Value-Based Selling as an Intervening Variable: Impacts on Salesperson Innovativeness and Performance
Abstract
This research addresses gaps in understanding the role of salesperson innovativeness and its influence on salesperson performance, specifically examining the mediating effect of value-based selling. The study seeks to answer whether salesperson innovativeness impacts performance and if value-based selling mediates this relationship. Employing a quantitative approach, the study was conducted in a sales organization where respondents were selected using purposive sampling. Data was analyzed through regression and mediation analysis. Results indicate that salesperson innovativeness significantly enhances performance but does not significantly affect value-based selling. Additionally, while value-based selling positively impacts performance, it does not mediate the relationship between innovativeness and performance. These findings suggest that fostering innovativeness directly boosts performance but relying on value-based selling as a mediator is ineffective. Future research should consider longitudinal studies to understand long-term effects, incorporate other relevant variables, conduct comparative studies across different industries, and utilize mixed-methods research to gain deeper insights into the dynamics between innovativeness, value-based selling, and performance. These approaches will help develop more comprehensive strategies for improving salesperson performance.
References
Ahmad, B., Liu, D., Asif, M. H., Ashfaq, M., & Irfan, M. (2022). Ambidextrous Leadership and Service Recovery Performance Under B2B Selling Context: An Examination Through Service Innovation Capability. SAGE Open, 12(2), 215824402210964. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221096454
Alamäki, A., & Korpela, P. (2021). Digital transformation and value-based selling activities: seller and buyer perspectives. Baltic Journal of Management, 16(2), 298–317. https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-08-2020-0304
Alnakhli, H., Inyang, A. E., & Itani, O. S. (2021). The Role of Salespeople in Value Co-Creation and Its Impact on Sales Performance. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 28(4), 347–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2021.2012079
Alzoubi, H., Alshurideh, M., Kurdi, B. Al, Akour, I., & Azi, R. (2022). Does BLE technology contribute towards improving marketing strategies, customers’ satisfaction and loyalty? The role of open innovation. International Journal of Data and Network Science, 6(2), 449–460. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.ijdns.2021.12.009
Arditto, L., Cambra-Fierro, J. J., Fuentes-Blasco, M., Jaraba, A. O., & Vázquez-Carrasco, R. (2020). “How does customer perception of salespeople influence the relationship? A study in an emerging economy.” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 54, 101952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.101952
Ayodele, O., & Kehinde, M. A. (2020). Will shared leadership engenders innovative work behaviors among salesmen toward improved performance? International Journal of Management and Economics, 56(3), 218–229. https://doi.org/10.2478/ijme-2020-0020
Azeem, M., Aziz, S., Shahid, J., Hayat, A., Ahmed, M., & Khan, M. I. (2022). The impact of customer-centric business strategies on customer relationship management: pharmaceutical field-force perspective. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 16(1), 138–154. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-09-2020-0083
Baistaman, J., Awang, Z., Afthanorhan, A., & Rahim, M. Z. A. (2020). Developing and validating the measurement model for financial literacy construct using confirmatory factor analysis. Humanities and Social Science Review, 8(2), 413–422.
Baranauskas, G. (2021). Application of customisation and personalisation in digital solutions of the non-life insurance market: a case study of Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian e-sales platforms. Engineering Management in Production and Services, 13(2), 68–82. https://doi.org/10.2478/emj-2021-0013
Benova, L., Moller, A.-B., Hill, K., Vaz, L. M. E., Morgan, A., Hanson, C., Semrau, K., Al Arifeen, S., & Moran, A. C. (2020). What is meant by validity in maternal and newborn health measurement? A conceptual framework for understanding indicator validation. Plos One, 15(5), e0233969. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233969
Böhm, E., Eggert, A., Terho, H., Ulaga, W., & Haas, A. (2020). Drivers and outcomes of salespersons’ value opportunity recognition competence in solution selling. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 40(3), 180–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2020.1778484
Bowen, M., Lai-Bennejean, C., Haas, A., & Rangarajan, D. (2021). Social media in B2B sales: Why and when does salesperson social media usage affect salesperson performance? Industrial Marketing Management, 96, 166–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.05.007
Cambra-Fierro, J., Gao, L. (Xuehui), & Melero-Polo, I. (2021). The power of social influence and customer–firm interactions in predicting non-transactional behaviors, immediate customer profitability, and long-term customer value. Journal of Business Research, 125, 103–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.013
Chaker, N. N., Nowlin, E. L., Pivonka, M. T., Itani, O. S., & Agnihotri, R. (2022). Inside sales social media use and its strategic implications for salesperson-customer digital engagement and performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 100, 127–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.10.006
Chathoth, P. K., Harrington, R. J., Chan, E. S. W., Okumus, F., & Song, Z. (2020). Situational and personal factors influencing hospitality employee engagement in value co-creation. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 91, 102687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102687
