Buyer-seller Interaction Research Articles

Hybrid sales structures in the age of e-commerce

Sales organizations continue to exhibit meaningful changes in their structures during the e-commerce era. This article examines the impact of Internet technology on the evolution of sales organizations and identifies key components underpinning a successful hybrid sales structure. A comprehensive review of sales organization studies leads to the derivation of a hybrid sales structure model, as well as a series of key recommendations pertaining to the organization and sales performance. These findings establish a platform for further research into the hybrid sales structure. The transition from a reliance on traditional, outside sales forces to a concomitant use of inside sales personnel produces hybrid sales structures that can accommodate online buyer–seller interactions and also leverage technological advances in sales automation and business intelligence to boost sales performance.

Social media technology use and salesperson performance: A two study examination of the role of salesperson behaviors, characteristics, and training

Extending the literature on sales technology, we use two studies to develop and test a model involving salesperson-customer shared technology tools, referred to as Social Media Technology (SMT). Specifically, we demonstrate the impacts of SMT in B2B sales contexts on customer relationship performance and objective sales performance through key mediating behaviors and characteristics. Empirical findings from two studies, cross-company and within-company data, demonstrate the effects of SMT on salesperson product information communication, diligence, product knowledge, and adaptability. Moderating effects suggest that the integration of SMT in the absence of training on the technology may not yield the best results. Findings suggest that firms must allocate the resources necessary to properly implement SMT strategies. The framework tested provides a foundation for integration of SMT into buyer-seller interactions.

Caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: A Rough Guide to the Strangely Unenviable Life of a Public Procurement Official in a Post-RTPP, and Now Post-GeM, Rajasthan

This year’s 71st Independence Day Speech of India’s visionary Prime Minister included an announcement implementing yet another innovative public policy instrument, one that electrified all stakeholders interested in public procurement reforms in India, in the shape of a much-awaited launch of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) launched by the Directorate General of Supplies & Disposal (DGS&D)—as an online platform enabling simplified and streamlined buyer-seller interactions for public goods and services across the Country. As in many other states in India, this ambitious e-platform has also been adopted by the State Government of Rajasthan as a permissible medium for government purchasing for use by all procuring officials of the State. This short paper examines some of the peculiarities already existing under the legal framework for public procurement in Rajasthan; as also the additional complexities and challenges for the State’s public procurement officials that could get thrown up during the roll-out of this important, far-reaching initiative of the Central Government. Staying within the context of multiple, and sometimes competing, desiderata of public procurement, the paper then concludes with suggestions for the Government of Rajasthan for ensuring a more streamlined achievement of the expected end-objectives of this important procurement reform exercise.

Gratitude in buyer-seller relationships: a dyadic investigation

In addressing the call for research to understand affect in sales, this research uses moral affect theory and literature on emotional contagion to examine the effects of salesperson gratitude and customer gratitude on downstream relationship outcomes. The findings of this work suggest that salesperson prosocial behaviors account for the positive association between salesperson gratitude and customer gratitude. These prosocial behaviors – information sharing and extra-role behaviors – combined with customer gratitude serve as explanatory mechanisms for the positive effects of salesperson gratitude on customer commitment, which is an important result of buyer-seller interactions and an essential component of long-term relationships. Further, this research finds that salesperson extra-role behaviors and relationship length interact such that salesperson extra-role behaviors cultivate customer gratitude within developing and established relationships, but that these behaviors are particularly beneficial for less mature relationships. Understanding the role of salesperson gratitude and customer gratitude in driving relational outcomes contributes to both a theoretical understanding of the role of affect in sales and practical applications of emotions within buyer-seller relationships.

A guide to pay-what-you-wish pricing from the consumer’s viewpoint

As customer participation in business transactions increases, it is important to investigate how consumers approach financial transactions with firms in terms of selfishness and fairness. Pay-what-you-wish pricing models continue to attract managerial and academic interest as allowing customers to set prices provides an unorthodox setting in which to examine forces that drive buyer-seller interactions. This Executive Digest provides an overview of the current state of pay-what-you-wish (PWYW) pricing and the benefits it can provide to a firm.

