Abstract
This study investigates how purchase decisions may be influenced by ties linking customer account personnel and sales personnel. Two distinct forms of social contagion-cohesion and structural equivalence-are posited as mechanisms for triggering purchase similarity among customer accounts. We empirically test our hypotheses using field-collected sociometric data that captures social ties among customer accounts and sales personnel within a retail sales territory. The results support structural equivalence rather than cohesion as a key driver of brand choice similarity among retail firms. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for sales management practice and research.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 7-20 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2011 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Business and International Management
- Marketing