IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i15p9507-d879028.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Building Long-Term Business Sustainability: The Influence of Experiential Marketing on Sales Representatives’ Loyalty to Multi-Level Marketing Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Ioana-Mădălina Purcaru

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

  • Ana-Maria Urdea

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

  • Cristinel Petrişor Constantin

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

  • Gabriel Brătucu

    (Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania)

Abstract

Monitoring the satisfaction of sales representatives is a major challenge in business based on multi-level marketing systems (MLM), as a high level of satisfaction could determine the sales representatives’ loyalty and subsequent business growth. The purposes of this study are (i) to measure the sales representatives’ satisfaction with various experiences they face within the MLM system, (ii) to identify the main satisfaction factors that synthetically illustrate the sales representatives’ experiences with the MLM system, and (iii) to determine the influence of satisfaction factors with MLM experiences on the intention to recommend the system to other people interested in joining the business. The research was based on a survey among 412 sales representatives of companies that use an MLM system in various fields of activity. The main factors that summarize the experiences that sales representatives have within the MLM systems have been identified by using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Further, the satisfaction with these factors was analyzed in relationship with the intention to recommend the system for the development of their individual business. The research results indicate three major experiences of the sales representatives: (i) experiences within the MLM system, (ii) experiences with customer relationships, and (iii) experiences with the product. The results also show that the higher satisfaction with these factors is, the higher the likelihood to recommend the MLM system. This study provides a contribution to the body of knowledge in using experiential marketing for sustainable business development and provides management insights for companies that use MLM systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioana-Mădălina Purcaru & Ana-Maria Urdea & Cristinel Petrişor Constantin & Gabriel Brătucu, 2022. "Building Long-Term Business Sustainability: The Influence of Experiential Marketing on Sales Representatives’ Loyalty to Multi-Level Marketing Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9507-:d:879028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9507/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9507/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cristinel Petrișor Constantin & Ana Ispas & Adina Nicoleta Candrea, 2022. "Examining the Relationships between Visitors Profile, Satisfaction and Revisit Intentions: Evidence from Romanian Ecotourism Destinations," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Jin, Ying & Su, Meng, 2009. "Recommendation and repurchase intention thresholds: A joint heterogeneity response estimation," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 245-255.
    3. Crittenden, Victoria L. & Albaum, Gerald, 2015. "The misplaced controversy about internal consumption: Not just a direct selling phenomenon," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 421-429.
    4. Saeed Nosratabadi & Amir Mosavi & Shahaboddin Shamshirband & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Andry Rakotonirainy & Kwok Wing Chau, 2019. "Sustainable Business Models: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-30, March.
    5. Tsu-Ming Yeh & Shun-Hsing Chen & Tsen-Fei Chen, 2019. "The Relationships among Experiential Marketing, Service Innovation, and Customer Satisfaction—A Case Study of Tourism Factories in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-12, February.
    6. Lofthouse, Jordan K. & Storr, Virgil Henry, 2021. "Institutions, the social capital structure, and multilevel marketing companies," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 53-70, February.
    7. Legara, Erika Fille & Monterola, Christopher & Juanico, Dranreb Earl & Litong-Palima, Marisciel & Saloma, Caesar, 2008. "Earning potential in multilevel marketing enterprises," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(19), pages 4889-4895.
    8. Gefen, David, 2002. "Nurturing clients' trust to encourage engagement success during the customization of ERP systems," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 287-299, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Caroline Glackin & Murat Adivar, 2023. "Modeling independent sales representative performance: application of predictive analytics in direct selling for improved outcomes," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(4), pages 613-628, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Taeyoung Cho & Taesoo Cho & Hao Zhang, 2021. "The Effect of IMC of Golf Product Exhibitions on Customer Behavior and Recommendation Intention," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Sebastian Schroedel, 2023. "The Sustainable Business Model Database: 92 Patterns That Enable Sustainability in Business Model Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-27, May.
    3. Pomirleanu, Nadia & Chennamaneni, Pavan Rao & Krishen, Anjala S., 2016. "Easy to please or hard to impress: Elucidating consumers' innate satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1914-1918.
    4. Rand Al-Dmour & Ola H. Alkhatib & Hani Al-Dmour & Eatedal Basheer Amin, 2023. "The Influence of Social Marketing Drives on Brand Loyalty via the Customer Satisfaction as a Mediating Factor in Travel and Tourism Offices," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    5. Hellen Ogutu & Youssef El Archi & Lóránt Dénes Dávid, 2023. "Current trends in sustainable organization management: A bibliometric analysis," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 14(1), pages 11-45, March.
    6. Arfaoui, Nadia & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Boubaker, Sabri & Mirza, Nawazish & Karim, Sitara, 2023. "Interdependence of clean energy and green markets with cryptocurrencies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    7. Eunji Oh & M. Minsuk Shin, 2020. "Study Abroad in Support of Higher Education Sustainability: An Application of Service Trade Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Nadia Preghenella & Cinzia Battistella, 2021. "Exploring business models for sustainability: A bibliographic investigation of the literature and future research directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2505-2522, July.
    9. Gerard Farias & Christine Farias & Isabella Krysa & Joel Harmon, 2020. "Sustainability Mindsets for Strategic Management: Lifting the Yoke of the Neo-Classical Economic Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-14, August.
    10. Angela Dettori, 2020. "Sustainability as a Matrix of Experiential Marketing," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(2), pages 1-29, March.
    11. Simona Stojanova & Nina Cvar & Jurij Verhovnik & Nataša Božić & Jure Trilar & Andrej Kos & Emilija Stojmenova Duh, 2022. "Rural Digital Innovation Hubs as a Paradigm for Sustainable Business Models in Europe’s Rural Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, November.
    12. Joaquin Sanchez-Planelles & Marival Segarra-Oña & Angel Peiro-Signes, 2020. "Building a Theoretical Framework for Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, December.
    13. Roberto Hernández-Chea & Akriti Jain & Nancy M. P. Bocken & Anjula Gurtoo, 2021. "The Business Model in Sustainability Transitions: A Conceptualization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, May.
    14. Yusuf, Yahaya & Gunasekaran, A. & Abthorpe, Mark S., 2004. "Enterprise information systems project implementation:: A case study of ERP in Rolls-Royce," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 251-266, February.
    15. Yaffa Moskovich, 2023. "Communal Organizational Culture as a Source of Business-Success Sustainability in Kibbutz Industry—Two Case Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-19, July.
    16. Maria Federica Cordova & Andrea Celone, 2019. "SDGs and Innovation in the Business Context Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Nora Wang & Chieh-Ning Hung, 2023. "Competitive Firms’ Optimal Decisions on Entering Accessory Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-20, July.
    18. Rosaria Ferlito & Rosario Faraci, 2022. "Sustainable Hybrid Business Model of Benefit Corporation: The Case of an Italian Film Production Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    19. Jadranka Musulin & Vjeran Strahonja, 2023. "User Experience, Business Models, and Service Design in Concert: Towards a General Methodological Framework for Value Proposition Enhancement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-30, August.
    20. Alexandra Köves & Tamás Veress & Judit Gáspár & Réka Matolay, 2021. "Conceptualizing Cuvée Organizations: Characteristics Leading towards Sustainable Decision-Making Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-24, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9507-:d:879028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.