Effects of manufacturer salesperson's use of a power base on distributor's perception of salesperson power and distributor satisfaction : an empirical examination

Abstract

This research combined two areas of marketing--sales and channels of distribution--to benefit both. The channels area can now be better understood by applying some of the sales literature in a channels context. Likewise, the sales research on power base applications and their effects on salesperson performance and satisfaction, although not as extensive, can now be applied in a channel setting to determine the effects of a particular power base on manufacturer salesperson power and channel satisfaction by treating the salesperson as the manufacturer. In addition, this dissertation determined the degree that the manufacturer's salesperson is responsible for the sales relationship between the manufacturer and the industrial distributor, thereby making the manufacturer's salesperson worthy of future examination when attempting to explain the variance in channel satisfaction. The premise of this dissertation was to prove that the sales representative for the manufacturer is indeed a unique source of power in the channel separate to that of the manufacturer. This was determined by examining the overall power scores for the salesperson and the manufacturer. Depending on the power bases applied, this channel power supplied by the salesperson can result in a higher level of distributor perceived salesperson power as well as distributor satisfaction. The results of the study indicate that the manufacturer's salesperson does indeed have power in the industrial channel of distribution that is unique to and separate from that of the manufacturer. In addition, it was found that the use of expert, reward, legitimate, and coercive power increase the distributor's level of perceived overall power of that salesperson and that the use of expert, reward, and referent power have a positive effect on distributor satisfaction while the use of coercive power has a negative effect. Furthermore, support was found that the tenure of the manufacturer's salesperson with the distributor effects that distributor's satisfaction and the importance of the salesperson's product to the distributor for total sales effects distributor satisfaction.