Tacit cognitive resource and its effect in personal selling

This study investigated difference with expertise in the relation between the intentions and situational behavior of the initial meeting with a new customer in personal selling. Three kinds of mental resource that influence on the intention and situational behavior was hypothesized. They were a) organizational policy of selling, b) action goal and its implementation intention, c) purport of the meeting and its implementation intention which consists of example actions and particular attitude set. In the experiment, after effective and less effective salespeople were given an organizational policy of selling and the information of a prospective customer, they reported what they would prepare to do for the initial meeting. Then they watched a video picture of the meeting and assessed a model salesperson’s behavior as well as reporting the actions that they would have made. The difference in the intentions was found and the difference well explained the two groups’ situational behavior.