A model of retail job characteristics, employee role ambiguity, externalcustomer outlook, and sales performance

This research develops and tests a model of retail employee sales performance that differs from previous efforts by utilizing multi-dimensional conceptualizations of potential antecedents. All the items were measured using multi-items scales drawn from previous studies. The organized model explains retail sales person ambiguity regarding customers, and their ambiguity regarding supervisor support, sales people’s job satisfaction, their ECMS, and the variance in their self-reported sales performance. The results indicate that the characteristics of the retail salesperson’s work environment are directly related with both enhanced job attitudes and reduced ambiguity. The greater amounts of retail salesperson job independence may actually lead to increased levels of ambiguity; and retail salesperson ambiguity regarding customers is strongly related with reduced salesperson customer service attitudes and performance, and retail salesperson customer service attitudes are strongly related with improved sales performance. The limitations is that, as the data is cross-sectional and neither longitudinal nor experimental, strictly causal relations cannot be inferred from these results and the samples primarily consists of younger females with less work experience and who are employed at smaller retail organizations. Characteristics of the retail salesperson’s jobenvironment were directly related to their job attitudes and to the ambiguity, while specific components of employee ambiguity and their level of ECMS are related with enhanced sales performance.

Keywords:

Retail salesperson’s , Job characteristics , Role ambiguity , Job attitudes , Sales performance