The challenge of communicating reciprocal value promises: Buyer-seller value proposition disparity in professional services

This study explores the communication of reciprocal value propositions in buyer-seller interaction and examines whether each party's value proposition is congruent with the value sought by their respective counterpart. Through 31 in-depth interviews with customers and salespeople from six professional service organizations, it was found that while both parties deliberately articulate value propositions, thereby initiating the co-creation process, there are some surprising disparities in the value dimensions offered by the salesperson. Although the customer's value proposition is largely consistent with the value sought by the seller, a marked discrepancy was encountered in the reverse case (i.e. between the seller's value proposition and the buyer's desired value). These findings indicate a significant misalignment between the seller's value proposition and actual co-creative behavior that can impede the subsequent collaboration and resource integration between the two parties, which could lead to customer dissatisfaction and potentially even service failure.

Vat in Emerging Economies: Does Third Party Verification Matter?

A key stated advantage of the value-added tax (VAT) is that it allows the tax authority to verify transactions by comparing seller and buyer transaction reports. However, there is limited evidence on how these paper trails actually affect VAT collections particularly in low compliance environments. We use a unique data set (the universe of VAT returns for the Indian state of Delhi over five years) and the timing of a policy that improved the tax authority’s information about buyer-seller interactions to shed light on this issue. Using a difference-in-difference strategy we find that the policy had a large and significant effect on tax collections from wholesale firms relative to retail firms. We also find significant heterogeneity with almost the entire increase being driven by changes in the behavior of the biggest taxpaying firms. We also find suggestive evidence that improvement in information and enforcement are complementary for a subset of firms.

Strategic Inattention in Product Search

Rapid technological developments in online markets fundamentally change the relationship between consumers and sellers. Online platforms can now easily gather data about the consumer and his search behavior, that allow for price discrimination. Therefore the consumers’ product search becomes a strategic choice. Consumers face a trade-off: Search intensely and receive a better fit at a potentially higher price or restrict search behavior – be strategically inattentive – and receive a worse fit, but maybe a better deal. We study the resulting strategic buyer-seller interaction theoretically as well as experimentally. Our experimental results shed a critical light on the added value for consumers through the rise of online platforms.

Exploring buyer-seller dyadic perceptions of technology and relationships

Purpose – This paper aims to understand an emerging paradigm for business-to-business selling, Sales 2.0, which connects various enabling technologies within leading sales processes to drive improved business and relational outcomes. In the context of Sales 2.0, this paper addresses the need for buyer–seller dyadic sales research in the literature and highlights the importance of understanding buyer and seller perspectives regarding technology expectations and relationship-building performance. Design/methodology/approach – This research utilizes a dyadic (salesperson–customer) data collection methodology, involving 74 matched salesperson and customer responses (37 dyads) to an online survey. Existing salesperson (self-report) measures of customer technology expectations and relationship-building performance with customers were utilized and adapted to provide dyadic measures to test for buyer–seller perceptual differences. Findings – The dyadic data analysis supports the presence of significant perceptual differences between the salesperson and their customer, respective of customer technology expectations and relationship-building performance measures. In particular, the analysis reveals bidirectional perceptual differences for the two measures, whereas the salesperson underestimates the importance of their customer’s technology expectations, but overestimates their relational performance relative to their customers. Originality/value – As technology continues to transform salesperson interactions with customers, the value of capturing a deeper understanding about those interactions increases. This study uses matched salesperson–customer dyads from a health-care sales organization to provide researchers and practitioners with insightful findings with respect to buyer–seller interactions and perceptual differences. Further, the research uniquely advances dyadic measures of customer technology expectations and relationship-building performance with customers to advance sales research in the context of Sales 2.0.

Industrial buyer-seller interactions: negotiating in the Arabian Gulf

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the key cultural factors that shape the Arab style of buyer-seller negotiations in the industrial goods sector; formulate propositions predicting behaviors of empowered buyers, avoidant buyers and deciders in an expensive industrial purchase situation; and develop a model of communication structure in an industrial buyer firm in the Arabian Gulf. In addition, the study advances propositions concerned with the bargaining style of Arab industrial buyers and the relationships between industrial sales effectiveness and negotiation tactics. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on literature in the domains of industrial buying behavior, influence tactics in industrial buyer-seller negotiations and communication in industrial buyer-seller bargaining interactions. Findings – The more expensive an industrial purchase is the more empowered buyers will tend to anticipate the wishes of and seek the endorsement of powerful stakeholders, the more avoidant buyers will tend not to take responsibility for the purchase and the more decision makers will tend to rely on unwritten and formal rules and consult with influencers, subordinates and peers. Aggressive bargaining is unlikely to be used by Arab industrial buyers, who prefer a problem-solving approach. Sales effectiveness will be higher when industrial vendors incorporate tactics of ingratiation and inspirational appeal to influence Arab industrial buyers. Originality/value – The study offers a systematic examination of industrial purchasing characteristics through the lens of Arab culture. It synthesizes several literature streams, develops eight original research propositions and proposes a new conceptual model of the communication structure in an industrial buyer firm in the Arabian Gulf.

