Abstract
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.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
This does not imply that in sales manager–salesperson dyads characterized by a high level of identification congruence sales manager’s goals are necessarily the primary driver of a salesperson’s motivation to strive for high levels of sales performance and customer satisfaction. However, what we suggest is that compared to sales manager–salesperson dyads characterized by a lower level of identification congruence, a salesperson in a sales manager–salesperson dyad characterized by a high level of identification congruence is, ceteris paribus, more strongly motivated to meet or exceed the sales manager’s expectations.
Note that all independent variables should be centered at their scale midpoints, so that zero is a meaningful value.
The exception is the quadratic effect of sales managers’ identification, which is not significant for customer satisfaction as dependent variable.
Again, the exception is the quadratic effect of sales managers’ identification on customer satisfaction, which is not significant.
However, to adopt the adequate control approach depending on the specific identification constellation, sales managers have to assess the level of identification of their salespersons. For assessing a salesperson’s level of identification the sales manager may use the information from upward feedback processes or draw inferences from relationship-oriented behaviors of the salesperson (e.g., strive for interaction, adherence, interpersonal altruism, and invested effort to meet the sales manager’s expectations).
References
Ahearne, M., Rapp, A., Hughes, D. E., & Jindal, R. (2010). Managing sales force product perceptions and control systems in the success of new product introductions. Journal of Marketing Research, 47(4), 764–776.
Albert, S., Ashforth, B. E., & Dutton, J. E. (2000). Organizational identity and identification: charting new waters and building new bridges. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 13–17.
Anderson, E., & Oliver, R. L. (1987). Perspectives on behavior-based versus outcome-based salesforce control systems. Journal of Marketing, 51(4), 76–88.
Aquino, K., & Douglas, S. (2003). Identity threat and antisocial behavior in organizations: the moderating effects of individual differences, aggressive modeling, and hierarchical status. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 90(1), 195–208.
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., Tudor, M., & Nelson, G. (1991). Close relationships as including other in the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(2), 241–253.
Aron, A., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., Mashek, D., Lewandowski, G., Wright, S. C., & Aron, E. N. (2004). Including others in the self. European Review of Social Psychology, 15(1), 101–132.
Ashforth, B. E., & Anand, V. (2003). The normalization of corruption in organizations. In B. M. Staw & R. M. Kramer (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (pp. 1–52). Oxford: Elsevier.
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Journal, 14(1), 20–39.
Ashforth, B. E., & Rogers, K. M. (2012). Is the employee-organization relationship misspecified? The centrality of tribes in experiencing the organization. In L. M. Shore, J. A.-M. Coyle-Shapiro, & L. E. Tetrick (Eds.), The employee-organization relationship (pp. 23–53). New York: Routledge.
Ashforth, B. E., & Sluss, D. M. (2006). Relational identities in organizations: Healthy versus unhealthy. In O. Kyriakidou & M. F. Özbilgin (Eds.), Relational perspectives in organizational studies (pp. 8–27). Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bagozzi, R. P., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 74–94.
Baldauf, A., Cravens, D. W., & Piercy, N. W. (2005). Sales management control research–synthesis and an agenda for future research. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 25(1), 7–26.
Bashshur, M. R., Hernández, A., & González-Romá, V. (2011). When managers and their teams disagree: a longitudinal look at the consequences of differences in perceptions of organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(3), 558–573.
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529.
Bell, S. J., & Menguc, B. (2002). The employee-organization relationship, organizational citizenship behaviors, and superior service quality. Journal of Retailing, 78(2), 131–146.
Bello, D. C., & Gilliand, D. I. (1997). The effect of output controls, process controls, and flexibility on export channel performance. Journal of Marketing, 61(1), 22–38.
Brady, M. K., Vorhees, C. M., & Brusco, M. J. (2012). Service sweethearting: its antecedents and customer consequences. Journal of Marketing, 76(2), 81–98.
Brewer, M. B., & Gardner, W. (1996). Who is this “We”? levels of collective identity and self representations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(1), 83–93.
Cardador, M. T., & Pratt, M. G. (2006). Identification management and its bases: bridging management and marketing perspectives through a focus on affiliation dimensions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34(2), 174–184.
Celsi, M. W., & Gilly, M. C. (2010). Employees as internal audience: how advertising affects employees’ customer focus. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38(4), 520–529.
