Bringing theory to practice: Examining the role of pay for performance, intrinsic motivation, and culture on sales agent tenure

ABSTRACT

Demographic changes in the United States increased diversity among employees and sales agents. Hispanics, the largest minority group, are expected to account for the majority of employment growth over the next several years. Yet, little is known about how this group’s intrinsic and extrinsic sales motivation affects tenure. Using operational and earned incentive secondary data from 615 inside sales agents from a Fortune 100 financial service company with multiple locations throughout the United States, we examine the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on inside sales agent tenure, as well as the moderating cultural influence of Hispanic inside sales agents. Overall, inside sales agent retention is positively affected by increased intrinsic motivation and negatively affected by extrinsic motivation. Cultural differences among inside sales agents did not moderate either relationship, demonstrating the similarities of psychological needs for autonomous motivation that transcends cultures. We discuss the value of these new findings to both the literature and practice, along with implications and limitations.