Chen, L., Zhu, F., & Mantrala, M. (2021). The path of support-to-sales: mediating role of seller collaborative information exchange in social commerce. European Journal of Marketing, 55(2), 363–384. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-11-2019-0823
Corsaro, D. (2022). Explaining the Sales Transformation through an institutional lens. Journal of Business Research, 142, 1106–1124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.12.009
Corsaro, D., & Maggioni, I. (2022). Sales transformation: conceptual domain and dimensions. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 37(3), 686–703. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-11-2020-0512
Cvitanovic, C., Shellock, R. J., Mackay, M., van Putten, E. I., Karcher, D. B., Dickey-Collas, M., & Ballesteros, M. (2021). Strategies for building and managing ‘trust’ to enable knowledge exchange at the interface of environmental science and policy. Environmental Science & Policy, 123, 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.05.020
de Jong, A., Zacharias, N. A., & Nijssen, E. J. (2021). How young companies can effectively manage their slack resources over time to ensure sales growth: the contingent role of value-based selling. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(2), 304–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00746-y
De Toni, D., Reche, R. A., & Milan, G. S. (2022). Effects of market orientation, innovation strategies and value-based pricing on market performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 71(8), 3556–3580. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-08-2020-0414
Edwards, J., Miles, M. P., D’Alessandro, S., & Frost, M. (2023). Entrepreneurial strategy-making, corporate entrepreneurship preparedness and entrepreneurial sales actions: Improving B2B sales performance. Journal of Business Research, 157, 113586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113586
Endres, H., Helm, R., Schmitz, C., & Hofstetter, C. (2023). Do business customers perceive what salespeople believe? Perceptions of salesperson adoption of innovations. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 40(1), 120–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12645
Eroğlu, U., & Kiray, İ. (2020). A Field Study of the Effect of Motivation Factors on Performance of the Salesperson. In Contemporary Issues in Business Economics and Finance (pp. 135–150). https://doi.org/10.1108/S1569-375920200000104009
Firdausy, C. M., & Budisetyowati, D. A. (2022). Variables, Dimensions, and Indicators Important to Develop the Multidimensional Poverty Line Measurement in Indonesia. Social Indicators Research, 162(2), 763–802. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02859-5
Forbes, M. K., Wright, A. G. C., Markon, K. E., & Krueger, R. F. (2021). Quantifying the Reliability and Replicability of Psychopathology Network Characteristics. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 56(2), 224–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2019.1616526
Freixanet, J., & Rialp, J. (2022). Disentangling the relationship between internationalization, incremental and radical innovation, and firm performance. Global Strategy Journal, 12(1), 57–81. https://doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1412
Giovannetti, M., Sharma, A., Cardinali, S., Cedrola, E., & Rangarajan, D. (2022). Understanding salespeople’s resistance to, and acceptance and leadership of customer-driven change. Industrial Marketing Management, 107, 433–449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.10.021
Graciafernandy, M. A. (2022). Pengaruh Variabel Mediasi Value-Based Selling Terhadap Kinerja Insurance Advisor. MANAJEMEN DEWANTARA, 6(2), 292–305. https://doi.org/10.26460/md.v6i2.12964
Guenzi, P., & Nijssen, E. J. (2023). The relationship between digital solution selling and value-based selling: a motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) perspective. European Journal of Marketing, 57(3), 745–770. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-11-2021-0907
Hofmann, S. G., Curtiss, J. E., & Hayes, S. C. (2020). Beyond linear mediation: Toward a dynamic network approach to study treatment processes. Clinical Psychology Review, 76, 101824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101824
Hossain, M. A., Akter, S., & Yanamandram, V. (2021). Why doesn’t our value creation payoff: Unpacking customer analytics-driven value creation capability to sustain competitive advantage. Journal of Business Research, 131, 287–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.063
Irawan, N. C., Irham, I., Mulyo, J. H., & Suryantini, A. (2023). Unleashing the Power of Digital Farming: Local Young Farmers’ Perspectives on Sustainable Value Creation. AGRARIS: Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development Research, 9(2), 316–333. https://doi.org/10.18196/agraris.v9i2.239
Itani, O. S., Kalra, A., & Riley, J. (2022). Complementary effects of CRM and social media on customer co-creation and sales performance in B2B firms: The role of salesperson self-determination needs. Information & Management, 59(3), 103621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2022.103621
Keränen, J., Salonen, A., & Terho, H. (2020). Opportunities for value-based selling in an economic crisis: Managerial insights from a firm boundary theory. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 389–395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.05.029
Liu, Y., & Zhao, X. (2021). Successful implementation of value-based selling: a value co-creation and dynamic capabilities perspective. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 36(3), 372–389. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-05-2020-0240
Locander, D. A., Darrat, M. A., & Babin, B. J. (2023). Examining the impact of salesperson orientation on creative selling, passive deviance, and organizational outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 154, 113391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113391
Mangus, S. M. (2023). Personal selling and sales management abstracts. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 43(4), 368–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2023.2268294
