Examining the impact of salesperson orientation on creative selling, passive deviance, and organizational outcomes

The present research examines how customer and selling orientations impact salesperson predisposition to engage in unconventional workplace behaviors. A theoretical model, routed in creativity theory (Amabile, 1983), proposes customer-oriented salespeople as more likely to engage in positive workplace behaviors (e.g., creative selling) and to avoid negative workplace behaviors (e.g., passive deviance). Conversely, the theory predicts the opposite for salespeople with relatively high selling orientation. A sample of business-to-business salespeople provides data for testing the model. Results suggest that relatively high customer orientation encourages greater creative selling and, in turn, higher job performance. Conversely, high selling orientation is associated with increased levels of passive deviance, which in turn, promotes higher turnover intentions both directly and indirectly through job performance. Finally, the research explores the moderating role of salesperson experience on the hypothesized model. The moderation results suggest that for those with less sales experience, customer orientation does relatively less in mitigating, while selling orientation does more in promoting, passive deviance.