How customer perception of dependence on salesperson and customer–salesperson guanxi determine salesperson influence effectiveness

Abstract

This study examined how customer perception of dependence on salesperson (CPDS) and customer–salesperson guanxi determine salesperson influence tactics (SITs) and salesperson influence effectiveness (SIE) in the context of Confucian-rooted culture. We issued 800 online questionnaires to customers of four Taiwanese life insurance companies and obtained 636 valid responses. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses. The results confirmed that CPDS and customer-salesperson guanxi determine SIT usage and SIE, where CPDS also facilitates close customer-salesperson guanxi. We discovered that SITs contribute to the positive effect of customer-salesperson guanxi on SIE, and customer-salesperson guanxi positively mediates the effect of CPDS on SIT usage and SIE. Customer-salesperson guanxi, CPDS, and information exchange, promise, and encouragement tactics contribute to SIE. This may be the first study to associate CPDS and customer-salesperson guanxi with SIT usage and SIE simultaneously in the context of Confucian-rooted culture.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2021.1947142 .

Keywords:

• Influence tactics
• influence effectiveness
• guanxi
• life insurance services
• salesperson

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.