Mullins, R., Agnihotri, R., & Hall, Z. (2020). The Ambidextrous Sales Force: Aligning Salesperson Polychronicity and Selling Contexts for Sales-Service Behaviors and Customer Value. Journal of Service Research, 23(1), 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670519883344
Nicholson, C. F., Kopainsky, B., Stephens, E. C., Parsons, D., Jones, A. D., Garrett, J., & Phillips, E. L. (2020). Conceptual frameworks linking agriculture and food security. Nature Food, 1(9), 541–551. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00142-3
Ohiomah, A., Benyoucef, M., & Andreev, P. (2020). A multidimensional perspective of business-to-business sales success: A meta-analytic review. Industrial Marketing Management, 90, 435–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.08.011
Paesbrugghe, B., Rangarajan, D., Hochstein, B., & Sharma, A. (2020). Evaluation of salespeople by the purchasing function: implications for the evolving role of salespeople. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 40(4), 289–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2020.1813590
Rangarajan, D., Dugan, R., Rouziou, M., & Kunkle, M. (2020). People, Process, and Performance: Setting an agenda for sales enablement research. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 40(3), 213–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2020.1761822
Rapp, A. A., Petersen, J. A., Hughes, D. E., & Ogilvie, J. L. (2020). When time is sales: the impact of sales manager time allocation decisions on sales team performance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 40(2), 132–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2020.1717961
Razi, N., Moshabaki, A., Khodadad Hosseini, H., & Kordnaeij, A. (2022). A model for B2B salesperson performance with service ecosystems perspective: a grounded theory. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 37(6), 1314–1337. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-07-2020-0316
Rose, J., & Johnson, C. W. (2020). Contextualizing reliability and validity in qualitative research: toward more rigorous and trustworthy qualitative social science in leisure research. Journal of Leisure Research, 51(4), 432–451. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2020.1722042
Salonen, A., Terho, H., Böhm, E., Virtanen, A., & Rajala, R. (2021). Engaging a product-focused sales force in solution selling: interplay of individual- and organizational-level conditions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(1), 139–163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00729-z
Scholz, T., Redler, J., & Pagel, S. (2021). Re-designing adaptive selling strategies: the role of different types of shopping companions. Review of Managerial Science, 15(5), 1243–1280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-020-00385-1
Shahbaz, M., Gao, C., Zhai, L., Shahzad, F., Abbas, A., & Zahid, R. (2020). Investigating the Impact of Big Data Analytics on Perceived Sales Performance: The Mediating Role of Customer Relationship Management Capabilities. Complexity, 2020, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/5186870
Sheth, J., Jain, V., & Ambika, A. (2020). Repositioning the customer support services: the next frontier of competitive advantage. European Journal of Marketing, 54(7), 1787–1804. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-02-2020-0086
Singh Dubey, R., Paul, J., & Tewari, V. (2022). The soft skills gap: a bottleneck in the talent supply in emerging economies. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(13), 2630–2661. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2020.1871399
Suswadi, & Irawan, N. C. (2023a). Digital Transformation of Agricultural Extension in Indonesia: A Comprehensive Analysis. Agris On-Line Papers in Economics and Informatics, 15(4), 135–146. https://doi.org/10.7160/aol.2023.150410
Suswadi, & Irawan, N. C. (2023b). The “City Healing” Development through Ethnobotany Urban Farming with a Sustainable Planet, People, and Profit Approach. Kufa Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 15(2), 128–146. https://doi.org/10.36077/kjas/2023/v15i2.12059
Tienken, C., Classen, M., & Friedli, T. (2023). Engaging the sales force in digital solution selling: how sales control systems resolve agency problems to create and capture superior value. European Journal of Marketing, 57(3), 794–833. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-11-2021-0918
Wang, C. X., Beck, J. T., & Yuan, H. (2021). The Control–Effort Trade-Off in Participative Pricing: How Easing Pricing Decisions Enhances Purchase Outcomes. Journal of Marketing, 85(5), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242921990351
Xu, K., Ottley, A., Walchshofer, C., Streit, M., Chang, R., & Wenskovitch, J. (2020). Survey on the Analysis of User Interactions and Visualization Provenance. Computer Graphics Forum, 39(3), 757–783. https://doi.org/10.1111/cgf.14035
Yi, H.-T., & Amenuvor, F. E. (2022). The Effect of Door-to-Door Salespeople’s Individual Sales Capabilities on Selling Behavior and Performance: The Moderating Effect of Competitive Intensity. Sustainability, 14(6), 3327. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063327
Yi, H.-T., Cha, Y.-B., & Amenuvor, F. E. (2021). Effects of Sales-Related Capabilities of Personal Selling Organizations on Individual Sales Capability, Sales Behaviors and Sales Performance in Cosmetics Personal Selling Channels. Sustainability, 13(7), 3937. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073937
Copyright (c) 2023 ICEETE Conference Series
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below.
The ICEETE Conference Series on Economy, Education, Technology, and Environment retains the copyright of all published papers. Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the conference papers will be considered a violation of copyright. Permission to use the content of this conference series for any purpose must be obtained from the copyright owner.
