Should Firms Encourage Salespeople to Promote House Brands in Customer Interaction? An Empirical Investigation of Financial Outcomes and Customer Response

Kraus, Florian ; Rajab, Thomas ; Wieseke, Jan

URL:	https://ssrn.com/abstract=2183199
Dokumenttyp:	Zeitschriftenartikel
Erscheinungsjahr:	2012
Titel einer Zeitschrift oder einer Reihe:	Schmalenbach Business Review : Sbr
Band/Volume:	64
Heft/Issue:	4
Seitenbereich:	331-363
Ort der Veröffentlichung:	Düsseldorf
Verlag:	Verl.-Gruppe Handelsblatt
ISSN:	1439-2917 , 2194-072X
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:	Englisch
Einrichtung:	Fakultät für Betriebswirtschaftslehre > Dr. Werner Jackstädt Stiftungslehrstuhl für Sales & Services Marketing (Kraus 2011-)
Fachgebiet:	330 Wirtschaft
Freie Schlagwörter (Englisch):	Adaptive selling , empathy , hierarchical linear modeling , house brands , personal selling , relationship marketing , store loyalty
Abstract:	Many retailers and service providers sell their house brands side by side with competing brands of other suppliers. Although many firms encourage their salespeople to favor in-house products when serving customers, investigators have failed to examine the effect this practice may have on customers. This study combines archival and survey data from the tourism sector to explore this research void. First, we analyze the effect of salespeople’s intentions to promote house brands (IHB) on stores’ housebrand sales, a link previous studies have not explicitly tested. Second, drawing on attribution theory, we hypothesize that salespeople’s IHB will have a negative impact on customers’ perceptions of salesperson customer orientation and on customers’ store loyalty. We find that salespeople’s IHB positively influences stores’ house-brand sales and negatively influences both customer variables. Further analysis shows that the moderation effects of adaptive selling, sales empathy, and customer familiarity with the salesperson can mitigate IHB’s negative impact on customer response. These findings offer a new perspective in the discussion of the benefits and detriments of salespeople’s promotions of in-house products.