You Don't Always Get What You Want, and You Don't Always Want What You Get: An Examination of Control-Desire for Control Congruence in Transactional Relationships

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mullins, Ryan R.; Bachrach, Daniel G.; Rapp, Adam A.; Grewal, Dhruv; Beitelspacher, Lauren Skinner
• 署名单位: Clemson University; University of Alabama System; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; University of Alabama System; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; Boston University; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/a0038273
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 1073-1088
• 关键词: response surface modeling; desired control; PERCEIVED CONTROL; Social capital theory; sales outcomes

摘要

In this research we develop a framework to examine the drivers of customers' desire for control over the sales relationship, and consequences of fit between perceived and desired control. Data collected in a lagged field study of 144 retailer manager (customer)-salesperson dyads were modeled using hierarchical linear modeling and response surface modeling techniques. Results from our analysis reveal that salesperson expertise drives retailers' desire for control in these relationships. In addition, while incongruence in perceived-desired control was negatively associated with both satisfaction and objective sales, retailer satisfaction was higher when both desired and perceived control were high. Further, as desired and perceived control over the sales relationship both increase, product sales initially decrease, and then increase, exhibiting a U-shaped effect. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed. These include adaptive sales training to identify misalignment between desired and perceived control, optimization of cocreation strategies, incorporation of interorganizational relational constructs, exploration of triadic social network configurations, examination of unmet expectations, and the implications of assimilation-contrast theory.