Abstract
This dissertation tests a comprehensive model of cross-selling performance in the context of services. Specifically, the present study examines three antecedents (in the form of cross-selling role clarity, cross-selling self-efficacy, and motivation to cross-sell) to the specific realm of cross-selling performance, while also determining the relative influence of more managerially actionable variables (cross-selling training, cross-selling incentives, management commitment to cross-selling, and workgroup commitment to cross-selling--under the umbrella of the term “perceived cross-selling support”) on these direct antecedents. Although management may be responsible for the decision to initiate cross-selling as a practice for the organization to undertake, it is ultimately the efforts of the employees, who implement the strategy of cross-selling, that determine its success or failure. Therefore, this study takes an internal marketing perspective, in that it seeks to help determine which management strategies can best be used to motivate the salesperson to attain high levels of cross-selling performance. Using a sample of 225 independent insurance salespeople, eight of the seventeen study hypotheses tested were supported by the data. The empirical results, though mixed, serve to provide interesting findings for cross-selling in the realm of services. The dissertation also provides additional directions for research on cross-selling in services.
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