Money, recognition, challenge and enjoyment: a response surface approach to salesperson motivation

Purpose – Research on salesperson motivation has historically emphasized extrinsic over intrinsic motivation, often assuming these cannot coexist. However, research in psychology suggests that certain types of motivational orientations, when combined, can enhance work outcomes. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the interplay and balance between cognitive and affective orientations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation may influence salesperson performance and work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected from a cross-sectional sample of professional salespeople. Using polynomial regression with response surface analysis, this paper examines how combining and balancing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations affects salesperson performance and work engagement. Findings – Study findings reveal that combining salesperson intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations has a positive effect on performance and work engagement. Specifically, the highest levels of performance are achieved when salespeople’s intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations are balanced. Finally, results highlight the important role of challenge seeking (an intrinsic motivational orientation) in achieving the highest levels of performance and work engagement. Research limitations/implications – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the sales domain to examine the combined effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations and to investigate the role of balance. Prior studies have predominantly considered intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as competing motivational orientations. This study confirms that indeed motivational orientations are independent of one another (as proposed by Amabile, 1993) and that these can work in synergy. This provides a noteworthy contribution to the sales and marketing literature by providing a new and nuanced understanding of the complex nature and relationship between motivation and its outcomes. Practical implications – Sales managers are advised to carefully use both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational tools to increase salesperson performance and work engagement. Creating working contexts that facilitate and promote task enjoyment without overemphasizing compensation seeking orientation appears to be advisable in this light. The results indicate that sales managers should review and perhaps rebalance the ways salespeople are evaluated, moving away from behavioral performance measures (as specific customer-related sales activities). Instead, this study encourages sales managers to pay much more attention to elements of job performance and job performance management, which promote and possibly emphasize a sense of freedom and choice for salespeople. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research to date has examined the effects of combining and balancing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations on the performance and work engagement of salespeople. This study expands the existing literature on salesperson motivation by using polynomial regression with response surface analysis to explore the effect of combining and balancing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientations on salesperson performance outcomes.