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More Than Money: Establishing The Importance Of A Sense Of Purpose For Salespeople, Valerie Good, Douglas E. Hughes, Hao Wang

Peer Reviewed Articles

Much of the current research on salesperson motivation focuses on extrinsic reward expectancy related to compensation, contests, incentives, and quotas. We find that while salespeople want to make money, they also want to make a difference and contribute to society through their work. In Study 1, the qualitative findings reveal that a sense of purpose–the belief that one is making a contribution to a cause greater and more enduring than oneself–is a significant motivator for salespeople. Hence, in Study 2 we develop a measure for sense of purpose and distinguish it from related constructs. Finally, in Study 3 we use …