The Roles of Market-Based Learning and Customer Orientation in Shaping Effective Selling Behavior and Efforts

Although previous studies have made significant progress in adaptive selling behavior (ASB), few studies have considered salesperson's customer orientation (CO) and learning behavior as determinants of effective sales management (ASB and relationship-making efforts), despite the discussion of important roles of these constructs. The authors test not only the relationships of salesperson's CO and market-based learning behavior to ASB and relationship-making efforts, but also the effects of ASB on relationship-making efforts and performance. The results of the study, which is done with samples of salespeople from Korean companies, indicate that salesperson's CO and market-based learning behavior are identified as significant determinants of ASB. Moreover, both salesperson's ASB and relationship-making efforts have significant effects on sales performance. On the other hand, as per salesperson's relationship-making efforts, salesperson's CO has a positive effect, but salesperson's market-based learning behavior and ASB do not influence his or her relationship-making efforts, which suggest a provocative possibility of conceptualization regarding the relationship between ASB and relationship management efforts.