본 연구는 판매원의 판매성과실패후 판매원이 가진 목표지향성, 귀인, 심리적 반응, 행동과의 관계에 관한 것으로 판매성 과실패에 따른 귀인과정에 대해 살펴보고자 한다. 특히 본 연구는 판매성과실패시 내적귀인이라 할 수 있는 능력과 노력 귀인에 영향을 미치는 요소와 이러한 내적귀인에 따른 심리적 반응으로 무기력과 미래성공기대를 제시하고자 하며 이러한 두 가지 심리적 반응이 판매행동에 미치는 영향을 검토하고자 한다. 또한 내적귀인이 심리적 반응에 미치는 영향 정도가 판매원의 경력에 따라 상이한가를 살펴보고자 한다. 선행연구들은 주로 일반적 판매상황에서 판매원 행동에 영향을 미치 는 요소에 초점을 두고 있지 목표한 성과를 달성하지 못한 판매성과실패 상황에서 판매원의 심리적 반응과 행동에 관해서 는 간과하고 있다. 그러나 실제 판매상황은 목표한 성과가 달성되지 못할 가능성이 높은 상황이며 따라서 이러한 상황에 서 판매성과실패후의 과정에 대한 탐색이 또한 필요할 것이다. 연구결과 판매성과실패시 판매원의 목표지향성중 학습목표는 노력귀인을 증가시키고 능력귀인을 감소시키며, 수행목표는 능력귀인을 증가시키는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 능력귀인은 무기력을 증가시키고, 미래성공기대를 감소시켰으나 노력귀인 은 무기력을 감소시키고, 미래성공기대를 증가시키는 것으로 나타났다. 귀인으로 인한 심리적 반응인 무기력과 미래성공 기대가 판매원의 행동에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났는데 무기력은 친소비자행동을 감소시켰으며 미래성공기대는 친소비 자행동을 증가시키는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 노력귀인과 능력귀인이 무기력과 미래성공기대에 미치는 영향 정도는 판매원 의 경력에 따라 상이한 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과들은 판매성과실패시 판매원이 가진 목표지향성에 따라 원인탐색과 정이 달라지며 그 원인을 무엇으로 인식하는가에 따라 심리적 반응과 행동적 반응이 상이하다는 것을 제시하고 있다. 특 히 내적귀인 모두가 긍정적 결과를 유발시키는 것이 아니라 내적귀인의 유형에 따라 긍정적 반응을 유발시킬 수도 있지만 부정적 반응을 유발시킬 수 있음을 살펴볼 수 있었다. 또한 판매원의 경력에 따라 귀인이 내적반응에 미치는 영향정도가 상이한 것으로 나타나 실패시 경력별 재귀인훈련이 달라야 함을 시사하고 있다. 따라서 내탓하는 판매원이 모두 긍정적인 것은 아니며 판매성과실패상황에서도 지속적으로 긍정적 반응을 유발시키기 위해서는 기업차원에서 긍정적으로 귀인할 수 있도록 유도하고 부정적으로 귀인하지 않도록 유도하는 것이 바람직할 것이다. 본 연구는 목표성과달성에 실패한 상황에서 판매원의 목표지향성, 실패귀인, 심리적 반응, 행동과의 관계를 살펴봄으로써 판매원 행동에 대한 더 나은 이해를 제공하고 있으며 판매성과실패후 판매원 반응에 관한 관심을 제고시키고 실패에 따른 판매원의 교육에 관한 전략적 시사점을 제공하고 있다.
This is a study on relationship of salespersons’ goal orientation, attribution, psychological responses, and behaviors following failure in sales performance, which aims to examine the attribution process due to failure in sales performance. In particular, this study intends to suggest that there may be differences in helplessness and expectations for future success by ability and effort attributions which can be internal attributions in case of failure in sales performance and examine effects of both psychological responses on selling behaviors. Prior researches mention factors in salespersons’ behaviors primarily in general selling situations but overlook their psychological responses and behaviors in the situation of failure in sales performance. However, an actual selling situation is where it is least likely that targeted performance will be achieved; therefore, it is necessary to investigate the process following failure in sales performance in such a situation. Failure arouses attribution caused by failure and the attribution then arouses psychological responses and affects even behaviors. Among attributions, internal attributions are closely related to psychological responses, which are very likely to affect behaviors later. Many companies recommend that salespersons should attribute any failure in sales performance to themselves and many mangers are actually attributing the failure to salespersons. This is because it is believed that failure is attributed to salespersons themselves, they will be more likely to make efforts to reflect their fault and solve problems. It is however necessary to throw a doubt on the belief of companies that such internal attributions all can arouse positive results. That is, all efforts and abilities, which can be internal attributions, don’t lead to positive results; rather, they can arouse positive responses if they are considered as controllable by themselves and unstable, while they can possibly arouse negative responses if they are considered as uncontrollable and stable. It is therefore impossible to say that all efforts and abilities, or two typical elements of internal attributions, arouse positive responses. The purpose of this study is to examine salespersons’ internal attributions in the situation of failure in sales performance where targeted sales performance fails to be reached and to investigate salespersons’ trait influencing salespersons’ internal attribution and effects of such internal attributions on helplessness and expectations for future success which can be psychological responses. It also intends to investigate effects of such helplessness and expectations for future success on salespersons’ behaviors. In other words, the following questions seem to be very important in marketing: are all salespersons positive who attribute failure in sales performance to themselves? If all are not positive, which attribution arouses positive results? which personal trait arouses positive internal attribution? How should they be taught to attribute? This is because they can provide a solution to a company that allows salespersons to make positive behaviors constantly in a situation where failure in sales performance occurs. As a result, salespersons’ learning goal was found to increase effort attribution and to decrease ability attribution, but salespersons’ performance goal was found to increase ability attribution. And ability attribution was found to increase helplessness and decrease expectations for future success while effort attribution was found to decrease helplessness and increase expectations for future success. Helplessness reduced prosocial behavior to customers while expectations for future success increased such behavior. And the effects of effort attribution and ability attribution on helplessness and expectation for future success were moderated by salesperson’s career. These results suggests that salespersons go through a process of causal search in case of failure in sales performance and that attribution of failure varies by what is salespersons' orientation goal, and psychological responses vary by what is considered to cause the failure, and psychological responses affect selling behaviors. In particular, all internal attributions do not cause positive results but some types of internal attribution can cause positive responses while other types can cause negative responses. Therefore, all salespersons who blame themselves are not positive; it is desirable for a company to induce positive attribution and avoid negative attribution in order to arouse positive responses continuously even in the situation of failure in sales performance. This study examines relationship among failure attribution, psychological response, and behavior in the situation of failure to achieve a goal to enhance interest in salespersons’ response following failure in sales performance. It also provides a better understanding of salespersons’ behavior, along with strategic suggestions about training and education for maladjusted salespersons following the failure.