Personality & job performance in the sales occupation: exploring the mediating roles of affective commitment & service quality orientation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain deeper knowledge of how personality affects job performance in the sales occupation in a Norwegian context. Existing research has established evidence of a relationship between personality and job performance, however, little is known about which mechanisms might influence this relationship. In the present study, affective commitment to the organization and service quality orientation towards customers were accordingly explored as potential mediators. This study of 114 in-store retail sales representatives from a large telecommunication company revealed that there was no mediation present. However, personality was found to be important for job performance as well as for affective commitment and service quality orientation. More specifically, the results showed that Open-Mindedness was negatively associated with objective performance and Negative Emotionality with subjective performance, indicating that the influence of personality on performance might be dependent on context and type of performance measure. Further, Extraversion and Conscientiousness were positively associated with affective commitment and Negative Emotionality negatively associated. Agreeableness was positively associated with service quality orientation. Furthermore, this study also found the facets belonging to the global traits to be of importance. However, the results showed that affective commitment and service quality orientation were not significantly related to job performance. Potential limitations to the study and implications for practice are discussed. Future research may explore this conceptual model in other national contexts and sales settings, and investigate other potential mediators that may contribute to explain the personality/ performance relationship. Future research is also encouraged to obtain objective measures of performance.