Fudge and Fake: When Is Salesperson Opportunistic Behavior Functional and Why Salespeople Do It

摘要

Salespeople are known, notoriously so, for engaging in opportunistic acts to manage impressions with coworkers and supervisors. Past studies have examined such opportunistic acts as fudging—"adjusting" sales numbers/orders to make them align with targets, and faking—"appearing" to follow sales directions when in fact one is not. Recently researchers have drawn from power-approach theory to identify when and why faking (and fudging) might activate a behavioral approach system or BAS that builds individual motivation for striving for, and achieving higher level of outcomes. We contextualize this theory for personal selling context to examine when opportunistic behaviors are functional for salespeople.