Examining the Effect of Salesperson Service Behavior in a Competitive Context

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 603-616. , 2007

14 Pages Posted: 5 Apr 2010

See all articles by Michael Ahearne

Michael Ahearne

University of Houston - C.T. Bauer College of Business

Eli Jones

University of Houston - Department of Marketing

Ronald Jelinek

Providence College

Date Written: 2007

Abstract

While few scholars debate the importance of doing things to improve the quality of the buyer-seller relationship, little is known about what salespeople can do after the point of the initial sale to enhance customer satisfaction and trust. On the basis of extensive exploratory interviews across professional selling domains, this research develops a set of behaviors, referred to here as “salesperson service behaviors.” Using data gathered from 358 customers, the authors empirically demonstrate the effect of these behaviors on customer satisfaction and trust and, ultimately, on an objective measure of customer share of market. The authors develop a competitive model that uniquely features customer evaluations of competing sales representatives. The results indicate that these salesperson service behaviors are important in building trust and customer satisfaction, which in turn lead to increases in customer share of market.

Keywords: Salesperson service behaviors, Competitor ratings, Share of wallet, Trust, Satisfaction, Service quality

JEL Classification: M30

Suggested Citation

Ahearne, Michael and Jones, Eli and Jelinek, Ronald, Examining the Effect of Salesperson Service Behavior in a Competitive Context (2007). Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 603-616. , 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1584732

Michael Ahearne (Contact Author)

University of Houston - C.T. Bauer College of Business ( email )

334 Melcher Hall
Houston, TX 77204-6021
United States
713-743-4155 (Phone)
713-743-4572 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.bauer.uh.edu/Directory/profile.asp?firstname=Michael&lastname=Ahearne

Eli Jones

University of Houston - Department of Marketing ( email )

United States

Ronald Jelinek

Providence College ( email )

United States

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