Investigating the Impact of Salespersons’ Use of Technology and Social Media on Their Customer Relationship Performance in B2B Settings

Abstract

Purpose-Salespeople have had a long aff air with technology in serving customers. Some research studies, however, indicate that too much technology may have a negative impact on salespeople's social skills. This paper aims to analyze what impact technology-specifi cally, social media, in terms of attitudes and use-has on selling performance. Design/Methodology/Approach-In a sample of salespeople from diff erent business-to-business (B2B) industries, respondents were surveyed in the form of face-to-face interviews that were conducted at their place of work. The study analyzed how the intensity of technology use, attitudes towards and the use of social media aff ect customer relationship performance. Variance-based structural equation modeling, especially PLS-SEM, was applied for the analysis. Sažetak Svrha-U usluživanju potrošača prodavači su već dugo povezani s tehnologijom. Međutim neka istraživanja pokazuju da bi previše tehnologije moglo negativno utjecati na društvene vještine prodavača. Cilj rada jest analizirati utjecaj tehnologije, konkretno društvenih medija-stava i uporabe na učinkovitost prodaje. Metodološki pristup-U uzorku prodavača iz različitih industrija poslovne potrošnje ispitanici su bili osobno ispitani anketiranjem na radnome mjestu, uz pomoć anketara. Analizirano je kako intenzitet korištenja tehnologije, stav o društvenim medijima i uporaba društvenih medija utječu na učinkovitost odnosa s potrošačima. Za analizu je korištena metoda modeliranja strukturnih jednadžbi na bazi varijance, osobito parcijalnih najmanjih kvadrata (PLS-SEM). Rezultati i implikacije-Temeljem rezultata provjereni su učinci intenzivnog korištenja tehnologije na stav o društvenim medijima i uporabu društvenih medija te na

Digital Marketing Communication in Developing Countries

“…An effective use of digital marketing especially social media can significantly lower the cost over traditional marketing. In addition, a digital platform facilitates the interaction between the brand and customers (Hudson et al, 2016;Gati et al, 2018;Gillpatrick, 2019). The use of social media and the internet has increased as a means for creating and sharing information, thoughts, ideas and relationships online (Podvorica and Ukaj, 2019).…”

Social Media Adoption, Usage And Impact In Business-To-Business (B2B) Context: A State-Of-The-Art Literature Review

“…For example, Agnihotri et al (2016) investigated how the implementation of social media by B2B salesperson affects consumer satisfaction. Salesperson's social media use is defined as a "salesperson's utilization and integration of social media technology to Agnihotri et al 2016;Ancillai et al 2019;Rossmann and Stei 2015;Agnihotri et al 2012;Agnihotri et al 2017;Itani et al 2017;Salo 2017;Bhattacharjya and Ellison 2015;Gáti et al 2018;Gruner and Power 2018;Hollebeek 2019;Iankova et al 2018;Jussila et al 2011;Kho 2008;Niedermeier et al 2016;Ogilvie et al 2018;Hsiao et al 2020;Mahrous 2013;Kärkkäinen et al 2011;Meire et al 2017;Moncrief et al 2015;Rodriguez et al 2012;Pitt et al 2018;Pitt et al 2017;Sivarajah et al 2019 Adoption of social media Buratti et al 2018;Gáti et al 2018;Gazal et al 2016;Itani et al 2017;Kumar and Möller 2018;Lacka and Chong 2016;Lashgari et al 2018;Michaelidou et al 2011;Müller et al 2018;Nunan et al 2018;Pascucci et al 2018;Rossmann and Stei 2015;Shaltoni 2017;Siamagka et al 2015;…”

“…Another group of studies focused on the effect of social media on customer relationships (Bhattacharjya and Ellison 2015;Gáti et al 2018;Gruner and Power 2018;Hollebeek 2019;Iankova et al 2018;Jussila et al 2011;Kho 2008;Niedermeier et al 2016;Ogilvie et al 2018). For example, Bhattacharjya and Ellison (2015) investigated the way companies build relationships with customers by using responsive customer relationship management.…”

“…Jussila et al (2011), by reviewing the literature, found that social media leads to increased customer focus and understanding, increased level of customer service and decreased time-to-market. Gáti et al (2018) focused their research efforts on social media use in customer relationship performance, particularly in customer relations. The study investigated the adoption and impact of social media by salespeople of B2B companies.…”

“…Some scholars investigated factors affecting the adoption of social media by B2B companies (Buratti et al 2018;Gáti et al 2018;Gazal et al 2016;Itani et al 2017;Kumar and Möller 2018;Lacka and Chong 2016). For instance, Lacka and Chong (2016) investigated factors affecting the adoption of social media by B2B companies from different industries in China.…”