect the actual fulfillment of the purchase commitment including a better deal being offered by a competitor, the occurrence of an unforeseen financial hardship (e.g., bad credit, downturn in business, etc.), or perhaps a lack of sincere commitment from the customer in the first place. Fulfillment is an important topic to understand for multiple reasons. First, actual dollars are not exchanged until a purchase is fulfilled (disregarding deposits to hold a purchase for a later date). Second, salespeople use purchase commitments in forecasting and planning. This is extremely important to salespeople when they are planning how to allocate their time in order to achieve their quota during the sales period, as compensation is most often linked to quota attainment. Discrepancies between commitment and fulfillment also affect management's ability to properly budget and plan (Johnston & Marshall,

2013). Unfulfilled commitments have a negative impact on all areas of the business (Sparks, Bradley, Jennings, & Johnston, 2014). Finally, and of the utmost importance, unfulfilled customer commitments lead to an unending follow-up cycle (Chaker, Zablah, & Noble, 2018) that may never result in a finalized sale. In these cases, since salespeople's resources are limited (Ahearne, Srinivasan, & Weinstein, 2004), it may be more advantageous to the sales organization if the customer had said “no” in the first place so that the sales organization could reallocate precious resources (Chaker et al., 2018). Speaking more broadly, unfulfilled customer commitments have been cited as one factor spurring a variety of organizations to introduce a new C-suite role: the Chief Customer Officer (Bingham, 2014). Others have even used unfulfilled customer commitments (in the form of “unfilled orders” from companies' balance sheets) as an economic indicator (Reuters, 2014; US Census, 2014). Many factors impact customer fulfillment. Some are controllable by the firm (internal), but even more are, arguably, not controllable by the firm (external) (Verbeke, Dietz, & Verwaal, 2011). By definition, firms are best able to make changes to internal rather than external factors in their efforts to improve desired outcomes (e.g., customer fulfillments) (Verbeke et al., 2011). This research will focus on the factors that firms have the ability to change in order to increase customer fulfillments. Some internal factors that are important to understanding customer fulfillment include a salesperson's characteristics and the influence tactics salespeople utilize (Plouffe et al., 2014; Plouffe, Bolander, Cote, & Hochstein, 2016). It is easy to imagine a situation in which a salesperson's behaviors could lead to commitment but not to fulfillment. For example, a sales-oriented (characteristic) seller might put pressure on the buyer or threaten (influence tactic) a

E-mail address: [email protected]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.09.002 Received 1 November 2018; Received in revised form 28 July 2019; Accepted 4 September 2019 0019-8501/ © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Melissa Clark, Industrial Marketing Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2019.09.002

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toward a behavior establishes his/her intention to engage in the behavior (what this study refers to as “purchase commitment”) and that intention predicts actual behavior. However, according to this theory, the behavior has to be under volitional control in order for the behavior to result from the intention. For example, choosing to exercise is under volitional control. The person intends to exercise and has the voluntary ability to carry out the exercise behavior. There are some situations where an individual may have intentions to engage in a behavior, but they may not have complete control over that behavior. Consider an athlete trying out for a sports team. Making the team is not under volitional control. The athlete may have every intention of joining the team and be a great athlete and be very dedicated and have a positive attitude. However, being selected to join the team is not under his complete control because he has no way to affect the performance ability of the other athletes trying out for the team. In situations where volitional control is low, TRA is not helpful in predicting behaviors. Therefore, further research has introduced perceived behavioral control (an individual's perception of his/her power to carry out a particular behavior) as a new variable, morphing the Theory of Reasoned Action into the Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB). The TpB still considers intentions to be the best predictor of behavior but adds perceived behavioral control as a third antecedent to intentions (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Thus, TpB is just TRA with the addition of another construct. Although these theories posit that intentions predict behavior, intentions and behaviors are not one and the same. Moreover, numerous studies find only small correlations between the two constructs (e.g., Ajzen, 1991; Sutton, 1998). As far back as 1979, Morrison (1979) provides a framework for measuring purchase behaviors using intentions as the primary variable and finds only a 53% probability—the equivalent of a coin toss—that the customer will make the purchase even when a respondent says they “definitely intended to buy.” However, investigating the correlation between intent to buy and eventual purchases introduces a confounding factor given that, as specified in Feldman and Lynch's (1988) term “self-generated validity,” the mere measurement of intention may in fact increase the probability of purchase. This finding prompted future research to focus on analyzing purchase-intentions data. Likewise, a relationship between the measurement of purchase intentions and purchase incidence has been demonstrated (Chandon, Morwitz, & Reinartz, 2005). In a report on a meta-analysis of nine studies related to purchase intentions, Sutton (1998) notes that intention predicted only a 19–38% variation in behavior (in either direction). Such incomplete and varied data indicate that there is still a substantial opportunity to further understand how salespeople can influence these two variables. A customer's purchase commitment is their verbal, written, or implied intent to purchase. Fulfillment is the completion of the purchase. The relationship between commitment and fulfillment thus seems simple but is actually quite complicated, and attempts to understand these interactions are fraught with issues. Customers could have any number of motives for leading the salesperson to predict fulfillment—not wanting to reject the salesperson; wanting to get out of the interaction without conflict; or, quite possibly, a sincere intent to fulfill that, for any number of reasons, the customer is unable to actualize (Johnston & Marshall, 2013). An unfulfilled commitment is only that: a commitment, not a sale.

buyer with a specific penalty if a purchase is not made (Frazier & Summers, 1984). In either of these scenarios, the buyer could be using the commitment simply to get rid of the salesperson and may never have had any sincere intention to fulfill the commitment. Given that a firm's resources are limited (Ahearne et al., 2004; Barney, 1991), it should be determined at the earliest opportunity which tactics and characteristics are most effective (i.e., lead to fulfillment). This study specifically considers the role of three relatively stable salesperson characteristics that theory suggests may impact the relationship between commitment and fulfillment: long-term orientation, customer orientation, and adaptive selling. These three salesperson characteristics are particularly intriguing to this research because sales managers believe these characteristics are crucial to purchase fulfillments (Bonney, Plouffe, & Brady, 2016; Hughes, Le Bon, & Rapp, 2013) and often seek them out in recruiting new salespeople. In addition to relatively stable salesperson characteristics, this study is interested in the role of interaction-specific influence tactics. Influence tactics can be defined as actions that an individual engages in to change the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors of another individual (Barry & Shapiro, 1992; Kipnis, 1984). Salespeople engage in influence tactics to persuade customers to purchase their product(s), so the use of influence tactics can benefit virtually every firm (McFarland, Challagalla, & Shervani, 2006). These tactics are threats, promises, ingratiation, inspirational appeal, information exchange, and recommendations. Sales-influence tactics are relevant to this study and to sales practitioners because salespeople can learn to apply the most successful tactics. Any firm wishing to make the most efficient use of its sales resources will naturally want to perform a quantitative analysis to discover the best formula for successful sales. There are three important areas to consider that impact successful sales. First, it is important to know the extent to which customer commitments result in fulfillments (final sales). Second, it is important to know if some salesperson characteristics are better than others for converting commitment to fulfillment. Managers can seek out these stable characteristics in the hiring process to help ensure future success. Finally, firms need to know whether or not some salesperson-influence tactics work better than others in converting commitment to fulfillment. If so, firms can integrate teaching of the successful tactics into their training programs. From the point of view of sales personnel, commitments are subjective rather than objective (Plouffe, Hulland, & Wachner, 2009). What a salesperson perceives as a strong commitment on the part of the customer may in fact be a weak or even nonexistent commitment. Unfortunately, the only way for the salesperson to tell is to wait anxiously for possible fulfillment. There is a great need for research on commitment and fulfillment where both variables can be quantitatively measured and relationships established using scientific research methodology. The purpose of this study is to identify which salesperson characteristics and influence tactics are the strongest in terms of converting purchase commitments to sales fulfillment. It is necessary to measure two effects: 1) to what degree customer commitment leads to fulfillment and 2) to what extent specific salesperson characteristics and influence tactics moderate the relationship between commitment and fulfillment. It should be recognized that commitment by itself has no inherent value. That is, it reflects only the potential for a sale. Regardless of the commitment a customer makes, he/she can always back out (although an irrevocable commitment should properly be considered a fulfillment). Therefore, this study will identify which characteristics and tactics actually lead to fulfillment.

