• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.57-64
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• 2018

Purpose - As the importance of salesperson attitudes and behaviors enhancing customer perception and loyalty have increased, many retail companies put emphasis on internal marketing activities. The issue also has captured the interest of academics, but most of the previous research tends to be limited to investigating antecedents of salesperson job satisfaction and commitment. Based on the consumer-brand relationship concepts, this study aims to examine the effects of the salesperson-brand relationships on customers' service evaluation and store loyalty. Research design, data, and methodology - In a structural equation model, it is hypothesized that salesperson brand identification influences salespersons' brand trust and affect, which are the two dimensions of consumer-brand relationships. Salespersons' brand trust and affect are expected to increase salespersons' customer orientation, which in turn influences customers' service evaluations and store loyalty. To test this hypotheses a set of data collected from department stores in Seoul is utilized. Results - First, it was found that salesperson brand identification is a significant antecedent to salespersons' brand trust and affects, the two dimensions of salesperson brand relationships. Second, salespersons' brand trust and affect were found to enhance salespersons' customer-oriented behaviors. Third, salespersons' customer orientation showed a significant effect on customers' service evaluation. When a salesperson makes more effort to provide useful information for fulfilling customer needs, customers evaluate the salesperson's service more positively. Finally, customers' service evaluation had a positive impact on customers' store loyalty. Conclusions - This study provides significant academic and practical implications. First, based on the theory of consumer-brand relationships, the concept of salesperson-brand relationships was introduced and found to be an effective motivator of salespersons' customer oriented attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the two dimensions of brand relationships, brand trust and affect, should be considered as the critical factors both in developing theoretical research and improving long-term company performance. Also, internal marketing activities should focus on maximizing employees' brand identification. That is, retail companies need to put emphasis on sharing their brand values and personality with internal customers to strengthen the brand relationships with salespersons and to enhance customer responses.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.75-82
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• 2018

Purpose - As the role of salespersons in retail stores has expanded from selling products to sharing brand experiences with customers, the importance of research on the effects of salesperson-brand relationships has grown. The purpose of this research is to investigate the influences of salespersons' brand identification on conceptual fluency and customers' service and brand evaluations. It was supposed that salespersons' brand identification is affected by brand knowledge, which is a core dimension of internal branding. Research design, data, and methodology - The author developed a structural model in which salespersons' brand knowledge influences brand identification, hence customers' perception of salesperson-brand image congruence. And it is hypothesized that salesperson-brand image congruence influences conceptual fluency which affects customers' satisfaction and brand evaluation. Data were collected from five department stores in Seoul. Results - First, salespersons' brand knowledge was found to have a significant effect on brand identification. The more a salesperson knows about the affiliated brand, the higher her level of brand identification. Second, salespersons' brand identification influenced salesperson-brand image congruence. Third, salesperson-brand image congruence had a significant effect on brand conceptual fluency. Customers who perceive salesperson-brand image congruent are more likely to process information easily. Finally, conceptual fluency was found to be a significant determinant of store loyalty and brand value evaluation. Conclusions - The results of this study verify importance of salesperson's brand identification on customers' service and brand evaluations. To enhance salespersons' brand identification, retailers should emphasize the importance of internal branding and communication, especially by sharing brand vision, values, and identity with employees at customer contact points. Also, as brand conceptual fluency is a significant determinant of customer responses, retailers need to deliver consistent messages through various components of store environments, including salespersons' attitudes, appearances, and manners, as well as physical store design. With a deeper understanding of the effects of salesperson-brand relationship and brand conceptual fluency, retailers will be able to create more effective brand strategies to enhance their performances. Future studies should consider data from various retail types, such as discount stores, to generalize the findings.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.565-578
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine the emotional experience dimension on the brand of the low price cosmetics and to empirically investigate the effect of emotional experience on the relationship between customers and brand. Data were collected for 10 days starting on March $2^{nd}$ 2009. Questionnaires were distributed to 517 female college students who experienced to purchase the products of the low price cosmetic brand and answers were collected. The results of analysis on collected data showed that the emotional experience was classified into sense, spatial environmental emotion, sales promotion emotion, salesperson emotion and visual/verbal identity, and emotional experience on low price cosmetic brand had a positive effect on the relationship between customer and brand. Specifically, it was showed that emotional experience on low price cosmetic brand significantly affected the customer satisfaction, brand trust and brand attachment. In terms of effect of emotional experience on customer satisfaction, the orders in the degree of influence were following: the sense, spatial environmental emotion, sale promotion emotion and salesperson emotions. In terms of effect of emotional experience on brand trust, the orders in the degree of influence were following: the sense, salesperson emotions, sale promotion emotion and spatial environmental emotion. In terms of effect of emotional experience on brand attachment, the orders in the degree of influence were following: the sense, spatial environmental emotion, salesperson emotions, visual/verbal identity and sale promotion emotion.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.131-145
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• 2006

