Sales Manager Influence Of New Product Adoption By Their Salesforce: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

New product introductions are an important part of the success of many organizations, and they often hinge on the perceptions of the sales force.   In turn, much of sales person perceptions are derived from managerial guidance and input.  Although the extant literature has investigated some of the antecedents to the adoption of new products by salespeople, very little attention has been paid to the impact of the sales manager over this process.  Using elements of social information processing, this paper explores how sales managers can exert influence over new product adoption by their salespeople.