2.2. Contingencies and contexts: the selling situation, selling strategies, and customer-salesperson relationships' impact on fulfillment

2. Literature review In 1981, Weitz created the contingency research model, which recognizes that personal selling involves an interaction between the selling situation and the salesperson's behavior as dual response levels. The first level involves the salesperson's behavior during interactions with the customer; the second level focuses on the sales situation, including the customer, the facts of the order, and the selling strategies

2.1. From intent to fulfillment: established theories and complicating factors The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was created as an explanation of the gap between attitude and behavior (e.g., Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). The TRA proposes that an individual's subjective norm and attitude 2

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In addition, the role that customer orientation plays in long-term orientation suggests that this construct should be included in studies of the relationship between commitment and fulfillment.

used (Weitz, 1981). Weitz argued that, in addition to the nature of the buying task, the effectiveness of sales behavior across customer interactions is contingent upon or moderated by (a) the salesperson's resources (such as their trait and characteristics) and (b) the customersalesperson relationship and interactions (such as influence tactics). Weitz continues, stating that “in general, the salesperson who adapts his/her behavior to the specific interaction situation will be better at presenting a product as a solution to the customer's problem” (1981 p. 94). Later, Weitz, Sujan, & Sujan, 1986added to the contingency model by expanding and clarifying its first level, the characteristics of the salesperson. Research has likewise shown that different selling situations affect salesperson behavior, which in turn impacts outcomes such as incidence of purchase and customer satisfaction (e.g., Goff, Boles, Bellenger, & Stojack, 1997). In other words, the context in which salesperson-customer interactions occur affects the chance that commitment will lead to fulfillment. As Harris, Eric, Mowen, and Brown (2002) point out, different learning techniques and performance orientations influence self-regulation and the salesperson's behavior. In light of such findings, it is imperative that part of the research focus remains on the salesperson.

2.3.3. Adaptive selling behavior Giacobbe, Ralph, Jackson, Crosby and Bridges (2006 p. 116) note that adaptive selling behavior involves “altering sales related behaviors during a customer interaction or across interactions based on perceived information about the nature of the selling situation.” In their discussion of conceptualizing and measuring selling behavior, Spiro and Weitz (1990) suggest that the concept consists of six elements: recognizing that different selling approaches are needed in various selling situations, salesperson confidence in his/her ability to use a variety of different sales approaches, salesperson confidence in his/her ability to alter his/her approach during the customer interaction, the knowledge base needed to recognize various sales situations and utilize appropriate strategies for each one, the ability to collect information about the sales situation in order to adapt, and the actual use of different approaches when appropriate. The first three elements relate to the salesperson's motivation, the fourth and fifth to his/her capabilities, and the last to his/her actual behavior (Spiro & Weitz, 1990). The basic understanding of adaptive selling behavior as a modification of a salesperson's behavior therefore requires that he/she has the willingness, ability, and knowledge necessary to change his/her sales behavior when the sales situation calls for it. Whether an alteration of a salesperson's sales behavior during the customer interaction is effective depends on the selling environment and the salesperson's capabilities (Weitz et al., 1986). Some studies have found a positive relationship between adaptive selling behavior and sales performance. For example, Boorom, Goolsby, and Ramsey (1998) found adaptive selling to have a strong positive influence on a salesperson's regular sales performance. Additionally, Spiro and Weitz (1990) found a significant positive relationship between adaptive selling behavior and a salesperson's self-evaluation of his/her performance. However, because each of these studies used subjective, selfreported salesperson performance evaluations, whether adaptive selling behaviors drive real customer purchase behavior remains to be seen.

2.3. The salesperson: orientations, behaviors, and tactics, and motivations The impact of a salesperson on sales outcomes can be broken down into two categories: interaction-specific influence behaviors and general, trait-like characteristics. Interaction-specific influence tactics are behaviors that change across interactions with customers. On the other hand, general, trait-like characteristics are stable within the salesperson and do not change across interactions. 2.3.1. Long-term orientation The long-term orientation of a salesperson is defined as his/her perception of the interdependence of results where both the customer's outcomes and the salesperson's outcomes are expected to benefit the salesperson in the long run (Ganesan, 1994). When a salesperson takes a long view of his or her own career, the continuity of the business, and the individual customer's lives and shifting needs, customer fulfillment is transformed from a short-term, self-interested opportunity to a longterm, collaborative relationship whereby each party's needs are fulfilled through the exchange of information, time, and capital. A salesperson with a long-term orientation focuses on developing relationships with his/her customers that maximize sales over multiple interactions as opposed to focusing on one large transaction early in the relationship. Therefore, long-term orientation is expected to assist salespeople in achieving their sales goals (Chakrabarty, Oubre, Brown, & Widing II, 2008).

