Chapter Seven
Learning Objectives
• Understand the process of motivation
• Discuss the effect of personal characteristics on
salesperson motivation
• Understand how an individual’s career stage
influences motivation
• Discuss the effect of environmental factors on
motivations
• Discuss the effect of factors inside the company on
motivation
7.1
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Chapter Seven
Key Terms
Motivation
Performance attributions
(stable, unstable, internal,
external)
Expectancies
accuracy
magnitude
Instrumentalities
Career stages (exploration,
establishment, maintenance,
disengagement)
Plateauing
accuracy
Management by objectives
(MBO)
magnitude
Valence for rewards
Earnings opportunity ratio
7.2
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Chapter Seven
Psychological Motivation
Most industrial and organizational
psychologists view motivation as an
individual’s choice to:
1. Initiate action on a certain task
2. Expend a certain amount of effort on that
task
3. Persist in expending effort over a period of
time
7.3
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Chapter Seven
Psychological Determinants of Motivation
Level of effort
expended
Job activity task
Expectancy
Level of performance
on some performance
dimension
Increased attainment
of rewards
Motivation
Perceived link between increased
effort and improved performance
Instrumentality
Perceived link between improved
performance and increased reward
Valence for
Performance
Instrumentality
multiplied by
valence
Valence for Rewards
Perceived desire for receiving
more reward
7.4
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Chapter Seven
Motivation
A salesperson’s motivation to expend effort on
a task rises from one or more of these three
perceptions.
1. Expectancies – the perceived linkages between
more effort and achieving improved performance
2. Instrumentalities – the perceived relationship
between improved performance and receiving
increased rewards
3. Valence for rewards – the perceived attractiveness
or intrinsic value the rewards the salesperson might
receive
7.5
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Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Expectancies
A salesperson’s perceive a link between job
effort and achieved performance.
An expectancy-- estimating the probability that increased
effort will lead to improved performance
Accuracy of expectancies—based on the perceptual
clarity of understanding the relationship between
effort and achievement
Magnitude of expectancies– the perceptual value
assigned to an expectancy based on the ability to
control or influence the required performance
7.6
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Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Important Questions and Management
Implications of Salespeople’s Expectancy Estimates
Accuracy of Expectancy Estimates
Question
Management Implications
•
•
Are salespeople’s views of the
linkage between activities and
performance outcomes consistent
with those of sales managers?
If substantial variation exists,
salespeople may devote too much
effort to activities considered
unimportant by management, and
vice versa. This might indicate a
need for the following:
– More extensive/explicit sales
training.
– Closer supervision.
– Evaluation of salesperson’s
effort and time allocation as
well as performance.
7.7
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Important Questions and Management
Implications of Salespeople’s Expectancy Estimates
Accuracy of Expectancy Estimates
Question
Management Implications
•
•
Are there large variations in
expectancy perceptions between high
performers and low performers in the
sales force?
If high-performing salespeople hold
reasonably consistent views
concerning which activities are most
important in producing good
performance, those views might be
used as a model for sales
training/professional development
programs.
7.8
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Important Questions and Management
Implications of Salespeople’s Expectancy Estimates
Magnitude of Expectancy Estimates
Question
Management Implications
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
All other things equal, the higher the
salesperson’s expectancy estimates,
the greater the individual’s
motivation to expend effort.
Do personal characteristics of
salespeople influence the size of their
expectancies?
Overall self-esteem?
Perceived competence?
Mental ability? (Intelligence?)
Previous sales experience?
If such relationships are found, they
may suggest additional criteria for
recruitment/selection
7.9
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Important Questions and Management
Implications of Salespeople’s Expectancy Estimates
Magnitude of Expectancy Estimates
Question
•
Do perceptions of uncertainty or
constraints in the environment (e.g.,
materials shortages, recession, etc.)
reduce salespeople’s expectancy
estimates?
Management Implications
• During periods of economic
uncertainty, management may have
to change performance criteria,
evaluation methods, and/or
compensation systems to maintain
desired levels of effort from the
sales force (e.g., lower quotas,
reward servicing rather than selling
activities).
7.10
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Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Instrumentalities
Instrumentalities link job performance and available
rewards.
A person estimates the likelihood that an improvement in
performance will lead to a specific reward.
Accuracy of Instrumentalities-- based on the perceptual
clarity of understanding the relationship between
improvement, achievement and available rewards
Magnitude of Instrumentalities:-- an estimate of the
intrinsic value of firm’s compensation plan
e.g.: a commission salesperson will be more likely to perceive a
greater probability of attaining more pay by improving
performance
7.11
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Important Questions and Management Implications of
Salespeople’s Instrumentality Estimates
Magnitude of Instrumentality Estimates
Question
•
Management Implications
•
How are salespeople’s instrumentality
estimates influenced by their compensation
system (salary versus commission)?
