Sales Professor Lands Research Grant
Dr. Stephanie Mangus, assistant professor in marketing, and her colleagues Dr. Veronica Thomas (Old Dominion University) and Dr. Dora Bock (Auburn University), recently received the Broadening Research and Instruction in Negotiations Grant (BRING) from the Thurmond Negotiations Lab at Old Dominion University’s Strome College of Business.
In this research, Mangus and her colleagues examine whether asking for a favor – thereby requesting an act of kindness – can be employed as a successful tactic for negotiating a sale. Citing recent calls for research focusing on marketing for a better world, this research addresses how salespeople can engage consumers in the sales processes through favor asking, which, in turn, encourages consumers to negotiate.
Research shows, on average, consumers have negative perceptions of the sales negotiation process. But research also finds consumers usually end up receiving a better deal when they negotiate.
“We wanted to explore ways that sales interactions can benefit consumers and salespeople at the same time,” Mangus said.
The team aims to explore how a request for a favor that seems unrelated to the negotiation affects customers’ perceptions of the process. Past research has found that when a salesperson offers to do a favor for the customer, it arouses suspicion. However, Mangus and her colleagues anticipate when a salesperson asks a consumer for an unrelated favor, it will positively influence the consumer’s perception of their motives and overall evaluation of the negotiation.
“The project provides important insights into the process of negotiating,” Mangus said. “Generally, sales research focuses on sales tactics that benefit the salesperson. In this work, we are interested in positive outcomes for the salesperson, of course, but are equally interested in how favor asking encourages consumers to negotiate and bolsters their views of the deal.”
“Our Baylor Sales faculty are actively engaged in very interesting research as they seek to impact the field. It’s an exciting time to be involved with Baylor ProSales,” noted Dr. Andrea Dixon, Executive Director of the Center for Professional Selling and a Baylor professor.
About the Center for Professional Selling
Dedicated to excellence in sales education and based in the university’s Hankamer School of Business, the Center for Professional Selling is recognized as one of the premier global information resources for the sales profession. For more information on the Center for Professional Selling, visit https://hankamer.baylor.edu/prosales.