2.3.4. Influence tactics Frazier and Summers (1984) introduced the concept of influence tactics after conducting personal interviews about the sorts of influence tactics frequently used by manufacturers' representatives. The research identifies six influence tactics: threats, legalistic pleas, promises, requests, recommendations, and information exchange. Frazier and Summers (1984, p. 46) define influence tactics as “compliance gaining tactics that channel members use to achieve desired actions from channel partners”. Venkatesh, Kohli, & Zaltman, 1995contributed to the existing research on influence tactics by investigating an intra-organizational context and studying buying centers. Their main objective was to study the pervasiveness of alternative influence tactics in buying centers and to compare those findings to those reported for inter-firm or channelpartner relationships. Venkatesh et al. (1995) used the same tactics mentioned above (threats, legalistic pleas, promises, requests, recommendations, and information exchange) in studying the use of influence strategies in a buying center context. The findings suggest that, at least in the buying center context, several additional variables related to source and target persons determine whether salespeople use alternative influence tactics (Venkatesh et al., 1995). In 2006, influence tactics were examined in a third context: personal selling. Personal selling is described as a person-to-person relationship in which the unit of analysis is the individual relationship (McFarland et al., 2006). McFarland focused on the influence tactics identified in the customer's relationships with the channel and the buying center to determine whether they were relevant in a personal selling relationship. The study also sought to identify whether

2.3.2. Customer orientation When a salesperson focuses mainly on the customer's needs, wants, problems, and satisfaction, they are said to have customer orientation (Saxe & Weitz, 1982). Customer orientation is part of a research stream concerning a salesperson's focus on making a sale (sales orientation) and meeting customer needs (customer orientation). Research on salesorientation and customer-orientation (SOCO) behavior supports the distinction made here between the two orientations, but they are not diametrically opposed to one another (Brown et al., 2002). There is little debate in the literature about whether customer orientation leads to successful selling (e.g. Saxe & Weitz, 1982). It is generally accepted that customer orientation is by far preferred over sales orientation for sales success. However, the prevalence of sales orientation (Boichuk et al., 2014) indicates that people continue to practice sales orientation. Yet studies showing that sales orientation is efficacious (e.g., Wachner, Plouffe, & Gregoire, 2009) are scarce. Since sales orientation is a widespread praxis with little proven success, more research into a prescription for sales practitioners in this area is needed. 3

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Table 1 Sales influence processes.a Process

Process definition

Tactics

Compliance Identification Internalization

Involvement for specific, extrinsic rewards Involvement based upon desire for affiliation Involvement based upon value congruence

Threats and promises Ingratiation and inspirational appeals Information exchange and recommendations

a

Based off of the work of Kelman (1958) and McFarland et al., 2006.

motivate the customer extrinsically, but a commitment made via extrinsic motivation will not be as strong as one made intrinsically and will thus attenuate the relationship between purchase commitment and purchase fulfillment. Influence tactics that operate through identification (ingratiation and inspiration) tie positive customer feelings to the salesperson instead of to the product or service. In other words, the value is placed on the relationship between the customer and the salesperson, which undermines the value the customer places on the product or service. That lack of value assigned to the product or service undermines the relationship between purchase commitment and purchase fulfillment. Influence tactics that use internalization (information exchange and recommendations) rely on intrinsic motivation, employing logic and existing values to gain commitment. Commitments made with intrinsic motives are strong and therefore should lead to purchase fulfillments. Put simply, the literature suggests that long-term, customer-oriented, and adaptive selling behaviors that rely on and mobilize customers' intrinsic motivations are more likely to lead customers in the purchase-commitment stage to fulfill that commitment by actually following through with the purchase. By practicing customer orientation, salespeople can uncover and better meet customer needs. Salespeople who employ adaptive selling behaviors similarly meet customer needs by adjusting their strategy to match the customer's uncovered needs. When customers feel that a purchase properly meets their needs, they are much more likely to fulfill their purchase commitment. Thus, customer orientation, adaptive selling behaviors, and influence tactics that rely on intrinsic motivation should all lead to the fulfillment of purchase commitments.

salespeople recognize which tactics should be used with different types of customers in order to achieve desired results (as suggested by the concept of adaptive selling). McFarland et al., 2006define six salesperson influence tactics. The authors go on to posit that each of the salesperson influence tactics operate through one of Kelman's (1958, 1961) influence processes (see Table 1). Specifically, information exchange and recommendations are thought to function through the process of internalization, threats and promises are posited to function through the process of compliance, and ingratiation and inspirational appeals operate through the process of identification (McFarland et al., 2006). According to Kelman (1958), the method with which the customer processes the salesperson's influence tactic determines the success of that influence. Compliance is related to a social reward for accepting the influence (Kelman, 1958, 1961). An individual will comply with the influencer's request to avoid a specific punishment or gain a specific reward (Kelman, 1958, 1961). Identification is based on a relationship with the influencing individual or group; in other words, the connection with the influencer is so strong that the individual adopts the behavior regardless of the details (Kelman, 1958, 1961). The crux of identification hinges on the individual's desire to begin or continue a relationship with the influencer (Kelman, 1958, 1961). Kelman (1958) defines internalization as the the customer's successful assimilation of the sales message and states that “Internalization can be said to occur when an individual accepts influence because the content of the induced behavior…is intrinsically rewarding” (Kelman, 1958, p. 53). The intrinsic reward is that the product or service being sold somehow fulfills the customer's need (real or perceived) and/or desire (Kelman, 1958, 1961). All of these influence tactics are intended to drive fulfillments, but research often only looks at the tactics' relationships to self-reported commitments rather than actual purchases or even a “hard” variable such as sales performance (Plouffe et al., 2014). McFarland et al. (2006) connected the SITs to these various influence processes. The next step in fully elucidating SITs involves a determination as to which influence processes result in successful salesperson performance. The gap in the literature strengthens the case for the necessity of the research proposed herein. In fact, Evans, McFarland, Dietz, and Jaramillo (2012) specifically call for research on the effects of influence tactics on sales performance. There also exists a need to address the predictive relationships among influence tactics, commitment, and eventual fulfillment. However, little research has attempted to predict concrete sales outcomes such as performance or fulfillment based on the influence tactics utilized by the salesperson. Similar to sales research as a whole, the research on influence tactics has focused on dependent variables that are intention based instead of behavior based (e.g., Yukl, Kim, & Chavez, 1999). Previous studies demonstrate the lack of fulfillment or any concrete purchase variable as a dependent variable in many of the influence studies. Because the business ultimately wants its salespeople to guide customers toward the fulfillment behavior (Plouffe et al., 2014), the existing research areas are not sufficient to describe the relationship between customer commitment and customer fulfillment.

3. Research model and hypotheses Customer commitment is the intention of the customer to purchase. Fulfillment is the actual behavior of the purchase. Therefore, in order to describe the relationship between commitment and fulfillment, the relationship between intentions and behaviors must be uncovered. More than three decades of research on the relationship exists (e.g., Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), which indicaties that intention is the best predictor of behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Therefore, a customer's commitment should have a positive relationship with fulfillment of the purchase. H1. Customer Commitment will have a positive relationship with sales fulfillment. Chakrabarty et al., 2008find that long-term orientation explained 26.5% of the variance in sales performance exhibited by their data. They conclude that “selling organizations engaged in relationship marketing should assess the long-term orientation of its sales force to maintain sales success” (PAGE NUMBER?) Long-term-oriented sellers are able to translate customer needs into commitment and then lead customers directly down the path to sales fulfillment. Unlike shortterm-oriented sellers, who focus on transactions, long-term-oriented sellers may look beyond a single commitment and instead engage the customer's future purchase intentions, which shift over time. This adaptive selling skill can increase the salesperson's ability to translate commitment into sales fulfillments.