Churchill, G. A., Jr. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 64–73.
Cravens, D. W., Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., & Young, C. E. (1993). Behavior-based and outcome-based salesforce control systems. Journal of Marketing, 57(4), 47–59.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297–334.
Edwards, J. R. (2002). Alternatives to difference scores: Polynomial regression analysis and response surface methodology. In F. Drasgow & N. W. Schmitt (Eds.), Advances in measurement and data analysis (pp. 350–400). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Edwards, J. R. (1995). Alternatives to difference scores as dependent variables in the study of congruence in organizational research. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 64(3), 307–327.
Edwards, J. R., & Cable, D. M. (2009). The value of value congruence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3), 654–677.
Fang, E., Evans, K. R., & Landry, T. D. (2005). Control systems’ effect on attributional processes and sales outcomes: a cybernetic information-processing perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 33(4), 553–574.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
Gioia, D. A. (1998). From individual to organizational identity. In D. A. Whetten & P. C. Godfrey (Eds.), Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations (pp. 17–31). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Goff, B. G., Boles, J. S., Bellenger, D. N., & Stojack, C. (1997). The influence of salesperson selling behaviors on customer satisfaction with products. Journal of Retailing, 73(2), 171–183.
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6, 219–247.
Hartline, M. D., & Ferrell, O. C. (1996). The management of customer-contact service employees: an empirical investigation. Journal of Marketing, 60(4), 52–70.
Hogg, M. A., & Terry, D. J. (2000). Social identity and self-categorization processes in organizational contexts. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 121–140.
Hogg, M. A., van Knippenberg, D., & Rast, D. E. (2012). Intergroup leadership in organizations: leading across group and organizational boundaries. Academy of Management Review, 37, 232–255.
Homburg, C., Wieseke, J., & Hoyer, W. D. (2009). Social identity and the service–profit chain. Journal of Marketing, 73(March), 38–54.
Hox, J. J. (2010). Multilevel analysis: techniques and applications. New York: Routledge.
Hughes, D. E. (2012). This ad’s for you: the indirect effect of advertising perceptions on salesperson effort and performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, (forthcoming).
Hughes, D. E., & Ahearne, M. (2010). Energizing the reseller’s sales force: the power of brand identification. Journal of Marketing, 74(4), 81–96.
Humphrey, S. E., Nahrgang, J. D., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: a meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332–1356.
Jasmand, C., Blazevix, V., & De Ruyter, K. (2012). Generating sales while providing service: a study of customer service representatives’ ambidextrous behavior. Journal of Marketing, 76(1), 20–37.
Kark, R., & Shamir, B. (2002). The dual effect of transformational leadership: Priming relational and collective selves and further effects on followers. In B. J. Avolio & F. J. Yammarino (Eds.), Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (pp. 67–91). Amsterdam: JAI: An Imprint of Elsevier Science.
Kark, R., Shamir, B., & Chen, G. (2003). The two faces of transformational leadership: dependence and empowerment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), 246–255.
Katsikea, E., Theodosiou, T., & Morgan, R. E. (2007). Managerial, organizational, and external drivers of sales effectiveness in export market ventures. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 35, 270–283.
Kelman, H. C. (1961). Processes of opinion change. Public Opinion Quarterly, 25, 57–78.
Lam, S. K., Kraus, F., & Ahearne, M. (2010). The diffusion of market orientation throughout the organization: a social learning theory perspective. Journal of Marketing, 74(5), 61–79.
Leary, M. R., Tambor, E. S., Terdal, S. K., & Downs, D. L. (1995). Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: the sociometer hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(3), 518–530.
Leary, M. R., Haupt, A. L., Strausser, K. S., & Chokel, J. T. (1998). Calibrating the sociometer: the relationship between interpersonal appraisals and state self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1290–1299.
Lichtenstein, D. R., Netemeyer, R. G., & Maxham, J. G., III. (2010). The relationships among manager-, employee-, and customer-company identification: implications for retail store financial performance. Journal of Retailing, 86(1), 85–93.
Mael, F. A., & Ashforth, B. (1992). Alumni and their alma mater: a partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(2), 103–123.
Maxham, J. G., Netemeyer, R. G., & Lichtenstein, D. R. (2008). The retail value chain: linking employee perceptions to employee performance, customer evaluations, and store performance. Marketing Science, 27(2), 147–167.
