Abstract
Much of the current research on salesperson motivation focuses on extrinsic reward expectancy related to compensation, contests, incentives, and quotas. We find that while salespeople want to make money, they also want to make a difference and contribute to society through their work. In Study 1, the qualitative findings reveal that a sense of purpose–the belief that one is making a contribution to a cause greater and more enduring than oneself–is a significant motivator for salespeople. Hence, in Study 2 we develop a measure for sense of purpose and distinguish it from related constructs. Finally, in Study 3 we use a dynamic modeling approach with longitudinal salesperson data to empirically demonstrate that sense of purpose is an antecedent to intrinsic motivation. We also discover that intrinsic motivation is more positively associated with increased salesperson effort, adaptivity, and performance than is a desire for money on average over time, particularly for younger salespeople. These findings not only contribute to theory but also have important ramifications for the effective management of modern sales organizations.
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We would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for making this observation.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Constructs and scale items
All scale items are based on a 7-point Likert scale with anchors 1_Strongly Disagree to 7_Strongly Agree.
Sense of Purpose (Current Authors) | Standardized Loading | S.E. |
1. My work allows me to make a contribution to society. | .797 | .036 |
2. The work I do on my job is part of the legacy I will leave on this earth after I am gone. | * | |
3. The work I do on my job impacts the lives of others. | .819 | .037 |
4. The work I do on my job is meaningful to others. | .888 | .023 |
5. I give back to society through the work I do on my job. | .889 | .018 |
6. My work allows me to be part of something bigger than just myself. | .865 | .020 |
7. The better I perform at this job, the more I improve the lives of others. | .739 | .027 |
8. I work for a cause greater than my own paycheck. | .846 | .019 |
Autonomy (Zhang & Bartol, 2010) | ||
1. I have significant autonomy in determining how I do my job. | .804 | .030 |
2. I can decide on my own how to go about doing my work. | .950 | .012 |
3. I have considerable opportunity for independence and freedom in how I do my job. | .858 | .019 |
Self-Efficacy (Sujan et al., 1994) | ||
1. I am good at selling. | .865 | .024 |
2. It is not hard for me to convince a customer to buy from me. | .780 | .036 |
3. I know the right thing to do in selling situations. | .848 | .019 |
4. I find it difficult to overcome a customer’s objections. (R) | .830 | .019 |
5. My temperament is well suited for selling. | .709 | |
6. I am good at finding out what customers want. | .815 | .025 |
7. It is easy for me to get customers to see my point of view. | .828 | .021 |
Sense of Belonging/Connection (Deci et al., 2001) | ||
1. I really like the people I work with. | .806 | .031 |
2. I get along with people at work. | * | |
3. I pretty much keep to myself when I am at work. (R) | * | |
4. I consider the people I work with to be my friends. | .743 | .033 |
5. People at work care about me. | .778 | .035 |
6. There are not many people at work that I am close to. (R) | * | |
7. The people I work with do not seem to like me much. (R) | * | |
8. People at work are pretty friendly towards me. | .614 | .045 |
Intrinsic Motivation (Oliver & Anderson, 1994) | ||
1. When I perform well, I know it’s because my own desire to achieve. | .652 | .042 |
2. I don’t need a reason to sell; I sell because I want to. | .618 | .044 |
3. Becoming successful in sales is something that I want to do for me. | .684 | .044 |
4. If I were independently wealthy, I would still sell for the challenge of it. | .602 | .040 |
5. I wish I didn’t have to retire someday so I could always continue selling for the pleasure of it. | * | |
Extrinsic Motivation (Oliver & Anderson, 1994) | ||
1. If it weren’t for the money, I would not be in a selling job. | .821 | .041 |
2. I sell because I get paid to sell. | .715 | .043 |
3. After a long hard day, I realize that if it weren’t for the money, I wouldn’t put up with this job. | .767 | .031 |
Adaptive Selling/Working Smart (Spiro & Weitz, 1990) | ||
1. When I feel that my sales approach is not working, I can easily change to another approach. | .751 | .046 |
2. I like to experiment with different sales approaches. | .661 | .037 |
3. I am very flexible in the selling approach I use. | .868 | .017 |
4. I can easily use a wide variety of selling approaches. | .877 | .020 |
5. I try to understand how one customer differs from another. | .645 | .036 |
6. Each customer requires a unique approach. | .439 | .070 |
7. I feel that most buyers can be dealt with in pretty much the same manner. | * | |
Appendix B: Additional constructs used in the scale validation study
Job Meaningfulness (Thakor & Joshi, 2005). | ||
1. My job lets me have the chance to be somebody. | .798 | .041 |
2. My job gives me a feeling of accomplishment. | .877 | .023 |
3. My job lets me make full use of my abilities. | .838 | .040 |
4. My job allows me to have control over my life. | .720 | .048 |
5. My job is exciting and challenging. | .865 | .023 |
6. My job allows me to grow and develop as a person. | .878 | .021 |
7. My job is mostly comprised of selling (e.g., making sales presentations) rather than servicing customers. | * | |
Customer Orientation (Brown et al., 2002; Saxe & Weitz, 1982). | ||
1. I try to help customers achieve their goals. | .657 | .081 |
2. A good salesperson has to have the customer’s best interest in mind. | .653 | .096 |
3. I offer the product of mine that is best suited to the customer’s problem. | .811 | .054 |
4. I try to find out what kind of product would be most helpful to a customer. | .797 | .051 |
5. I try to get customers to discuss their needs with me. | .667 | .070 |
Performance Orientation (Sujan et al., 1994). | ||
1. It is very important to me that my supervisor sees me as a good salesperson. | .763 | .121 |
2. I very much want my coworkers to consider me to be good at selling. | .839 | .129 |
3. I feel very good when I know I have outperformed other salespeople in my company. | .714 | .138 |
4. I always try to communicate my accomplishments to my manager. | .611 | .148 |
5. I spend a lot of time thinking about how my performance compares with other salespeople’s. | .666 | .145 |
6. I evaluate myself using my supervisor’s criteria. | .699 | .136 |
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Good, V., Hughes, D.E. & Wang, H. More than money: establishing the importance of a sense of purpose for salespeople. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 50, 272–295 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00795-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00795-x