Using a large-scale multi-level data set, this study introduces to the sales management literature the concept of sales representatives’ headquarters stereotypes as a negative outcome of social identification. Results suggest that work team identification fosters headquarters stereotyping more strongly when organizational identification is low than when it is high. Salespeople’s physical distance from their corporate headquarters increases work team identification and decreases organizational identification. Competitive intensity, as an external threat to salespeople’s social identity, strengthens stereotyping and social identification. Besides important theoretical implications, this research also provides crucial insights for managers. Headquarters stereotypes are critically important, as they have harmful consequences for sales performance and customer satisfaction. Key managerial implications are that managers should foster organizational identification and that they cannot remedy the negative effects of stereotypes by using different compensation systems.
Dieser Eintrag ist Teil der Universitätsbibliographie.
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