Tóm tắt
Selling is a social situation in which two people come together for a specific purpose and, in doing so, influence each other. Although customers' perceptions and outcomes have often been explored in the context of personal selling, salespersons' perceptions and outcomes have received far less attention. Each customer brings to the interaction a unique combination of personal characteristics and needs, and the influence of the customer's characteristics on the salesperson should be examined. We report on a laboratory experiment designed to assess the impact of the interactive effect of the salesperson's and the customer's level of self‐monitoring on salespersons' perceptions. Results show that there is an interactive effect of the salesperson's personality and the customer's personality on the salesperson's perceptions. More positive outcomes were evident when the self‐monitoring levels of the dyad partners were different. A high self‐monitoring salesperson experiences greater benefits and judges the interaction more positively when the customer is a low self‐monitor. Low self‐monitoring salespeople judge the interaction more positively when the customer is a high self‐monitor. We conclude that the attitude and behavior consistency of a low self‐monitor provides clear direction to the high self‐monitoring partner, who seeks cues from the partner to guide behavior.