Interpersonal influence strategies in complex B2B sales and the socio-cognitive construction of relationship value

The investigation of how exactly salespeople create value at the individual level of interaction is still incomplete. While there have been lively debates on value creation and co-creation processes at the organizational level in the business marketing literature, researchers have paid much less attention to the fact that such processes almost always start at the interpersonal level of buyer-seller interactions. Through utilizing a symbolic interactionist perspective and the ethnographic research method of shadowing, the present study moves research insights into value creation in sales forward by depicting the detailed activities and tactics that influence customers’ value perceptions during the sales encounter. We complement the sales influence literature with three additional tactics: disrupt, reassure and dedicate. We also expand the framework of value creation in sales interactions by identifying three value strategies that change, strengthen or expand customer value perceptions through different socio-cognitive mechanisms.

Negative aspects of business relationships for resource mobilization

The diffusion of a relational view of markets has been accompanied by the introduction of the concept of relationship orientation, defined as the propensity to engage in a relational behaviour. But companies often struggle to obtain the benefits of close collaboration in business-to-business relationships, with important effects the way resources are combined in buyer–seller interactions. This paper will discuss three main elements that can limit the ability of a company to establish and maintain effective business relationships and therefore impede resource mobilization: opportunism, uncertainty and negative misalignment. The paper will highlight that for a relational orientation to influence resource mobilization positively, there is the need not only to build long-term relationships characterized by trust, commitment and information exchange, as often stressed in the literature, but also to manage relational opportunism, ambiguity and uncertainty.

International entrepreneurial selling as construction of international opportunities

In early internationalization, the founder–entrepreneur is often the first salesperson of a growth-seeking small firm. It is well known that founder–entrepreneurs encounter difficulties in generating their first foreign sales, but academic research provides little insights into entrepreneurs’ viewpoints on selling. This paper analyzes how entrepreneurs perceive international entrepreneurial selling. By cross-fertilizing sales and international entrepreneurship research, this study provides an initial theoretical definition of the concept of international entrepreneurial selling from a moderate constructionist viewpoint. The study approaches the phenomenon empirically through the narratives of five entrepreneurs who are involved in business-to-business sales negotiations in the context of early internationalization. The findings reveal how early direct buyer–seller interaction is necessary for gaining customer and contextual understanding, development and validation of the offering, and building long-term relationships. Personal networks and sales agents often play a central role but entrepreneurs cannot fully outsource selling when the business opportunity is not replicable. Entrepreneurs’ international selling is characterized by their personal commitment, passion, and expertise, but also by liabilities, which combined make interactional international opportunity construction processes very personal. The study suggests that sales as a process of joint international entrepreneurial opportunity construction is a phenomenon requiring further attention by international entrepreneurship researchers.

Buyer-seller interaction in facility services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus its attention on the analysis of buyer-seller interactions in facility services. In particular it proposes to investigate the interactions Italian municipalities develop with sellers involved in facility services outsourcing and to evaluate how scientific contributions on business service (filtered through Service Dominant Logic) are constitutive paradigms of the interactions investigated. Design/methodology/approach – The investigation is based on 15 case studies of small and medium-sized municipalities that are built on in-depth interviews with technical staff who, together with the mayors, perform the role of facility managers. Results from case studies are triangulated with secondary data and observations emerging from focus groups. Findings – The research reveals paradoxes in the outsourcing processes of business services implemented by the public organizations analyzed. From these paradoxes it derives that the outsourcing of facility services in Italia...

Assessing the Drivers of Short- and Long-Term Outcomes at Business Trade Shows

The trade show industry attracts millions of attendees every year, offering enormous opportunities for buyer–seller interactions and potential revenues for exhibitors. Business-to-business firms invest more than 20 % of their marketing budgets on trade shows, with a heavy emphasis on pre- and at-show marketing efforts to generate booth traffic, as well as post-show marketing efforts to close sales leads. However, a comprehensive overview of the impact and effectiveness of trade show marketing efforts on lead generation and sales conversion is missing. Extant models consider only single stages of the buying process and fail to account for heterogeneous marketing effectiveness across customers. This study therefore addresses the incremental effects of pre-, at-, and post-show marketing efforts on short- and long-term outcomes, with customer type as a potential moderator of marketing effectiveness. Attendee-level data from multiple shows attended by a Fortune 500 corporation provide initial empirical evidence of the joint effects of marketing activities during the three different phases. By documenting the impact of various marketing activities across purchase stages and customer types, this study can help managers assess the effectiveness of their trade show marketing activities.

