Spinning the wheel: Gender stereotypes about the tire salespeople and a counter-stereotypical strategy

IF 1.4 4区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED

European Review of Applied Psychology-Revue Europeenne De Psychologie Appliquee Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2026-04-10 DOI:10.1016/j.erap.2025.101130

Nelly Odin, Christine Morin-Messabel, Emilie Vayre

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose

Women face challenges when entering the sales industry, particularly in the manufacturing and automotive sectors, which are still male-dominated. This study was conducted in a multinational tire manufacturer among its trainees. The aim was to examine the gender stereotypes about salespeople, particularly about saleswomen. Additionally, the study aimed to examine the effects of a counter-stereotypical job advertisement on the attractiveness of this male-dominated job.

Methodology

The study consisted of two parts: free associations and an exposition to a fictitious counter-stereotypical job advertisement. The free associations were analyzed using prototypical analysis, and the effects of the counter-stereotypical job advertisement on job attractiveness were analyzed using multivariate tests.

Results

The results reveal gender stereotypes about salespeople, with soft skills seemingly associated with saleswomen and agentic/hard selling skills with salesmen. The second part of the study highlights the positive effect of a counter-stereotypical job advertisement on attitudes towards the saleswoman featured in the fictitious job advertisement.

Practical implications

We encourage firms to promote communications that present specific counter-stereotyped images, as they can convey a pro-inclusion message. Also, we recommend to private firms to strengthen their awareness-raising programs about stereotypes and gender issues in the workplace for both existing employees and prior to hiring women.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the understanding of gender stereotypes in sales occupations. It provides an exploratory analysis of the impact of these gender stereotypes on the portrayal of salespeople and the effectiveness of counter-stereotypical job advertisements in the tire industry.

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旋转车轮：关于轮胎销售人员的性别刻板印象和反刻板印象策略

女性在进入销售行业时面临挑战，特别是在制造业和汽车行业，这仍然是男性主导的行业。本研究是在一家跨国轮胎制造商的学员中进行的。其目的是研究关于销售人员，尤其是女销售人员的性别刻板印象。此外，该研究旨在检验反刻板印象的招聘广告对男性主导的工作吸引力的影响。研究方法研究包括两个部分：自由联想和对虚构的反刻板印象的招聘广告的阐述。采用原型分析分析自由联想，采用多变量检验分析反刻板印象招聘广告对工作吸引力的影响。研究结果揭示了对销售人员的性别刻板印象，软技能似乎与女销售有关，而代理/硬销售技能与销售人员有关。研究的第二部分强调了反刻板印象的招聘广告对虚拟招聘广告中女售货员的态度的积极影响。实际意义我们鼓励公司推广呈现特定的反刻板印象形象的沟通，因为它们可以传达支持包容的信息。此外，我们建议私营公司在现有员工和招聘女性之前加强对工作场所陈规定型观念和性别问题的认识。原创性/价值本研究有助于理解销售职业中的性别刻板印象。它提供了一个探索性的分析，这些性别刻板印象对销售人员的写照和反刻板印象的工作广告在轮胎行业的有效性的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Review of Applied Psychology-Revue Europeenne De Psychologie Appliquee PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED-

CiteScore

2.20

自引率

20.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The aim of the Revue européenne de Psychologie appliquée / European Review of Applied Psychology is to promote high-quality applications of psychology to all areas of specialization, and to foster exchange among researchers and professionals. Its policy is to attract a wide range of contributions, including empirical research, overviews of target issues, case studies, descriptions of instruments for research and diagnosis, and theoretical work related to applied psychology. In all cases, authors will refer to published and verificable facts, whether established in the study being reported or in earlier publications.