Motivating Salespeople to Sell New Products: The Relative Influence of Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

This research explores the relative influence of salespeople's attitudes toward selling a new product, perceptions of subjective norms, and self-efficacy on the development of selling intentions and, ultimately, the success of a new product launch. The longitudinal study employs a nonlinear growth curve model that leverages survey data from industrial salespeople and objective performance records of their daily sales during the first several months in the market of two new products: a new-to-market product and a line extension. By examining salesperson-level variance on new product performance, the authors suggest that managers should focus on increasing salesperson self-efficacy and positive attitudes toward selling the product to build selling intentions and quickly grow new product performance. They also suggest that sales managers should resist the temptation to rely on normative pressure during a new product introduction. Not only are subjective norms less effective in building selling intentions, but they also diminish the positive impact of attitudes and self-efficacy on salesperson intentions and constrain the positive relationships between intentions and performance and self-efficacy and performance.

Are conservative approaches to new product selling a blessing in disguise?

“…New product adoption is an interaction of selling effort and commitment to the new product (Kuester et al 2016). New product selling intentions precede effortful behavior and capture a salesperson's willingness to try hard in selling new products (Fu et al 2010). CSB differs from these concepts in that it specifically accounts for the temporal ordering of selling new and existing products.…”

“…Growth rate of new product sales (Fu et al 2010); New product performance (Fu et al 2008) Selling performance (Van der Borgh et al 2015); Customer satisfaction, sales performance, efficiency (Jasmand et al 2012); profit margins (DeCarlo and Lam 2016)…”

“…Managers assess their subordinates by judging the degree to which a salesperson matches their ideal of a Bgood salesperson.T his is typically reflected in high effort and productivity (Harris et al 2014). When launching new products, managers expect this effort to be enduring because salespeople need to open up a new market by informing and educating customers about how the new product may address customer needs and problems (Fu et al 2010). When salespeople first focus on selling existing products and delay their effort to sell the new product till the late stages of sales cycles, managers will feel that their employees had the chance to put in more effort to sell the new product but did not take this opportunity.…”

“…Companies thus invest millions of dollars annually to make new products look more attractive to salespeople (Fu et al 2010). Particularly, they try to alter a salesperson's risk perceptions by providing information that makes the benefits of the new product more salient and accessible in the individual's decision process.…”

The effect of word-of-mouth on the purchase of genuine and counterfelt luxury brands : the roles of attitude functions

“…However, limited research focuses on public moral (subjective norm) in distinguishing genuine product and counterfeits. One exception as I was aware is that Fu et al (2010) tested the moderator role of subjective norms in promoting new products. In China, symbolic goods such as luxury brand products locate the individual vertically within the social hierarchy rather than express one's internal self.…”