2.4. Summing up: relevance of orientations and tactics to the present study

H2. Long-term Orientation will positively moderate the relationship

Influence tactics based on compliance (threats and promises) 4

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similar to threats in that they may elicit a commitment based solely on the customer's desire for the promised extrinsic reward. This is a triedand-true promotional activity seen in everything from cereal box toys to infomercials. The use of threats and promises may be an effective way to gain a commitment by means of operationalizing an extrinsic reward (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999), but motivating a customer with an extrinsic reward, as in compliance, can reduce their intrinsic motivation to fulfill their purchase commitment (Deci et al., 1999). Therefore, customers may not actually fulfill a commitment based on threats or promises because the rewards are not intrinsic (Deci et al., 1999).

between customer commitment and sales fulfillment such that salespeople with high long term orientation will be more likely to convert customer commitments into sales fulfillments than salespeople with low long term orientation. Customer-oriented salespeople concentrate on engaging their customers and listening to them so the salesperson can fully understand and best satisfy their needs (Saxe & Weitz, 1982). Salespeople with customer orientation attempt to maximize long-term gains by establishing a meaningful relationship with the customer (Wachner et al., 2009). A thoroughly fascinating study by Bagozzi et al. (2012) closely examines the neurological and genetic properties of salespeople with customer orientation. The results indicate that salespeople with customer orientation are biologically predisposed toward opportunity recognition and empathy, both of which may lead to higher purchasefulfillment rates. Because customer orientation is related to repeat sales and longterm gains, it is likely that a customer working with a customer-oriented salesperson would agree to a commitment and actually fulfill the purchase. Goff et al. (1997) found that customer orientation was related to positive customer emotion and used the research of Babin, Boles, & Darden, 1995) to further theorize that the positive customer emotion elicited by customer orientation affects customer purchases. The salesperson's willingness and ability to connect with the customer on a meaningful and individual level should facilitate the relationship between customer commitment and purchase fulfillment.

H5. Tactics operating through compliance, (a) threats and (b) promises, will negatively moderate the relationship between customer commitment and sales fulfillment such that salespeople using tactics that operate through compliance will be less likely to convert customer commitments into sales fulfillments than salespeople not using tactics that operate through compliance. Ingratiation and inspirational influence tactics are thought to operate through the identification process (Kelman, 1958). Identification is based upon a relationship with the influencing individual or group (Kelman, 1958). The connection with the influencer is so strong that the individual adopts the behavior regardless of its associated details. Identification occurs when an individual accepts the reasons the influencer offers as justification for the individual's decision to begin or continue a relationship with the influencer (Kelman, 1961). Salespeople who use ingratiation-influence tactics are attempting to connect with customers (Kumar & Beyerlein, 1991). In order to better forge a relationship with customers, a salesperson utilizing ingratiation tactics will talk about common goals and interests, be extremely cordial, and be forthcoming and generous with praise and compliments (Kipnis & Schmidt, 1988). Such behavior will—initially, at least—make the customer feel amiable toward the salesperson. A salesperson engaging in inspirational influence tactics will appeal to a customer's ideals and thus arouse a positive affective response in said customer (Yukl & Tracey, 1992). This, in turn, connects positive emotional responses in the customer's mind to the salesperson. Thus, influence tactics operating through the identification-influence process evoke warm feelings and emotions toward the salesperson. However, with identification, the target individual may respect the influencer's values but not accept them as their own. Since the individual does not adopt the influencer's values as their own, and the values are still tied to the influencer, the individual's commitment is only valid when the relationship with the influencer is salient, such as when the influencer is in the presence of the individual (Kelman, 1961). Moreover, in many business settings—and especially that of a sales relationship—it is not always possible for the salesperson to be present when it comes time for the customer to fulfill the commitment. Further, the emotions are tied to the salesperson, not the product or service. Salespeople utilizing the identification tactic focus more on communicating warm feelings to the customer than on communicating the merits of the product or service. This seriously undermines the power of a commitment-and-fulfillment relationship processed through identification. Thus, influence tactics operating via identification (ingratiation and inspirational appeals) will be most effective only when the relationship with the salesperson is salient (Kelman, 1958).

H3. Customer Orientation will positively moderate the relationship between customer commitment and sales fulfillment such that salespeople with high customer orientation will be more likely to convert customer commitments into sales fulfillments than salespeople with low customer orientation. Adaptive selling is the process by which salespeople change strategy in order to better meet the needs of the specific customer. This salesperson behavior likely improves customer relationships by accommodating customer needs and making adjustments if necessary. As such, many studies have reported a positive relationship between adaptive selling and salesperson performance across many different selling contexts (e.g., Spiro & Weitz, 1990; Weitz et al., 1986). In addition, the research posits a positive relationship between adaptive selling and other positive sales outcomes (e.g., Park & Holloway, 2003). Because the salesperson focuses on the customer's needs and makes adjustments as the interaction requires them, the likelihood that the commitment will fall through before it is fulfilled remains low. The salesperson will likely be flexible and adjust to make sure the commitment is fulfilled. H4. Adaptive Selling will positively moderate the relationship between customer commitment and sales fulfillment such that salespeople high in adaptive selling will be more likely to convert customer commitments into sales fulfillments than salespeople low in adaptive selling. Threats and promises are posited to operate through the compliance-influence process (Kelman, 1958). Compliance results from the social reward for accepting the related influence (Kelman, 1961). An individual will comply with the influencer's request in order to avoid a specific punishment or gain a specific reward (Kelman, 1958). In other words, shared beliefs do not drive the target to adopt specific behaviors; rather, the extrinsic reward is the motivation. In the case of threat tactics, the customer may commit to a purchase because he or she wants to avoid negative consequences. Giving into threat tactics is an easy, quick way for the customer to solve the immediate problem and avoid negative actions the salesperson threatened to take. However, the customer only made the commitment because he or she feared that not doing so would lead to negative consequences, not because the customer perceived the purchase as beneficial or valuable. Promises are

H6. Tactics operating through identification, (a) ingratiation and (b) inspiration, will negatively moderate the relationship between customer commitment and sales fulfillment such that salespeople using tactics that operate through identification will be less likely to convert customer commitments into sales fulfillments than salespeople not using tactics that operate through identification. Information-exchange and recommendation influence tactics operate via the internalization influence process (Kelman, 1958). Internalization occurs when an individual accepts a salesperson's influence 5

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provide enough interactions for a large enough pool of data points per salesperson. Furthermore, the ideal sample's sales cycle would require that the salesperson spend enough time in front of the customer to build a relationship and for the customer to be impacted by the salesperson's characteristics and influence tactics over multiple encounters. In short, the ideal sample for this study would consist of repeat interactions with each customer over time and interactions with multiple customers per day. Furthermore, the outcome variable is binary and based on actual purchase decisions (i.e. 1 = purchase, 0 = no purchase). Therefore, the ideal analytic technique for this study would allow the researcher to analyze the relationship between metric moderating variables and the binary dependent variable such as binary logistic regression, which the present study indeed employs. Binary logistic regression is often used in marketing research (Akinci, Kaynak, Atilgan, & Aksoy, 2007) because it allows the researcher to use a set of continuous variables to predict the likelihood that an event outcome will occur. Here, that event outcome is the fulfillment of a commitment in the form of an actual purchase.