The study used 24 clothing salespersons who had turnover experiences. It used a qualitative research method, through which the following turnover motives were found. The turnover motives can be classified into two: voluntary and non-voluntary. The voluntary turnover motives include marriage, career change, wages, human relationship, family moving, study abroad, health problems, and so forth. This study finds that some salespersons made a turnover because they did not like the products and brand or they preferred another products and brand. This kind of turnover is unique in the field of clothing sales and seldom found in the motives of salesperson turnover in other fields. The non-voluntary turnover motives are caused by non-personal, circumstantial factors which include the bankruptcy of companies due to economic depression, withdrawal of salesroom from department stores due to low sales, etc. This means that the creation, rise, and fall of fashion brands are closely related to frequent turnover of clothing sale associates. As there are various motives for the salesperson turnover, so it is necessary for the clothing industry to examine and investigate the trends of its salespersons and establish an appropriate policy to cope with the matter.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.61-77
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• 2008

This study proposes new fashion brand evaluation criteria. In developing the criteria, we emphasize the following considerations: first, the object of the evaluation should be the brand rather than the products or store second, the "new" brand should be the "new" brand from the consumer's perspective finally, only fashion brands available in department store are included to examine the relationship between evaluation criteria and consumers' relationship quality perception with a department store. Our data analysis of an online survey panel sample of 537 female consumers produced six new fashion brand evaluation criteria: merchandise power, in-store communication, brand/company image, salesperson, VMD, and assortment variety. New fashion brand evaluation criteria factors include both brand attributes and store attributes. Brand-related evaluation criteria are merchandise power, assortment variety, and brand/company images, whereas store-related criteria are VMD, salesperson, and in-store communication. The associations among brand evaluation criteria, brand attitudes, and the consumers' relationship quality with department store were tested by regression analysis.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.131-145
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to reveal the effects of sales services and organizational member relationships of fashion brand salespersons on job performance and job satisfaction, as well as how job performance, job satisfaction, salesperson services, and organizational member relationships differ according to the sales career and job position. The data were collected by administering a questionnaire to fashion brand salespeople in Gwangju from September to October 2020. Using 235 responses, the data were analyzed with SPSS 27.0 for frequency analysis, reliability analysis, t-test, factor analysis, and regression analysis. The research results were as follows. First, the basic services of the salesperson comprised factors such as 'consideration and convenience', 'appearance and dress', and 'kindness and greeting', which are considered better variables to explain job performance than job satisfaction. Second, the salesperson's professional service consisted of 'fashion product knowledge', 'professional self-management', and 'store display technology' factors, which are good variables to predict job performance. Third, the relationship between the members of a salesperson's organization consists of factors such as 'headquarters relations', 'colleague relations', and 'emotional labor', which was better for explaining job satisfaction than job performance. Fourth, depending on the position, professional salespeople exhibited significantly higher values in job performance, basic and professional services of salespersons, and 'headquarters relations' factors, whereas there were no significant differences in job satisfaction, 'colleague relations' and 'emotional labor'. Lastly, the more sales career, the higher the job performance, and the basic services, professional services, and 'headquarters relations' factors of salespeople were also good.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.311-324
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to reveal the effects of internal characteristics, such as fashion involvement, personality characteristics, and customer orientation of fashion brand salespeople on the core sales tasks, and how the core sales tasks and internal characteristics differ depending on differences in the way salespeople are remunerated. The data were collected as a questionnaire to fashion brand salespeople in Gwangju from September to October 2020. Using 235 responses, the data were analyzed with SPSS 21.0 for frequency analysis, reliability analysis, t-test, factor analysis, and regression analysis. The research results were as follows. First, fashion involvement comprises factors such as 'fashion passion and sense'and 'fashion trend interest', and the greater the 'fashion passion and sense', the better the 'sales management'and 'customer relationship management'jobs. Second, 'esthetic openness', 'responsibility' and 'extroversion' of the big five personality characteristics have a positive impact on 'sales management' and 'customer relationship management' tasks. Third, customer orientation comprises factors such as 'customer-centric understanding'and 'gain customer trust', the greater the customer-orientation, the better the 'sales management'and 'customer relationship management'tasks. Fourth, according to the position of the salesperson, the group of professional salespeople at manager level had high responses in core sales tasks, fashion involvement, customer orientation, and characteristics such as 'agreeableness', 'esthetic openness', and 'responsibility'.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.105-115
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• 2019

