The Role of Empathy on Sales and Relationship Performance focuses on Chinese Marketplace: The Moderation of the Interpersonal Mentalizing Skill
0
조회
0
다운로드
0
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
The objective of the study is to investigate the influence of empathy in face-to-face customer interactions on sales performance and relationship quality in the Chinese market, with a focus on the role of salespersons' relationship-oriented behavior and mentalizing skills. A web-based survey was conducted among sales representatives from various industries in China to validate the research model and hypotheses. Data was collected through the Chinese online survey tool "Wenjuanxing" from May 20, 2021, to May 24, 2021, with a total of 311 surveys considered for analysis after eliminating 19 due to insincere responses. The study reveals that emotional empathy, as opposed to cognitive empathy, has a positive impact on relationship-oriented selling behavior, leading to improved sales performance and relationship outcomes. Emotional empathy enables salespersons to better comprehend customers' emotions, thereby enhancing their relationship-oriented approach. Furthermore, emotional empathy, when mediated by relationship-oriented behavior, plays a more significant role in enhancing relationship quality compared to sales performance. Regression analysis demonstrates that interpersonal mentalizing skills moderate the relationship between relationship-oriented behavior and sales performance, but do not have a substantial impact on relationship outcomes. These results underscore the significance of emotional empathy in cultivating strong customer relationships and enhancing sales performance.
Abstract
The objective of the study is to investigate the influence of empathy in face-to-face customer interactions on sales performance and relationship quality in the Chinese market, with a focus on the role of salespersons' relationship-oriented behavior and mentalizing skills. A web-based survey was conducted among sales representatives from various industries in China to validate the research model and hypotheses. Data was collected through the Chinese online survey tool "Wenjuanxing" from May 20, 2021, to May 24, 2021, with a total of 311 surveys considered for analysis after eliminating 19 due to insincere responses. The study reveals that emotional empathy, as opposed to cognitive empathy, has a positive impact on relationship-oriented selling behavior, leading to improved sales performance and relationship outcomes. Emotional empathy enables salespersons to better comprehend customers' emotions, thereby enhancing their relationship-oriented approach. Furthermore, emotional empathy, when mediated by relationship-oriented behavior, plays a more significant role in enhancing relationship quality compared to sales performance. Regression analysis demonstrates that interpersonal mentalizing skills moderate the relationship between relationship-oriented behavior and sales performance, but do not have a substantial impact on relationship outcomes. These results underscore the significance of emotional empathy in cultivating strong customer relationships and enhancing sales performance.
참고문헌 (52)
- Agariya, A., "What really defines relationship marketing? A review of definitions and general and sector-specific defining constructs", Journal of Relationship Marketing, 10(4), pp.203~237 (2011)
- Aggarwal, P., "Salesperson empathy and listening : impact on relationship outcomes", Journal of Marketing Theory and practice, 13(3), pp.16~15 (2005)
- Agnihotri, R., "Examining the impact of salesperson interpersonal mentalizing skills on performance : the role of attachment anxiety and subjective happiness", Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 36(2), pp.174~189 (2016)
- Anaza, N. A., "Empathy and affect in B2B salesperson performance", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 33(1), pp.29~41 (2018)
- Behrman, D. N., "Measuring the performance of industrial salespersons", Journal of Business Research, 10(3), pp.355~370 (1982)
- Boles, J. S., "How salespeople build quality relationships : A replication and extension", Journal of Business Research, 48(1), pp.75~74 (2000)
- Borg, S. W., "The IPS-EQ model : Interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence in a sales process", Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 33(1), pp.39~51 (2013)
- Chakrabarty, S., "Selling behaviours and sales performance : The moderating and mediating effects of interpersonal mentalizing", Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 34(2), pp.112~122 (2014)
- Chang, C. -C., "The effects of service recovery and relational selling behavior on trust, satisfaction, and loyalty", International Journal of Bank Marketing, 36(7), pp.1437~1454 (2018)
- Chankoo, Y., "Investigating salespeople’s performance and opportunistic behavior : adaptive and customer-oriented responses", Behavioral Sciences, 12(12), pp.512~512 (2022)
- Choi, D. K., "The effect of service quality of coffee shops on customer satisfaction and intention to continue use", Journal of Industrial Innovation, 39(2), pp.57~68 (2023)
- Crosby, L. A., "Relationship quality in services selling-an interpersonal influence perspective", Journal of Marketing, 54(3), pp.68~81 (1990)
- Darrat, M. A., "The interplay of emotion regulation and sales experience in salesperson conflicts : Evidence from an emerging economy", Journal of Global Marketing, 30(2), pp.99~109 (2017)
- Delpechitre, D., "The importance of customer’s perception of salesperson’s empathy in selling", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 34(2), pp.374~388 (2019)
- Dietvorst, R. C., "A sales force-specific theory-of-mind scale : Tests of its validity by classical methods and functional magnetic resonance imaging", Journal of Marketing Research, 46(5), pp.653~668 (2009)
- Fonagy, P., "Adversity, attachment, and mentalizing", Comprehensive Psychiatry, pp.59~66 (2016)
- Gabler, C. B., "Measuring and testing the impact of interpersonal mentalizing skills on retail sales performance", Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 39(3), pp.222~237 (2019)