because it matches their existing values (Kelman, 1961). The reward for adopting the behavior is intrinsic to the individual. The influencer's reasons for purchase are so congruent with the customer's values that his or her acceptance of the influence seems inherent to the customer. Using information exchange, the salesperson teaches the customer about the salesperson's business model, operations, products, and services. Salespeople who use recommendation-influence tactics offer their customers unambiguous propositions and logical arguments for fulfilling the purchase (Frazier & Summers, 1984). Internalization represents the strongest type of commitment process because it is intrinsic to the individual. In fact, internalization has been shown to lead to behavioral compliance (e.g., fulfillment) in addition to verbal compliance (e.g., commitment) (O'Reilly III & Chatman, 1986). Therefore, influence tactics operating through the process of internalization are posited to most successfully lead to or create fulfillment. Kelman (1958) argues that tactics operating via internalization will be the most effective overall for obtaining sales fulfillments. When a salesperson uses the information-exchange tactic, this information is internalized and remains with the customer in their purchase decision, prompting them to fulfill their commitment to purchase. Further, recommendations prompt customers to effectively consider their options. Therefore, the customer internalizes the recommendations, which then endure long after the sales call ends (Kelman, 1958). The customer is able to recall the specific recommendation as their own when making future purchase decisions, aiding in the conversion of purchase commitment to sales fulfillment.

4.1. Sample Respondents were six salespeople from a distributor for an international beauty-product company focused on selling their product line in a business-to-business context that includes salons, spas, and hotels. Their products include a variety of shampoo and conditioner lines (often designed for specific hair concerns such as dryness, color treatment, etc.) as well as lotions, body washes, candles, makeup, and other beauty-related commodities. The firm's customers and prospective customers are salons and spas that are often independently owned by hairstylists and beauticians with limited business experience. In other words, these aren't corporate/franchise-type operations. Respondents sell the company's products in various “retail package” combinations to salons and spas that then resell them to their clients and customers. Respondents are compensated with a base salary along with a bonus they receive upon hitting particular quotas. This means that they are incentivized to close the deal (get customers to fulfill rather than merely commit) but that they don't necessarily feel the constant pressure to close that they might if they were commission-only salespeople. The respondent pool consists of a sales force small enough that a single manager evaluates each salesperson on an individual basis. This manager frequently rides with salespeople, and all respondents are highly interconnected socially despite living and/or working in different geographic territories. Respondents have an average of 8.5 years of experience in the industry, ranging from zero years to 20 years, and are organized based on geographic territories that cover major metropolitan areas. Salespeople call on an average of 17 prospective customers per week, which resulted in a dataset of 258 sales interactions and an average of 43 major deals during the study timeframe (approximately 15 months). A “major deal” is defined as a new account placement or a significant upsell to buy-ins to a new product line. This context is ideal for the study of how commitments become actual purchase decisions because the typical selling opportunity for this organization involves a delay between the commitment and the fulfillment due to various reasons such as a need to make shelf space, a need to consult with partners, feedback from clients, time to allow the stylists to try the product, and the need to train the staff on the product. Data collection occurred in two phases: an initial survey respondents completed once at the commencement of the data collection and an interaction-specific survey completed after each commitment interaction. Self-report surveys were created using Qualtrics online survey software. The initial survey, completed by each of the salespeople, sought to capture stable salesperson characteristics and other information. The interaction-specific surveys were also self reported and created using Qualtrics online survey software. Following any interaction with a customer during which the salesperson made an effort

H7. Tactics operating through internalization, (a) information exchange and (b) recommendations, will positively moderate the relationship between customer commitment and sales fulfillment such that salespeople using tactics that operate through internalization will be more likely to convert customer commitments into sales fulfillments than salespeople not using tactics that operate through internalization. This research uses the forward-looking and future-focused approach developed by Nevins, Bearden, and Money (2006) for long-term orientation. The purpose of focusing on long-term orientation in this study is to forgo short-term, transactional sales in favor of long-term customer relationships. The current view of long-term orientation values planning, persistence, and hard work as tools with which to foster later and multiple successes (Nevins, Bearden et al., 2006). This view is the most appropriate for the study at hand because of its focus on longterm, downstream purchase fulfillments. Concentrating on long-term outcomes should direct salespeople's focus toward purchase fulfillments rather than short-term customer commitments. 4. Method The best approach to answering the research questions addressed in this study is to assess naturally occurring field sales interactions. The ideal sample for this study would include actual salespeople who encounter multiple commitment situations on a continual basis and, due to the timing of the sales cycle, have enough time to affect the commitment/fulfillment relationship with the variables being tested. A fastpaced clothing-retail environment would certainly provide enough interactions for an appropriate study; however, due to the nature of the fast-paced sales interactions, there is little chance that salespeople will be able to affect the commitment/fulfillment relationship, and they have even less time to capture the variables during the interaction. On the other hand, a product with a much slower sales cycle such as a house would provide ample time to influence the fulfillment of a commitment and capture the variables of interest during interactions. However, slow-selling, large-ticket items such as houses are not likely to provide a large enough data supply for a timely study. Therefore, the ideal sample would balance the number of interactions and the quality of the variables of interest. The preferred sample would consist of salespeople who encounter multiple customers each day in order to 6

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CFI = 0.967; TLI = 0.958). However, Information Exchange and Recommendations loaded on to one factor, and items were thus averaged together to form the variable Internalization. Inspiration and Ingratiation also loaded on to one factor; items were averaged together to form the variable Identification. This combining and naming process made sense theoretically according to Kelman's (1958) influence processes. The new measurement model was also found to have an acceptable fit (χ2 = 467, df = 122; RMSEA = 0.105; CFI = 0.937; TLI = 0.921). A significant chi-square value was expected because chisquare is sensitive to large sample sizes (n > 200; Marsh, Balla, & McDonald, 1988; Bearden, Sharma, & Teel, 1982; Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Hu & Bentler, 1998). Further, complex models such as this are prone to yield higher RMSEA values, and researchers are cautioned against using an absolute cutoff RMSEA score as a means of evaluating model fit in models with fewer than 1000 data points and urged to look at the other fit statistics instead (Kenny, Kaniskan, & McCoach, 2014). Construct reliability estimates ranged from 0.843 to 0.955, indicating that the measures used in the analysis were reliable. The average variances extracted (AVE) of each latent factor were above 0.50, signifying convergent validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Support was found for discriminant validity by comparing the AVE for each construct to the respective squared correlation between variables in the model (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Full confirmatory factor analysis results, including average variances extracted, composite reliabilities, and correlations among the constructs, are provided in Table 3.

