| dc.description.abstract | Using the role-play technique, the effect of four different
sales orientations on customers with four different
need patterns was examined by the authors. In a factorial
design, product-centred,company-centred, customer-centred
and self-centred salespersons interacted with strong need,
marginal need, no need, and negative need consumers, attempting
to sell a radio set. Neither the salesperson nor
the customer was aware of the other's orientation. The
study was conducted separately on the two different
samples: three groups of salespersons and three groups
of students with eight persons in each group. Results
indicated that product-centred salespersons made a more
positive impact on consumers followed by the customercentred
and the company-centred salespersons. Self-centred
salespersons made a relatively low impact. Furthermore,
product-centred salespersons made a greater impact on
low need customers while company-centred salespersons
made a greater impact on high-need customers. Customercentred
salespersons showed more consistency in the impact
they made than the other three types of salespersons,
indicating that they are likely to be consistently effective
irrespective of the need patterns or customers. | |