- Gao, Y., "Chinese text-oriented interpersonal emotional relationship mining based on event knowledge model", 2020 6th international conference on big data and information analytics (BigDIA), pp.396~403 (2020), Big data and information analytics (BigDIA)
- Gerlach, G. I., "Salespersons' empathy as a missing link in the customer orientation- loyalty chain: An investigation of drivers and age differences as a contingency", The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 36(3), pp.221~220 (2016)
- Heywood, P. E., "Market research in China: The impact of guanxi on B2B research", pp.2008
- Kennedy, D. E., "Improving emotion regulation and sibling relationship quality : The more fun with sisters and brothers program", Family Relations, 57(5), pp.567~578 (2008)
- Kim, S. H., "A study on relationship of salesperson`s emotional intelligence, burnout, and customer-oriented selling behavior", Korean Management Review, 35(1), pp.183~225 (2006)
- Kohút, Z., "Mentalizing during communicative acts", pp.2019
- Lan Lan, K., "The mediating effect of empathy on the relationship between cultural intelligence and intercultural adaptation in intercultural service encounters", 한국유통과학회, 7(2), pp.169~180 (2020), Korea Distribution Science Association
- Law, R., "Interpersonal psychotherapy and mentalizing-synergies in clinical practice", American Journal of Psychotherapy, 75(1), pp.44~50 (2022)
- Lee, H. K., "A study on the effect of salesperson's adaptive selling behavior on customer equity and customer loyalty in the distribution channel of industrial goods -Focused on the Moderating Effects of Consultative Selling Competency", pp.2022
- Lee, K. M., "The effects of effective selling behavior on sales performance", Journal of Industrial Innovation, 32(4), pp.133~161 (2016)
- Lee, K. W., "Relationship between emotional exhaustion and turnover intention for seasonal hotel employees : focused on the deluxe hotels in Busan area", Journal of Industrial Innovation, 30, pp.123~142 (2014)
- Limbu, Y. B., "Empathy, nonverbal immediacy, and salesperson performance : The mediating role of adaptive selling behavior", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(5), pp.654~667 (2016)
- Lim, Y. S., "The study on the effects of leader and subordinate’s emotional intelligence on the subordinate’s organizational commitment and job performance-the mediating effects of LMX’s quality", Journal of Industrial Innovation, 35(4), pp.149~183 (2019)
- Lipps, T., "Das wissen von fremden Ichen", Psychologische Untersuchungen, 4, pp.694~ (1905)
- Luo, J., "‘From fail to prevail’ : How a salesperson’s communication sentiment influences consumer forgiveness in service failures focusing on the role of consumer self-construal", Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 34(2), pp.231~252 (2024)
- Manresa, A., "Insights into the digitalization-performance relationship : the role of flexibility and quality enhancing organizational practices", Production Planning & Control, 16 (2024)
- Markowitz, J. C., "Mentalizing in interpersonal psychotherapy", American Journal of Psychotherapy, 72(4), pp.95~94 (2019)
- McFarland, R. G., "The impact of salesperson interpersonal mentalizing skills on coping and burnout : the critical role of coping oscillation", Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 41(4), pp.285~300 (2021)
- Mehrabian, A., "Measure of emotional empathy", Journal of Personality, pp.525~543 (1972)
- Muzumdar, P., "Moderating effects of retail operations and hard-sell sales techniques on salesperson's interpersonal skills and customer repurchase intention", ~ (2021)
- Peesker, K. M., "Toward an understanding of the personal traits needed in a digital selling environment", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing (2024)
- Putra, I. W. J. A., "The Mediating Role of Relationship Marketing between Service Quality and Customer Loyalty", Journal of Relationship Marketing, 18(3), pp.233~245 (2019)
- Ramaraju, S., "Developing the interpersonal communication skills of college students through poetry : A classroom study", IUP Journal of English Studies, 10(2), pp.54~53 (2015)
- Rapp, M. S., "The value of financial flexibility and corporate financial policy", Journal of Corporate Finance, pp.288~302 (2014)
- Simon, F., "A relational approach to direct mail consumption : The perspective of engagement regimes", European Journal of Marketing, 49(9, pp.10) (2015), 1527~1562
- Spiro, R. L., "Adaptive selling : Conceptualization, measurement, and nomological validity", Journal of Marketing Research(JMR), 27(1), pp.61~69 (1990)
- Tan, R., "Let's talk about us : Attachment, relationship-focused disclosure, and relationship quality", Personal Relationships, 19(3), pp.521~534 (2012)
- Tao, T., "Market entry expansion into the chinese market: case study export maker trading", ~ (2024)
- Thi-Thuy-Linh, N., "Antecedents of salesperson performance in information service industry : The role of guanxi, adaptive selling behaviors and customer orientation", Cogent Business & Management, 9(1) (2022)
- Vieira, V. A., "The mediating role of happiness on the effect of locomotion and effort on salesperson’s performance and cross-selling : the case of financial insurance", Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 27(4), pp.1~14 (2022)
- Weißhaar, I., "Empathic relationships in professional services and the moderating role of relationship age", Psychology & Marketing, 33(7), pp.525~541 (2016)
- Xu, J., "Service trust and customer loyalty in china's hotel services: The causal role of commitment", Sustainability, 14(13), pp.8213~8230 (2022)
- Zhang, L., "Emotional intelligence of local and overseas graduates in real estate industry in China", Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 26(1), pp.185~204 (2021)
- Zheng, X., "Research on the Influence of Adolescents'Self-esteem Level on Interpersonal Skills", International Journal of Education and Humanities, 6(3), pp.81~83 (2023)
- Zhuang, G., "The impact of interpersonal guanxi on exercise of power in a Chinese marketing channel", Journal of Marketing Channels, 15(2-3), pp.185~210 (2008)
