Evaluating Sales Personnel: An Attribution Theory Perspective

Using attribution theory, this study examines the influence internal (salesperson) and external (situation) information has on sales managers' causal attributions of and reactions to a salesperson's failure to close a sale. The findings of the investigation suggest that sales managers were more likely to make internal attributions for failure when the salesperson had a poor, rather than a good, work history and external attributions when the salesperson had a good, rather than a poor, work history. In addition, sales managers were more likely to make external attributions for failure when the salesperson faced a high, rather than a low, task difficulty and internal attributions when the salesperson faced a low, rather than a high, task difficulty. Finally, sales managers responded to the failure by directing their attention at the salesperson or the situation.