Oliver, R. L., & Anderson, E. (1994). An empirical test of the consequences of behavior- and outcome-based sales control systems. Journal of Marketing, 58(4), 53–67.
Ortega, J. (2001). Job rotation as a learning mechanism. Management Science, 47(10), 1361–1370.
Piercy, N. F., Cravens, D. W., Lane, N., & Vorhies, D. W. (2006). Driving organizational citizenship behaviors and salesperson in-role behavior performance: the role of management control and perceived organizational support. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34, 244–262.
Pratt, M. G. (1998). To be or not to be, central questions in organizational identification. In D. A. Whetten & P. C. Godfrey (Eds.), Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations (pp. 171–201). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Prentice, D. A. (2001). The individual self, relational self, and collective self: A commentary. In C. Sedikides & M. B. Brewer (Eds.), Individual self, relational self, and collective self (pp. 315–326). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Sedikides, C., & Brewer, M. B. (2001). Individual self, relational self, and collective self: Partners, opponents, or strangers? In C. Sedikides & M. B. Brewer (Eds.), Individual self, relational self, and collective self (pp. 1–4). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.
Sherif, M., & Hovland, C. I. (1961). Social judgment: Assimilation and contrast effects in communication and attitude change. Oxford: Yale University Press.
Sluss, D. M., & Ashforth, B. E. (2007). Relational identity and identification: defining ourselves through work relationships. Academy of Management Review, 32(1), 9–32.
Smither, J. W., London, M., Vasilopoulos, N. J., Reilly, R. R., Millsap, R. E., & Salvemini, N. (1995). An examination of the effects of an upward feedback program over time. Personnel Psychology, 48(1), 1–34.
Szymanski, D. M. (1988). Determinants of selling effectiveness: the importance of declarative knowledge to the personal selling concept. Journal of Marketing, 52(1), 64–77.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers.
Tepper, B. J. (1995). Upward maintenance tactics in supervisory mentoring and nonmentoring relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 38(4), 1191–1205.
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: a self-categorization theory. The American Journal of Sociology, 94(6), 1514–1516.
Tyagi, P. K. (1982). Perceived organizational climate and the process of salesperson motivation. Journal of Marketing Research, 19(2), 240–254.
Umphress, E. E., Bingham, J. B., & Mitchell, M. S. (2010). Unethical behavior in the name of the company: the moderating effect of organizational identification and positive reciprocity beliefs on unethical pro-organizational behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(4), 769–780.
Vignoles, V. L., Regalia, C., Manzi, C., Golledge, J., & Scabini, E. (2006). Beyond self-esteem: influence of multiple motives on identity construction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(2), 308–333.
Voss, Z. G., Cable, D. M., & Voss, G. B. (2006). Organizational identity and firm performance: what happens when leaders disagree about ‘Who We Are?’. Organization Science, 17(6), 741–755.
Walumbwa, F. O., Wang, P., Wang, H., Schaubroeck, J., & Avolio, B. J. (2010). Psychological processes linking authentic leadership to follower behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly, 21, 901–914.
Wayne, S. J., Shore, L. M., & Liden, R. C. (1997). Perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange: a social exchange perspective. The Academy of Management Journal, 40, 82–111.
Wieseke, J., Ahearne, M., Lam, S. K., & van Dick, R. (2009). The role of leaders in internal marketing. Journal of Marketing, 73(March), 123–145.
Wieseke, J., Kraus, F., Ahearne, M., & Mikolon, S. (2012). Multiple identification foci and their countervailing effects on salespeople’s negative headquarters stereotypes. Journal of Marketing, 76(3), 1–20.
Zhang, Z., Wang, M., & Shi, J. (2012). Leader-follower congruence in proactive personality and work outcomes: the mediating role of leader-member exchange. Academy of Management Journal, 55(1), 111–130.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank Pascal Güntürkün, Sven Mikolon, three anonymous reviewers, and the editor, Tomas Hult, for their helpful comments and suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
All authors contributed equally.
Appendices
Appendix A
Appendix B
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ahearne, M., Haumann, T., Kraus, F. et al. It’s a matter of congruence: How interpersonal identification between sales managers and salespersons shapes sales success. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 41, 625–648 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-013-0333-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-013-0333-x