Table 2 Relevant sample results. Salesperson

Industry tenurea

LTO

CO

AS

# Usable interactions

1 2 3 4 5 6

20 9 0 3 7 10

7 5 6.5 6 6.75 6

7 7 7 5.25 6.5 6

6 4.67 7 4.67 5.67 7

53 33 32 42 51 47

LTO = Long Term Orientation, CO = Customer Orientation, AS = Adaptive Selling, Scales 1–7 see Appendix A. a In years.

to close the sale or asked for a commitment, each salesperson completed the interaction-specific survey, providing specifics about that particular interaction and its elements. Table 2 shows relevant sample results per salesperson. 4.2. Measures All constructs were self reported by the salesperson via an online questionnaire. The dependent variable, actual purchase, was collected from company records and measured as a dichotomous 0/1. To capture salespeople's stable individual characteristics, all salespeople completed an initial survey. This survey measured long-term orientation using a scale adapted from Bearden et al. (2006). The Spiro and Weitz (1990) scale was used to measure adaptive selling. Trait customer orientation was captured with a scale adapted from Saxe and Weitz (1982) and Brown et al., 2002An example of the initial survey is included in Appendix A. In addition to the initial survey, the interaction-specific survey asked questions to obtain interaction-specific information. Such information included the size of the company (number of full- and parttime employees) and the number of objections the customer made during the interaction. Moreover, the interaction survey also captured sales influence tactics. The sales influence tactics—information exchange, recommendations, threats, promises, ingratiation, and inspirational appeal—were measured using scales developed by McFarland et al. (2006). Each tactic had three items and was measured on a 7-point Likert scale. A customer's purchase commitment was captured as a percentage based on the salesperson's perception of the strength of the customer's commitment to purchase, if any, where 100% = “very strong” and 0% = “no commitment.” These interactionspecific variables were captured using online surveys the salespeople completed after each sales call. An example of this survey is included in Appendix B. Salespeople were asked to complete these surveys after all customer interactions in which a sale was attempted (i.e., not merely maintenance calls) on an ongoing basis over a 15-month period. All salespeople were included in the study and were strongly encouraged to include all relevant sales calls. Therefore, a sample from a non-response group was not available for use in conducting non-response bias testing. Instead, non-response bias was addressed at the data-collection stage. In order to maximize responses, respondents were offered incentives in $100 increments. Additionally, weekly reminders were emailed to the respondents, and respondents were assured anonymity. Missing data was deleted listwise. This resulted in 258 useable responses (sales calls).

5.2. Method Hypothesis testing was centered on examining to what extent the moderating variables affect the commitment-fulfillment relationship. Because the dependent variable was based on actual purchase decisions (i.e. 1 = purchase, 0 = no purchase), binary logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between metric moderating variables and the binary dependent variable. Binary logistic regression allows the researcher to use a set of continuous variables to predict the likelihood of an event's occurrence and is frequently used in marketing research (Akinci et al., 2007). Applications include the analysis of preference for purchase upgrades (Bolton, Lemon, & Verhoef, 2008) or product choice (Schaefers, 2014). For each customer interaction in the sample, the interaction between the moderators and the independent variable of commitment were used to estimate the chances that customers belonged to the group who fulfilled their purchase commitment. Interpretation of logistic regression results is based on two types of coefficients (Hosmer & Lemeshow, 2000). The logistic coefficient represents the impact of a moderator on the likelihood of a customer fulfilling a purchase commitment. This coefficient indicates the direction of the relationship. If a moderator has a positive coefficient, an increase in the variable increases the likelihood of the dependent variable occurring; a negative coefficient, on the other hand, reveals a negative impact of the moderator on the estimated likelihood of the dependent variable's occurrence. To analyze the magnitude of a relationship, the exponentiated logistic coefficient Exp(B), which represents the change in the odds value, is also used. The exponentiated coefficient minus one equals the percentage change in odds. In other words, a value of 1.5 reveals that an increase of the moderator variable by one point increases the odds of the predicted event occurring by 50%.

5. Analysis and results

5.3. Model validation

5.1. Measurement model results

Several statistics are commonly used to interpret a logistic regression model's validity and goodness-of-fit (Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2010; Hosmer & Lemeshow, 2000). The significant likelihood-ratio test rejects the null hypothesis of all covariates in the model being zero. Furthermore, the Hosmer-Lemeshow test (Hosmer & Lemeshow, 2000) compares observed and expected values of the

A confirmatory factor analysis was performed in AMOS with items not permitted to cross-load. The measurement model was tested with items loading onto their respective factors and was found to have a good overall fit (χ2 = 299.489, df = 120; RMSEA = 0.076; 7

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Table 3 Intercorrelations, descriptive statistics, reliabilities and validity estimates. Construct

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

0.940 0.522 0.075 0.079 0.152 0.043 0.053 0.184 −0.262

0.870 0.264 0.169 0.234 0.010 −0.010 0.163 −0.025

0.880 0.501 0.383 0.337 0.184 0.182 0.045

0.980 0.123 0.127 0.185 0.380 0.373

0.954 0.712 0.301 0.063 −0.065

0.879 0.387 0.044 0.096

0.793 0.381 0.260

0.591

Descriptive statistics M SD

1.490 1.340

1.970 1.670

5.500 1.860

4.940 1.890

6.340 0.590

6.290 0.450

5.980 1.010

69.630 39.140

0.520 0.500

Reliability and validity Cronbach's alpha Composite reliability Average variance extracted

0.969 0.955 0.875

0.916 0.906 0.763

0.942 0.953 0.774

0.962 0.843 0.970

0.952 0.968 0.910

0.923 0.909 0.773

0.859 0.772 0.629

-a – –

– – –

Threat Promise Identification Internalization LTO Customer orientation Adaptive selling Commitment Fulfillment

9

Notes: n = 258, Square root of AVE is show on the diagonal. Correlations are shown below the diagonal LTO = Long-term orientation. a Single item measures. Reliability and validity estimates not applicable.

use of. Threat tactics, the probability of fulfillment doesn't even reach 0.2 and quickly slopes toward 0 as commitment increases. Fig. 3 shows the moderating effect of Promise tactics on the commitment-fulfillment relationship. Unlike Threat tactics, both the high and low slopes of the moderator (Promise) eventually trend toward a probability of 1 as commitment increases. However, when commitment is low, high use of Promise tactics results in a much lower probability of fulfillment (0.4) than when Promise tactics have low use (> 0.8). The moderating effect of Identify tactics on the commitment-fulfillment relationship is shown in Fig. 4. This relationship is visually similar to the relationship depicted in Fig. 3 (Promise). When commitment is low, high use of Identify tactics results in a much lower probability of fulfillment (< 0.4) than when Identify tactics have low use (close to 0.9). Finally, Fig. 5 represents the moderating effect that Internal tactics have on the commitment-fulfillment relationship. Unlike any of the other tactics, Internal tactics have a positive effect on the relationship. We can see this because the line representing high Internal tactic use has a much higher probability of fulfillment than the line representing low Internal tactic use when commitment is low. Another way to think of this is that low commitment generally results in low fulfillment, but when the high use of Internal tactics is applied, that probability gets extremely high (0.9).

