Cultural intelligence and sales performance in online insurance marketing: evidence from a Chinese insurance firm

Abstract

The cultural clash between customers and salespeople in online marketing is observed as a barrier to promoting sales performance.The capability of handling cultural difference, or cultural intelligence (CQ), is therefore essential for salespeople. With data collected through questionnaires from a Chinese digital insurance brokerage firm, the impact of salespeople’s CQ on sales performance is examined with the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) method. It is identified that CQ serves as a positive moderating variable in the relationship between customer orientation and sales performance, as well as a partial mediating variable in the relationship between perceived organizational support and sales performance of the online insurance salespeople.