Abstract

This research note provides first insight into the question how salespeople should promote products that customers perceive as luxurious. The authors draw on the well-established finding of prior literature that purchasing luxurious products tends to make customers feel guilty. The authors theorize that informative salesperson communication (i.e., conveying facts about a product) is more effective than emotional salesperson communication (i.e., aiming to arouse positive affect), thereby leading to more favorable product evaluations and purchase intention. Furthermore, the advantageousness of informative salesperson communication for products perceived as luxurious is theorized to be particularly pronounced if these products serve hedonic functions and have relatively high price levels. Two studies, one field study and one scenario experiment, provide evidence supporting these predictions. Thereby, this research note aims to stimulate further research on successful personal selling in luxury contexts.

摘要

这份研究报告提供了关于销售人员应该如何推广客户认为奢侈品的问题的初步见解。作者借鉴了先前文献的公认发现，即购买奢侈品往往会让顾客感到内疚。作者的理论是，信息性的销售人员沟通（即传达有关产品的事实）比情感更有效销售人员沟通（即旨在引起积极影响），从而导致更有利的产品评价和购买意愿。此外，理论上，如果这些产品具有享乐功能且价格相对较高，那么对于被视为奢侈品的产品的信息销售人员沟通的优势将特别明显。两项研究，一项实地研究和一项情景实验，提供了支持这些预测的证据。因此，本研究报告旨在激发对奢侈品环境中成功个人销售的进一步研究。