Technology-Based Service Encounter—A Study of the Use of E-Mail as a Booking Tool in Hotels

Highlighted in this paper, is the extent to which a technological interface that enables customers to produce a service outcome, independent of direct service-employee involvement, is used by hotels of various categories in France. Extant literature has, to date, devoted more attention to the use of interpersonal buyer-seller interactions in the process of creating service outcomes. This paper aims to fill this void by contributing to existing knowledge on customer interactions with technology-based self-service delivery options. An exhaustive sample of 240 hotels located across 120 cities in France constituted the empirical setting. A one-way ANOVA that tested differences between means was used to assess the impact of hotel category (independent variable) on response time (dependent variable) among hotels in France. The findings show that there is significant dissimilarity in responsiveness across the hotel categories. A major implication of these findings for management is that the speed with which enquiries from current and potential customers are responded to is most likely a prelude to providing good quality technology-based buyer-seller interactions to create positive service outcomes using the Internet/e-mail. Major concepts in customer relationship management include the response speed of firms to questions and problems during the service encounter. The main contribution of this study is that it builds on existing literature on interpersonal and technological interfaces.

The Customer-Salesperson Dyad: An Interaction/Communication Model and Review

Although personal selling and organizational buying are recognized as critical elements in the success of most industrial firms, research progress in this area has been hindered by the lack of a comprehensive and integrative conceptual model of the customer-salesperson interaction. This paper proposes such a model which focuses on the critical element of the buyer-seller interaction, communication.

Culture and International Marketing: A Sub-Saharan African Context

ABSTRACT The authors review and extend the culture literature in international marketing by discussing some of the cultural underpinnings pertaining to the sub-Saharan African context. With the use of inductive reasoning, the authors offer several key normative suggestions for international marketing practices. Marketers should focus not only on the end user but also on those who significantly influence the final decision. Sub-Saharan African culture is characterized by long, drawn-out negotiation processes and by contracts and overall sales targets that likely will be dissimilar to those from countries with a linear view of time. Age is relevant when selecting people for negotiation assignments and hiring sales and managerial staff. Because of the importance of “respect,” messages should focus on an individual's need for belongingness rather than on the individual striving for achievement. The authors advocate that advertising appeals should focus on the society and on the individual as a member of the society and not on individual self-enhancement. Context and nonverbal communications are important in personal selling. It is better to establish social trust first in negotiations, personal selling, and buyer–seller interaction.

The development of post-project buyer–seller interaction in service-intensive projects

The purpose of this research is to enhance the understanding of post-project buyer–seller interaction, a topic previously studied mainly from the perspective of social exchange or sleeping relationships. With the advent of service-intensive projects, however, the dynamics of post-project interaction has changed, demanding a broader theorization. This research extends the scope of project marketing, by proposing a research framework illustrating interaction development in a longitudinal setting. We utilize the framework to analyze three projects, two of which continued for more than a decade, through a qualitative case study. The research provides empirical insight into the interaction orientations and development patterns arising in the post-project stage. It suggests that post-project interaction develops through three main orientations (cooperative development, buyer-led development, and seller-led maintenance) that vary over time, thus creating unique development patterns. The study concludes with five practical recommendations for managers to deal with evolving post-project interaction.

Marketing and the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008: A Theoretical Analysis

It is widely recognized that the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2008 began when sub prime borrowers defaulted on loans made by sellers. Complex dependencies among various players in the mortgage industry further exacerbated this problem. For example, derivative products like mortgage backed securities were created from loan tranches of varying quality leading to erroneous ratings by credit agencies and inefficient signaling outcomes. This study looks at the ‘marketing’ side of the GFC. Given marketing’s emphasis on the exchange paradigm, the basic premise of this paper is that buyer-seller interactions in the mortgage market can be gainfully studied using a ‘marketing’ lens. To achieve this objective, this paper develops a two-sided model of agency relationships in the mortgage industry and identifies fault lines that contributed to the GFC meltdown. The paper discusses several approaches for designing efficient markets and delineates implications for academics and practitioners.