– Do salespeople on commission have
higher instrumentality estimates for
performance dimensions related to
short-term sales volume?
– Do salaried salespeople have higher
instrumentalities for performance
dimensions not directly related to
short-term sales volumes?
If such relationships are found,
managers should select the type of
compensation plan that maximizes
instrumentality estimates for those
performance dimensions considered
most crucial.
7.12
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Important Questions and Management Implications of
Salespeople’s Instrumentality Estimates
Magnitude of Instrumentality Estimates
Question
Management Implications
•
•
Do personal characteristics of
salespeople influence the size of their
instrumentality estimates?
– Feelings of internal control?
– Mental ability?
– Sales experience?
If such relationships are found they
may suggest additional criteria for
recruitment/selection.
7.13
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Valences for Rewards
Valences measure perceptions of the desirability of receiving
increased rewards through improved performance.
Evidence suggests that other rewards equal or exceed the
value of increased financial compensation
No universal statements can be made about the kinds of
rewards deemed most desired and most effective for
motivation
Satisfaction with current rewards depends upon perceived
value of their characteristics, compensation policies and
management practices within the firm.
7.14
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Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Valence Ratings and Rankings of Alternative Rewards by
Salespeople in Two Manufacturers
Company A
(N=151)
Valence
Rating Rank
Reward
Company A
(N=76)
Valence
Rating
Rank
More Pay
90.8
1
80.9
3
Sense of Accomplishment
74.8
2
84.6
2
Opportunities for Personal Growth
74.7
3
87.9
1
Promotion
64.7
4
74.6
4
Liking and Respect
62.2
5
64.8
5
Security
60.3
6
57.4
6
Recognition
50.3
7
53.9
7
Adapted from Gilbert A. Churchill, Jr., Neil M. Ford, and Orville C. Walker, Jr., Motivating the Industrial Salesforce: The
Attractiveness of Alternative Rewards, Report #76-115 (Cambridge, Mass.: The Marketing Science Institute, 1976), p. 14.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
7.15
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Personal Characteristics and Motivation
The personal characteristics affecting motivation
include:
1. The individual’s satisfaction with current
rewards
2. Demographic variables
3. Job experience
4. Psychological variables – the salesperson’s
personality traits and their attribution of meaning to
performance
7.16
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Satisfaction
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s theory of
motivation, and Alderfer’s existence and growth theory
all suggest workers, currently dissatisfied with their
rewards, value lower-order reward most highly.
These theories also suggest that high-order rewards will be
valued more highly after lower-order need for rewards have
been satisfied.
Is it possible to pay a salesperson too much?
Studies show that salespeople, satisfied with their current
income (a lower-order reward), assign lower valences to
earning more pay.
7.17
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Job Experience
As people gain experience, they gain a clearer
idea of how expending effort affects
performance..
Experienced salespeople understand how
superiors evaluate performance and how
certain performance leads to rewards,
inexperienced counterparts tend not to
understand.
The magnitude of a salesperson’s expectancy
perceptions relates to experience.
7.18
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Psychological Traits
An individual’s motivation seems to be affected
by psychological traits.
People with strong achievement needs tend to
express higher valences for higher-order
rewards like recognition, personal growth,
and feeling of accomplishment.
A general feeling of self-esteem, perceived
competence and ability to perform job
activities (task-specific self-esteem) related
positively to the magnitude of expectancy
estimates.
7.19
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Performance Attributions
People try to identify and understand the causes of
major events and outcomes in their lives.
1. Stable internal factors – unlikely to change much in
the near future
2. Unstable internal factors – vary from time to time
3. Stable external factors – the nature of the task or
competitive situation in a particular territory
4. Unstable external factors – change next time, such
as assistance from an unusually aggressive
advertising campaign.
7.20
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Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
The Influence of Performance Attributions on the
Magnitude of a Salesperson’s Expectancy Estimates
Impact on Magnitude of
Salesperson’s Expectancy Estimates
Performance Attribution
Good Performance Attributed to:
Stable internal cause
Unstable internal cause
Stable external cause
+
+
+
Unstable external cause
0
Poor Performance Attributed to:
Stable internal cause
Unstable internal cause
Stable external cause
+
-
Unstable external cause
0
7.21
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter Seven
Management Implications
The relationships between salespeople’s
characteristics and motivation levels have two
broad implications for sales managers:
1. They suggest people with certain characteristics
are likely to understand their jobs and their
companies’ policies especially well.
2. Some personal characteristics are related to the
kinds of rewards salespeople are likely to value
and find motivating
7.22
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.