An empirical investigation of salespeople's behavior, effort and performance during sales contests

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of task-goal attributes on salespeople during a sales contest. The attributes of goal difficulty, goal clarity, and goal acceptance were examined as predictor variables. Impact was measured by performance, effort, and behavior (selling method). The possible moderating effects of task-specific self-esteem and achievement motivation were studied. Goal-setting theory was used as the theoretical base for the study. A field survey and company-supplied information were used to gather the data. Salespeople who worked for brokers of a national food producer and were involved in a sales contest received the questionnaire at mid-point during the contest. Respondents reported their ratings of their individual performance, effort, and selling method (SOCO--Saxe and Weitz's 1982 scale). The company provided the performance results for each salesperson at the conclusion of the contest. The self-esteem measure (Bagozzi 1976) and the achievement-motivation measure from one of Duncan's 1969 scales were also collected with the questionnaire. The research hypotheses were tested with multivariate multiple regression. Increased goal difficulty (harder goals) was related to higher effort. Increased goal acceptance resulted in increased effort and performance as reported by the individual. Dividing the sample by levels of the moderators yielded additional support for certain hypotheses. For individuals with low self-esteem, increased goal acceptance and increased interaction of goal difficulty and goal acceptance were related to a higher selling-method score representing a greater customer orientation. Contrary to the hypothesized response, a decrease in goal clarity was related to an increase in self-reported performance for individuals of middle-level achievement motivation. Also for those at the middle level, a decrease in goal difficulty, easier goals, resulted in an increase in the selling-method score, a higher customer orientation. These findings are expected to add to our understanding of the role of sales contests as a marketing tool and goal setting as a theoretical approach to motivating salespeople. Implications are provided for both the marketing research and professional sales manager.