Salesperson Attributes that Influence Consumer Perceptions: An Abstract

In recent years thousands of retail stores have announced closings and many major retail chains have declared bankruptcy, announcing dissolution of all their company stores. Facing increased competition from online retailers, the importance of high-quality interactions with salespeople has become more vital to gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage for brick-and-mortar stores (Cross et al. 2007; Cuevas 2018; Hoyle et al. 2020; Marshall et al. 2012). Salespeople can serve as a way for retailers to differentiate among one another as well as set themselves apart from online competitors (Boles et al. 1997; Zoltners et al. 2011). Furthermore, as a conduit for communicating information, building rapport, gleaning customer insights, and helping customers uncover unfelt or latent needs, retail salespeople remain an indispensable force in building customer relationships with stores, products, and brands, as well as fostering customer satisfaction and store loyalty (Dobrescu and Radu 2014; Homburg et al. 2011; Lee and Dubinsky 2003). Customer satisfaction depends on how well the salesperson interaction matches customer expectations (Habel et al. 2020; Rippé et al. 2016). Salesperson attributes such as helpfulness, friendliness, responsiveness, expertise, knowledge of the firm’s products, and ability to answer questions may also come into play when determining customer satisfaction (Tuk et al. 2009). Therefore, the objective of this paper is to assess how consumers prioritize salesperson attributes when evaluating their retail shopping experience and how these differ as a function of the shopping environment. The overarching goal of this research is two-fold: (1) Determine the salesperson attributes consumers feel are most important in the salesperson-consumer interaction and (2) Develop an understanding of how these attributes impact feelings of satisfaction/dissatisfaction within a conceptual framework based on expectancy-disconfirmation theory. To achieve these goals, two mixed-method studies were conducted analyzing how differences in consumer expectations regarding salesperson attributes affect consumer satisfaction. The results demonstrated that a variety of salesperson customer orientation attributes are essential for modern consumers, that the importance of these attributes differs as a function of context (retail, direct selling, service failure), and how various attributes contributed to the generation of digital word-of-mouth. The study of this topic should be beneficial for marketing research, as well as for marketing practitioners dealing with problems in attracting consumers to brick-and-mortar stores and facing issues related to the digital economy.