Mavenness And Salespeople Success: An Empirical Investigation

The sales literature has examined many characteristics of highly successful salespeople but as yet has not evaluated the concept of mavenness in the context of sales. Mavens are persons who have a passionate desire to freely share their expertise and knowledge for the benefit of others. This paper develops a three-factor measure of mavenness that measures levels of expertise, passion and the desire to share knowledge, and tests if higher levels of mavenness are associated with superior salesperson performance. The scale was administered to a sample of 122 salespersons in a large insurance company. Data on salesperson performance as well as other control variables were collected from archival records. Confirmatory factor analysis provided satisfactory support for the scale. Mavenness and the control variables were regressed on salesperson performance. All three factors of mavenness were highly significant. Sales managers can improve the selection and training of their sales force by using the scale to find candidates with high levels of mavenness. Although the concept of mavenness is not new, no attempt to measure this trait has been made previously. Furthermore, this trait has not before been tested to see if high levels of mavenness are associated with superior salesperson performance

Building Relationships between Business Schools and Students: An Empirical Investigation into Student Retention

This study uses the relationship marketing theory of commitment and trust as a framework to investigate the issue of student retention in business schools. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships specified by Morgan and Hunt\u27s (1994) theory of relationship marketing. Students\u27 commitment to the business schools were determined by perceived benefits of attending the school, perceived similarity of values between the school and the students, and trust between the professors and the students. Commitment increased intentions to remain at the business school

Building Relationships Between Business Schools And Students: An Empirical Investigation Into Student Retention

This study uses the relationship marketing theory of commitment and trust as a framework to investigate the issue of student retention in business schools. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships specified by Morgan and Hunt's (1994) theory of relationship marketing.  Students' commitment to the business schools were determined by perceived benefits of attending the school, perceived similarity of values between the school and the students, and trust between the professors and the students.  Commitment increased intentions to remain at the business school

Green Advertising: The Progress of Three Decades (1991-2020)

This paper presents an integrated review of 144 articles published on green advertising (GA) between 1991-2020. The extant literature is reviewed to aid taxonomical analysis of definitions, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks. The review suggests that the GA literature tracks the stimuli-moderators-outcome template of the general advertising literature. Consequently, advertising claims and appeals, consumer related factors, and product related factors are the organizing themes of the review. Emerging trends and possible research gaps for each of these three categories are identified. Based on a thorough discussion of current knowledge in the domain, detailed recommendations are presented to advance research in the field of GA

Positive Psychology in Sales: Integrating Psychological Capital

As positive psychology moves into the workplace, researchers have been able to demonstrate the desirable impact of positive organizational behavior. Specifically, psychological capital (PsyCap) improves employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Advancing PsyCap in sales research is important given the need for a comprehensive positive approach to drive sales performance, offset the high cost of salesperson turnover, improve cross-functional sales interfaces, and enrich customer relationships. The authors provide an integrative review of PsyCap, discuss its application in sales, and advance an agenda for future research. Research prescriptions are organized according to individual-level, intra-organizational, and extra-organizational outcomes pertinent to the sales field

The Importance Of Decision Confidence To Strategy Outcomes

Strategic marketing researchers are of the view that formulating high quality strategies is sufficient for achieving high strategy success rates.  This research study investigates the effect of key organizational and managerial variables on the outcome of strategies.  In particular, the study includes, decision confidence, a hitherto neglected variable in the strategy literature, as an additional, and critical, variable that affects the success of marketing strategies.  This study attempts to establish a bridge between two main streams of literature in the strategy discipline--strategic marketing and decision making