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Attributions and Behavioral Intentions of Inexperienced Salespersons to Failure: An Empirical Investigation

University of Cincinnati, Andrea.Dixon{at}uc.edu

Rosann L. Spiro

Indiana University, spiro{at}indiana.edu

Lukas P. Forbes

Western Kentucky University, Lukas.Forbes{at}wku.edu

The goal of this research was to determine how inexperienced sales representatives (rookies)interpret and respond to their sales failure situations. The authors studied 296 rookie financial services sales representatives' erformance attributions for a previous unsuccessful sales interaction and their intended behaviors for a future, similar selling situation. This provided the authors the opportunity to compare their results with Dixon, Spiro and Jamil's (2001)findings for experienced sales representatives (veterans). In the event of a sales failure, rookies' responses do not parallel those of veterans. The results suggest that rookies are likely to engage in several inappropriate behaviors in response to failed sales encounters. Implications for managers and directions for future research are discussed.

Key Words: selling • sales management • attributions • failure • inexperienced sales representatives

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 31, No. 4, 459-467 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0092070303255473


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