Purpose - Previous research has shown that a very high level and a very low level of job scope can both be more stressful than intermediate levels of job scope. This study investigates the potential positive and negative effects of the number of accounts handled by sales personnel. The primary objective of this paper is to examine how the number of accounts salespeople handle affects their stress and performance. Research design, data, and methodology - This research conducted the data collection using a survey of salespeople in the pharmaceutical industry. I sent the survey to 420 salespeople, and received 318 usable responses. To assess measurement reliability and validity, I ran an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. I also employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to test all hypothesized effects in AMOS and also measured the interaction variable using Ping's (1996) approach. Results - These results show that there are linear and non-linear effects of the number of accounts handled by the salesperson on both role ambiguity and role conflict. First, the number of accounts handled by a salesperson is positively related to role ambiguity and role conflict. Second, the effect of the number of accounts handled on role ambiguity and role conflict decreases as the number of accounts handled by the salesperson increases. Third, as accounts increase from a low level, role stress increases; when the number of accounts reaches an optimal level, role stress decreases; and when the number of accounts increases to a high level, it can be detrimental to the salesperson's role stress. Fourth, while product complexity is positively related to role ambiguity, brand strength is negatively related to both role ambiguity and role conflict. Fifth, the greater the brand strength, the weaker the relationship will be between the number of accounts handled and salesperson role ambiguity. Finally, role ambiguity is positively related to salesperson performance. Conclusion - Too much and too little accounts increase the role ambiguity and role conflict of salespersons. Managers should identify the complex effect of the number of accounts handled by salespeople. Also, when products are complex, managers should provide training to eliminate any complex processes and complex information. These results suggest ways to decrease salespersons' role stress by ensuring an optimal level of the number of accounts and brand strength.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine if multi-shop's store image affects store loyalty and brand switching. Two hundred fifty females and males who have purchased fashion products in multi-shop participated in this survey. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Pearson's correlation and regression analysis were used for this study. The results were as followed. First, respondents' the most favorite multi-shop was MUE, followed by Boon the shop and ABC mart. Second, store image was classified into four factors such as store atmosphere, service of store, store recognition and product variety. Store loyalty was classified into five factors such as emotional relationship, pursue of novelty, trust about salesperson, satisfaction about service, and active loyalty. Third, result revealed that 'product variety' and 'store atmosphere', 'store recognition', 'service of store' accounted for 39.6% of the explained varience in store loyalty, and 'store recognition' accounted for 4% of the explained varience in brand switching behavior, while 'trust about salesperson', 'pursue of novelty' accounted for 5% of the explained varience in brand switching behavior. Based on these results, multi-shop's fashion marketing strategy would be suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.31 no.7
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• pp.1139-1147
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• 2007

Word of mouth is becoming increasingly in the market these days as company offers many product, advertising, promotion for consumer. The Purpose of this study is to the effect of brand loyalty and word of mouth between trust and commitment of silver women and salesperson. A survey was conducted from October 15 to September 10 in 2006, among over the 60 aged silver women. 260 silver women subjects were frequency analysis, reliability analysis, factor analysis, multiple regression analysis. The results are as follows: First, a degree of trust factors were determined to be specialty, benevolence, And a degree of commitment factors were determined to be calculative commitment, effective commitment. Second, a degree of trust and commitment factors had an effect on brand loyalty. Third, brand loyalty effect on word of mouth. The research finds that trust and commitment of multidimensional view effect on word of mouth and moderating effect of relationship.