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Does the salesperson like customers? A conceptual and empirical examination of the persuasive effect of perceptions of the salesperson's affect toward customers
Author(s) -
Sharma Arun
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(199903)16:2<141::aid-mar5>3.0.co;2-8
Subject(s) - persuasion , affect (linguistics) , psychology , perception , marketing , advertising , social psychology , business , communication , neuroscience
The influence of salespeople's characteristics on their performance has been an area of extensive research interest. This article examines an unexplored but potentially important area—the influence of customers' perceptions of a salesperson's affect toward customers on persuasion. The results of the research suggest that if customers perceive salespeople to have a positive affect toward their customers, message processing and persuasion are enhanced. In contrast, if customers perceive salespeople to have a negative affect toward customers, lower levels of persuasion and heuristic processing are observed. Managerial implications of the research are suggested and directions for future research proposed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.