The Impact of Stigma: Negative Stereotypes of Salespeople

44 Journal of Selling & Major Account Management40.00%Table 1Distribution of Sample Demographics30.00%20.00%10.00%0.00%1 2 3 4 5CategoriesAgeYears in SalesIncomeYears in Auto SalesYears in Auto Sales with this DealerCategory RangeAge25 years andunder26 -35 36 - 45 46 - 55 56 years andgreaterIncome$20,000 andunder$20,001-$40,000$40,001-$60,000$60,000-$80,000$80,001 andgreaterYears in Sales1 year and underGreater than 1to 5 yearsGreater than 5to10 yearsGreater than10 to15 yrs.Greater than15 yearsYears in AutoSales1 year and underGreater than 1to 5 yearsGreater than 5to10 yearsGreater than10 to15 yrs.Greater than15 yearsYears in AutoSales with thisDealer1 year and underGreater than 1to 5 yearsGreater than 5to10 yearsGreater than10 to15 yrs.Greater than15 yearsconsciousness affects interactions of targetgroup members, in this case automobilesalespersons, with those not belonging to thetarget group. The five items in Appendix 1were used for the analysis.Manager Support (0.92): Individualizedmanager support reflected the sales manager’srespect and “concern about their (thesalespersons’) personal feelings andneeds,” (Rich 1999 p.55). This direct supportfor the individual is measured by five items.Effort (0.87): Measures of the salesperson’seffort can incorporate self-evaluation orexternal supervisory indicators. As stigma islikely to affect self-reported effort orperformance, those types of indicators areused. The five items used by Dixon et al.Northern Illinois University