dependent variable based on the predictors; the non-significant test statistic shown in Table 4 (0.56) is another indication of adequate model fit. Finally, Nagelkerke's R2 of 0.816 provides additional support for the tested model. To additionally ensure the explanatory power of the independent variables, a controls-only model and a main-effectsonly model were analyzed. These models however, revealed significantly lower model fits regarding Nagelkerke's R2 (0.533 and 0.753, respectively) Overall, the study found that an adequate validity level for the hypothesized model. 5.4. Logistic regression results The results displayed in Table 4 show significant effects for four of the seven moderators. None of the salesperson traits and characteristics—Adaptive Selling (B = 0.902 p = .305), Customer Orientation (B = 1.128 p = .166), or Long Term Orientation (B = 0.975 p = .444)—were found to significantly influence the relationship between commitment and fulfillment. However, the influence tactics demonstrate significant effects. Threat has a significant negative effect (Fig.1). (B = −7.409 p = .005) on the relationship between commitment and fulfillment. An increase in the threat variable by one unit is expected to decrease the likelihood of fulfillment by 99% (Exp (B) = 0.001). Promise has a significant negative effect (B = -1.279 p = .075) on the relationship between commitment and fulfillment. An increase in the promise variable by one unit is expected to decrease the likelihood of fulfillment by 72.2% (Exp(B) = 0.278). Identification has a significant negative effect (B = -1.577 p = .051) on the relationship between commitment and fulfillment. An increase in the identification variable by one unit is expected to decrease the odds of fulfillment by 79.3% (Exp(B) = 0.207). Internalization has a significant positive effect (B = 1.601 p = .041) on the relationship between commitment and fulfillment. An increase in the internalization variable by one unit is expected to increase the likelihood of fulfillment by almost 5 times (Exp (B) = 0.4956). Figs. 2–5 provide a visual representation of the significant relationships found in the results. All of the graphs show a generally positive relationship between commitment and the probability of fulfillment; high commitment is related to higher probability of fulfillment. The moderating effect of Threat tactics on the commitment-fulfillment relationship is shown in Fig. 2. With low use of Threat tactics, the probability of fulfillment is very near 1 at low commitment levels and moves closer to 1 as commitment increases. However, with high

6. Discussion This research is among the first influence-tactics studies that uses a concrete, behavioral dependent variable and has implications that can be managerially relevant to all sales organizations hoping to fulfill customer commitments. This study shows that, by offering recommendations and exchanging information with customers, salespeople can increase the likelihood that customer's purchase commitments will actually be fulfilled. It was also revealed that salespeople generally fail to convert commitments into fulfillments using threats, promises, ingratiation, or inspirational influence tactics. Additionally, long-term orientation, customer orientation, and adaptive selling behaviors were not found to have an impact on the commitment-fulfillment relationship. 6.1. Managerial implications First, purchase commitment does have a positive relationship with purchase fulfillment, but debate continues regarding the extent to which intention (commitment) leads to an actual behavior (fulfillment); 8

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into making a purchase decision; the facts should lead the customer to the fulfillment if the expert has made the proper recommendations. The use of referent power based on identifying with the salesperson was also shown to impede the relationship between commitment and fulfillment. This result may appear to be the most counterintuitive given the attention paid in the literature to “relationship selling.” However, relationship selling is about a business relationship and providing value to customers, not deliberate flattery intended to produce a sale via emotional manipulation. Salespeople can still build solid relationships with customers and then leverage those relationships to gain access to the customer and build credibility by sharing information regarding the product or service. Focusing on the attributes of the product or service yields better results in the long run than does simply relying on relationship tactics. Third, the findings of this study that are most directly related to increasing the relationship between customer commitment and purchase fulfillment are the influence tactics processed through internalization: information exchange and recommendation. This suggests that the customer adopts the salesperson's ideas into their own schema and that those ideas endure long after the customer's commitment. This finding indicates that using logic and reasoning to help the customer arrive at a product decision results in a preferred outcome. The salesperson needs expert knowledge of the product, the competition, and the market in order to provide thorough information to the customer. Finally, these results have a far-reaching impact on the relative importance of the stable salesperson traits and characteristics versus certain salesperson behaviors and tactics that are less consistent or not inherent to the salesperson and his or her work. This is important because many sales organizations utilize personality tests in hiring salespeople to search for certain stable characteristics that the sales organization believes to be crucial to obtaining sales fulfillments. However, the findings of this study indicate that the influence tactics used during each interaction actually have the most impact on sales fulfillments. In other words, effective sales behavior can be taught; salespeople are not merely “born” effective or not effective.

Table 4 Binary logistic regression model results.

Predictor effects Commitment Tenure (control) Objection count (control) Fulltime employees (control) Parttime employees (control) LTO Adapt CO Threat Promise Identification Internalization

Controls only

Main effects

β

Exp(B)

β

Exp(B)

β

Exp(B)

2.178⁎⁎ −0.018 −0.983⁎⁎

8.827 0.982 0.374

2.652⁎⁎ 0.06 −0.692⁎

14.18 1.062 0.501

2.522⁎⁎ 0.08 −0.813

12.458 1.083 0.444

−0.005

0.995

0.057

1.058

0.035

1.036

−0.019

0.981

0.012

1.012

0.226

1.254

−0.710⁎ 0.052 1.254⁎ −1.273⁎⁎ −0.664⁎ −0.702⁎ 1.061⁎⁎

0.492 1.053 3.504 0.28 0.515 0.496 2.888

−1.235⁎ −0.24 1.128 1.951⁎ −0.348 −0.294 0.482

0.291 0.787 3.09 7.036 0.706 0.745 1.619

−0.074 0.772

0.929 2.164

0.099

1.104

−0.507⁎

0.602

2.652 2.465 1.052 0.001 0.278 0.207 4.956

0.565 0.753 138.351

0.975 0.902 0.051 −7.409⁎ −1.279⁎ −1.577⁎ 1.601⁎ 0.612 0.816 109.737

0.035

0.560

Interactions with commitment Tenure (control) Objection count (control) Fulltime employees (control) Parttime employees (control) LTO Adapt CO Threat Promise Identification Internalization Cox & Snell R2 0.4 Nagelkerke R2 0.533 −2 log 219.381 likelihood Hosmer0.603 Lemeshow

Full model

6.2. Limitations and future research This study contains several limitations and suggests avenues for future research. The relationships of interest here are looked at from the salesperson perspective and related to the managerial recommendations that might help a salesperson convert commitments into fulfillments. Saliency occurs in a customer's mind and is therefore not relevant as a variable in this particular study. Furthermore, tapping into the customer's mentality to measure salience would necessitate myriad other variables, which puts the inclusion of saliency as a variable beyond the scope of this research. It would also be interesting to investigate salesperson influence tactics from the customer's point of view. An examination of the relationship between the customer commitment and the sales fulfillment focused on the customer's perception could add nuance and depth to the expanding literature on customer perception of salespeople. It would be particularly interesting to compare and contrast the customer and salesperson perspectives on an interaction-by-interaction basis. Thankfully, a distributor for a well-known international salon-products company was willing to participate in an in-depth, ongoing data collection process for this research. This sample provided a large data set for the research. However, the nature of the instrument, the questionnaire, was to be filled out by each salesperson. Three of the constructs were dependent upon stable characteristics inherent to each salesperson, and variation was thus dependent on the size of the company's sales force. Unfortunately, the sales force only consisted of six salespeople, which severely limited the variation of three of the model's constructs because the unit of analysis was the interaction rather than the salesperson. A way to offset this problem in future research would be to expand the data collection to a much larger salesforce in an effort

