Sales Control Systems and Behavioral Responses: Mediating Role of Regulatory Focus and Moderating Role of P-O Fit

Abstract

Built on regulatory focus theory, this article develops a research model proposing the relationship between management controls (outcome, activity and capability), sales employees’ prevention and promotion focus and their behavioral responses (feedback seeking from different sources and relationship investment). The model also suggests that salesperson perceived organizational fit (P-O fit) contributes by influencing the situational self-regulatory mechanism based on regulatory fit theory. To analyze the data, a structural equation model procedure using LISREL 8.5 was employed. To access the potential common method bias, the MV” marker method was applied using a scale theoretically unrelated to at least one scale in the analysis as the MV marker. The results showed that the greater the salesperson’s perceived activity control system, the greater the extent of employee prevention focus. The findings also showed that output control and capability control system are positively related to the promotion focus of salespeople. Salespeople’s prevention focus relates negatively to the relational investment and positively to organization feedback seeking. The results indicate that salespeople who have promotion focus exhibit the predicted positive influence on their relationship investment. A significant contribution of this research framework is suggesting salesperson regulatory focus as a mediator and its’ effects on different types of sales-related behaviors. The author suggests that the motivational orientations of salespeople play key roles in shaping feedback seeking behaviors from different sources; broadly, that employees with a promotion focus will be more sensitive to customers’ feedback, and employees with a prevention focus will seek more feedback from the organization. Furthermore, salespeople with a promotion focus will invest more resources to build relationships with customers than salespeople with a prevention focus. This research also explains the moderating role of person-organization fit on the effect of salespeople’s regulatory focus and behavioral responses based on regulatory fit theory.