Summary Brief Salesperson Performance: The Effect of Salesperson Identity Salience, Commitment to Supervisor, and Job Satisfac

Although the role of the salesperson is changing, the need to understand what factors influence salesperson performance is still important. Extant literature has examined many different factors and their effects on salesperson performance, including organizational commitment, job satisfaction, effort, emotional exhaustion, and role conflict. However, most research fails to recognize that the actions of salespeople are embedded in a much broader structure of social relations. As Granovetter (1990, pg. 98) suggests "economic action, outcomes, and institutions are affected by actors, personal relations, and by the structure of the overall network of relations. " Our paper suggests that a model including three key mediating variables-commitment to supervisor, salesperson identity salience, and job satisfaction-is an initial step toward capturing the embedded nature of being a salesperson. Key Mediating Variables Identity Theory and Role Identity Salience Identity theory focuses on the connections among the self, personal roles, and society. Identity theory examines individuals' identity-related behaviors (Hogg, TerTy, and White, 1995) and posits that the self should be regarded as a multifaceted, organized construct. It conceptualizes the self as a structure of multiple identities that reflect roles in differentiated networks of interaction (Stryker, 1980, 1987a,b). These identities are self-conceptions that People apply to themselves. Some of a person's identities have more self-relevance than others. As a result, identifies are organized hierarchically. Identities that are placed higher the hierarchy provide more meaning for the self and, as a result, are more likely to evoke identity-related behaviors (Laverie and Arnett, 2000). "Role identities by definition imply action" (Callero, 1985, p. 205). Which action a person takes is dependent upon what behaviors are considered appropriate for a given role. A salient identity related to being a salesperson may encourage a person to actively seek out resources that will help him/her be a better salesperson and to expend more effort during the performance or his/her job duties. Successful enactment of a role validates and confirms a Person's status as a role member and also reflects positively on self-evaluation. Since people who have a strong salience for a Particular identity will try to perform successfully the behaviors associated with that role, we posit that salesperson identity (SI) salience is positively related to salesperson performance. Commitment to Supervisor Commitment implies that a relationship is important and warrants effort to maintain it (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). It is "an active and positive attitude that implies attachment to an entity (Johnston et al., 1990, p. 334). While organizational commitment has been examined in the sales literature, commitment to supervisor has received little attention. Research suggests that supervisors can have a direct impact on employee behaviors (Becker et al., 1996). Because of their proximity to and regular interaction with subordinates they are better able to monitor, reward, and influence behavior than other people in the organization. Just as salespeople are considered boundary spanners between the organization and customers, sales managers span the boundary between the salesperson and the organization as a whole. For many salespeople, the sales manager is the primary contact in the firm. Previous research suggests that since supervisors are responsible for creating and promoting performance norms, they are more able to influence the behavior of subordinates. This is especially true when the relationships they have with their subordinates are strong. In addition, when salespeople are committed to their sales manager, they are more likely to take recommended actions, which may influence performance positively and reflect well on the sales manager. We posit that commitment to supervisor is related positively to salesperson performance. Identities that are more salient to an individual are placed higher in their hierarchy of identities and, as a result, have more self-relevance. Because these identities provide more meaning for the self, people will make an effort to maintain the relationships associated with them Laverie and Arnett, 2000). For salespeople, many of their SI-related relationships are tied to their firm (e.g., coworkers). Indeed, for many outside salespeople, their supervisor becomes the main contact that they have with the firm. As Becker et al. (1996, p. 466) suggest, "...norms regarding in role behaviors are established by such local foci as supervisors and work-groups." Therefore, as a SI becomes more salient for a salesperson, they tend to become more committed to maintaining the relationships that are important for that identity. We posit that SI salience is related positively to commitment to supervisor. Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is an individual's positive emotional state that results from the appraisal of one's job (Brown and Peterson, 1993). Job satisfaction has been found to impact organizational commitment in a number of studies. We suggest that job satisfaction will also influence commitment to supervisor. One of the main roles of a supervisor is to evaluate subordinates and, as a result, sales managers have a direct connection to a salesperson's level of job satisfaction. Therefore, we posit that salespeople will be more committed to their supervisors when job satisfaction is high. Research examining the job satisfaction-performance link has produced conflicting results. Some researchers suggest that performance is an end in itself and, therefore, when employees are satisfied with their jobs they are more likely to have higher performance. We posit that job satisfaction is positively related to salesperson performance. Research suggests that satisfaction is an important factor that leads to identification. The positive affect derived from satisfaction results in people recalculating the salience of different identities. That is, the satisfaction felt by the individual reaffirms the identity, which, in turn, increases the salience for that identity, which may result in it being ranked above other identities. Therefore, we posit that job satisfaction is related positively to Sl salience. Antecedents of SI Salience, Commitment to Supervisor, and Job Satisfaction Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity Two forms of role stress commonly examined in sales force research are role conflict and role ambiguity. Extant research suggests that both role conflict and role ambiguity decrease job satisfaction. Therefore, we posit that role conflict and role ambiguity are both related negatively to job satisfaction. Similarly, we argue that the frustration and unpleasant feelings associated with role conflict and role ambiguity result in negative affect, which in turn, affects the salience of the person's SI. Just as positive feelings affirm an identity, negative feelings disaffirm an identity. We posit that both role conflict and role ambiguity are negatively related to SI salience. Because the monitoring and improving of employee performance is a basic function of supervision, it is the supervisor's job to resolve role conflicts and ambiguities. In fact, the presence of these factors may be a result of poor performance on the part of the super-visor. As a result, the supervisor may be seen as a source of the negative affect derived from the presence of role conflict and role ambiguity. Therefore, we posit that role conflict and role ambiguity are negatively related to commitment to supervisor. Conclusion Although the role for the salesperson is changing, the need to understand what factors influence salesperson performance has not. Extant literature has examined many different factors and their affects on salesperson performance. However, Most research fails to recognize that the actions of salespeople are embedded in a much broader structure of social relations. Our paper suggests that a model including three key mediating variables-commitment to supervisor, salesperson identity salience, and job satisfaction-is an initial step toward capturing the embedded nature of being a salesperson.