LTO = Long term orientation, Adapt = Adaptive selling, CO = Customer orientation The dependent variable in all models is Fulfillment ⁎ =0.05 significance level ⁎⁎ =0.00 significance level

however, this study clarifies and narrows previous findings due to its inclusion of actual purchases as the dependent variable. The results of this study suggest that there is a main effect of customer commitment on purchase fulfillment prior to the addition of any moderating relationships. This is congruent with the research on intentions and behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). However, the intent of this study was to provide practitioners with actionable items that they can use to convert commitments into purchase fulfillments. For that reason, the focal point of this study's implications are the variables that moderate the relationship between customer commitment and purchase fulfillment. Second, the relationship between customer commitment and purchase fulfillment is severely undermined by commonly used influence tactics. The relationship between commitment and fulfillment is generally strong, but threats, promises, and ingratiation influence tactics each attenuate that relationship. For managers and salespeople, this means that although threats, promises, and ingratiation may seem like worthwhile tactics, they actually lower the chance that commitment will lead to fulfillment. An expert should not have to coerce a customer

9

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Fig. 1. Research model.

Fig. 2. Graph of Threat Moderator on Commitment-Fulfillment Relationship.

Fig. 4. Graph of Identify Moderator on Commitment-Fulfillment Relationship.

Fig. 3. Graph of Promise Moderator on Commitment-Fulfillment Relationship.

Fig. 5. Graph of Internal Moderator on Commitment-Fulfillment Relationship.

to capture more variation across the stable salesperson characteristics. Ideally, each individual interaction would still constitute the unit of analysis, but increasing the size of the respondent pool would help find variance in these three constructs. Purchase fulfillment often requires that salespeople engage clients in multiple, seemingly fruitless sales calls in order to build the relationship to the point that it will lead to sales fulfillment. However, that issue was not the focus of this research, and data was captured after relationships with clients had already begun to be established. To extend this research further, future researchers should address the length of the salesperson/customer relationship. Relationships are thought to deepen and strengthen over time and as the parties have more

interactions. An interesting method by which to do this would involve a growth model that could account for relationship length and investigate how and whether salespeople repeat the use of certain influence tactics. The results of this study are limited to interactions between salespeople and customers. However, the finding that threats, promises, and ingratiation negatively affect the interaction, coupled with habitual use of those tactics in other situations, begs more questions that demand answers. For instance, in terms of sales management, would internalization tactics (information exchange and recommendations) be more effective than the frequent threat of job loss? Does the promise influence tactic frequently used in many promotions actually impair purchase fulfillment? If not, what other factors affect that relationship 10

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and make it different from the salesperson and customer situation?

Appendix A. Initial survey example Please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with each of the following statements using a 1–7 scale where 1 = Strongly Disagree and 7 = Strongly Agree

Long Term Orientation

Strongly Disagree

I plan for the long term. I work hard for success in the future. I don’t mind giving up today’s fun for success in the future. Persistence is important to me.

1 1 1 1

Focus on Customers

Your Selling Approach

3 3 3 3

4 4 4 4

5 5 5 5

6 6 6 6

7 7 7 7

1 1 1 1

Strongly Agree

2 2 2 2

3 3 3 3

Strongly Disagree

I believe each Salon requires a unique approach. When I feel that my influence approach is not working, I can easily change to another approach. I like to experiment with different influence approaches.

How long have you been working for this organization? _____ months

How much experience do you have in the Sales industry? _____ years

2 2 2 2

Strongly Disagree

I try to figure out what might help motivate a Salon to make a purchase. I try to show Salons how their purchases will benefit them. I have the Salon’s best interests in mind. I try to learn about the decision maker’s interests and motivations when asking for an order.

_____ years

Strongly Agree

_____ months

On average, how many hours a week do you work? ______________hrs per week.

11

1 1 1

2 2 2

4 4 4 4

5 5 5 5

6 6 6 6

Strongly Agree

Neither

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

7 7 7 7

6 6 6

7 7 7

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Appendix B. Interaction survey example

What type(s) of objections did you encounter from this Salon during this sales call. Please check all that apply. Too expensive Price point not high enough Not enough retail space Don’t want to bring on the full line

Education

Alliance with a competitor

Not exclusive enough

Had this product in the past

Other, what? _______________________________________________

To what extent did you use the following influence tactics on this call (0=not at all, 7 = used a lot)? Not Used Information Exchange It To what extent did you… All 1 1 1

Present information related to the various purchase options Talk about all the possible applications of the Aveda products and services Ensure the decision maker received all materials relevant to purchase decisions

0 0 0

Recommendations To what extent did you…

Not Used It All

Make it clear that by following your recommendations, the Salon would benefit Make a logical argument for expecting success from your suggestions Provide a clear picture of the positive impact your suggestions would have on the Salon

0 0 0

Potential Consequences To what extent did you…

Not Used It All

Emphasize the potential consequences of not purchasing now (e.g., impending price increase, not being ready for event/busy season, etc.) Emphasize the potential loss of an incentive (i.e., free class, shelf, etc.) if a commitment is not made today Mention that Aveda plans to open in this market (which can produce $X) and we would love to do it with you if you accept the opportunity now (e.g., “If you don’t do it now, a competitor will”)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 1 1

Promises To what extent did you…

Not Used It All

Offer to give special attention to the Salon if a decision was made to purchase Offer to provide incentive to the Salon for agreeing to your purchase requests Offer a specific deal for the Salon to change its position on certain issues

0 0 0

Ingratiation To what extent did you…

Not Used It All

Act in a friendly manner prior to asking for what you wanted Compliment and praise the Salon and it’s achievements Make the decision maker feel good about themselves before making your sales pitch

0 0 0

Inspirational Appeals To what extent did you…

Not Used It All

Try to get the Salon excited about Aveda Appeal to the Salon’s values and ideals when asking for business Make a sales pitch that appealed to emotions

0 0 0

1 1 1

1 1 1

1 1 1

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

Used At A Lot

5 5 5

6 6 6

7 7 7 Used At A Lot

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

6 6 6

7 7 7 Used At A Lot

Used At A Lot

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

6 6 6

7 7 7 Used At A Lot

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

6 6 6

7 7 7 Used At A Lot

2 2 2

3 3 3

4 4 4

5 5 5

6 6 6

7 7 7

Did this sales call end in a commitment? Yes No If yes, how certain are you that the salon will actually fulfill the commitment? ________________% certain

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