Thomas E. DeCarlo’s research while affiliated with University of Alabama at Birmingham and other places

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Publications (39)


Purchase intentions by power and persuasion knowledge accessibility (study 1). Note: PK = persuasion knowledge; error bars represent standard errors.
Intentions to try the multivitamin (panel a) and purchase intentions (panel b) by power and persuasion knowledge accessibility (study 2). (a) Intentions to try. (b) Purchase intentions. NOTE: PK = persuasion knowledge.
Power (measured) × PK accessibility on Choice (study 3).
Purchase intentions (panel a) and salesperson sincerity (panel b) by power and cognitive load (study 4). (a) Purchase intentions. (b) Salesperson sincerity.
The Power That Blinds: How Power and Persuasion Knowledge Affect Marketplace Interactions
  • Article
  • Publisher preview available

December 2024

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21 Reads

Psychology and Marketing

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Michael J. Barone

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Thomas E. DeCarlo

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Adam W. Craig

This research examines how consumers' psychological power states and persuasion knowledge jointly affect their responsiveness to persuasion attempts. Results from four experiments demonstrate that when persuasion knowledge is accessible, consumers will detect and correct marketers' ulterior motives, reducing their susceptibility to persuasion tactics. However, under conditions where persuasion knowledge is relatively inaccessible, consumers experiencing low‐ (vs. high‐) power states continue to exhibit reduced susceptibility to persuasion tactics. This effect is theorized to arise because low‐ (vs. high‐) power states promote the perspective‐taking necessary for identifying a marketer's ulterior motives when persuasion knowledge is not accessible. Reflecting this theorizing, low‐power consumers exhibited greater persuasion under cognitive load conditions that limit their capacity to consider the markers' perspective in using a persuasion tactic, an effect that was mediated by the level of sincerity attributed to the marketer. Collectively, these findings offer a more nuanced understanding of how persuasion knowledge shapes consumers' processing and 'response to marketing appeals. The results also hold implications for marketers and sales managers by emphasizing the importance of considering both persuasion knowledge and consumer power in developing persuasive communications and sales strategies.

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Salespeople and teams as stakeholder and knowledge managers: a service-ecosystem, co-creation, crossing-points perspective on key outcomes

November 2023

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59 Reads

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4 Citations

European Journal of Marketing

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Thomas E. DeCarlo

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[...]

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Purpose This paper aims to explore the increasing importance of the intraorganizational dimension of the sales role (IDSR) based on service-ecosystem theory. Specifically, it examines how firms can improve interactions both internally and with external actors and stakeholders to both create and sustain advantageous “thin crossing points” (Hartmann et al. 2018). Academic research on sales ecosystems has yet to fully harness the rich insights and potential afforded by the crossing-point perspective. Design/methodology/approach After developing and unpacking the paper’s guiding conceptual framework (Figure 1), the authors focus on crossing points and the diversity of interactions between the contemporary sales force and its many stakeholders. They examine the sales literature, identify opportunities for thinning sales crossing points and propose dozens of research questions and needs. Findings The paper examines the importance of improving interactions both within and outside the vendor firm to thin crossing points, further develops the concept of the “sales ecosystem” and contributes a series of important research questions for future examination. Research limitations/implications The paper focuses on applying “thick” and “thin” crossing points, a key element of Hartman et al. (2018). The primary limitation of the paper is that it focuses solely on the crossing-points perspective and does not consider other applications of Hartman et al. (2018). Practical implications This work informs managers of the need to improve interactions both within and outside the firm by thinning crossing points. Improving relationships with stakeholders will improve many vendor firm and customer outcomes, including performance. Originality/value Integrating findings from the literature, the authors propose a conceptual framework to encompass the entire diversity of idiosyncratic interactions as well as long-term relationships the sales force experiences. They discuss the strategic importance of thinning crossing points as well as the competitive disadvantages, even peril, “thick” crossing points create. They propose an ambitious research agenda based on dozens of questions to drive further examination of the IDSR from a sales-ecosystem perspective.


To exploit or explore? The impact of crowdfunding project descriptions and backers’ power states on funding decisions

May 2022

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49 Reads

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13 Citations

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Reward-based crowdfunding attracts significant research efforts to understand its success drivers; the current study expands such efforts by exploring the word choices within project descriptions and their potential effects for crowdsourced funding of innovative projects. Project descriptions have the potential to influence backer funding decisions significantly, and creators have complete control over them, suggesting the relevance of this previously unexplored factor. A secondary data analysis of 245,704 online requests for new project funding indicates greater success for project descriptions that emphasize exploitation rather than exploration themes. A series of follow-up experiments also demonstrate that risk perceptions mediate decision-making processes, and that a person’s power state is an important moderator of funding intentions. In particular, potential backers with less power are more likely to fund a project with an exploitation-focused description rather than one with an exploration focus. Conversely, backers with greater power perceive both project types as equally attractive, but they also are more likely to fund an explorative project than those with less power. These novel contributions help clarify how funding for startups varies as a function of specific word choices in funding requests, as well as the role of power in determining individual funding behaviors.


Examining buyers' negative word-of-mouth intentions following suspected salesperson transgressions

April 2022

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44 Reads

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9 Citations

Industrial Marketing Management

Our understanding of the factors that motivate business-to-business (B2B) buyers' negative word-of-mouth (NWOM) intentions in response to a suspected salesperson transgression and subsequent recovery effort is limited. This is surprising given the frequency with which salesperson transgressions occur and the ease with which buyers can disseminate their resulting dissatisfaction through NWOM. We address this shortcoming across two studies. In the first study, we examine buyers' NWOM intentions in response to a supplier transgression and recovery attempt. Consistent with suspicion theory and the idea that buyers have limited information when confronting these situations, we find that buyers' NWOM intentions are higher following the commission of a suspected transgression by a selling-oriented as opposed to customer-oriented salesperson. However, we also find that while salesperson-led recovery efforts result in no difference in NWOM intentions across the two types of salespeople, manager-led recovery efforts result in significantly greater NWOM intentions for selling-oriented salespeople. In the second study, we replicate these findings while also demonstrating that buyers' interactional justice perceptions mediate this process. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications arising from these findings, while also presenting avenues for future research in the area.


Manager directives for salesperson ambidextrous selling and resulting job satisfaction: a regulatory focus perspective

August 2021

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60 Reads

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13 Citations

European Journal of Marketing

Purpose To sustain firm profitability, it is critical for sales managers to direct business-to-business (B2B) salespeople to generate revenues by simultaneously acquiring new customers and selling to current customers. However, emerging research indicates territory-based B2B salespeople have a preferred customer engagement orientation that reflects a tendency for engaging in selling activities to new (i.e. hunters) and/or existing (i.e. farmers) customers, suggesting that managerial ambidexterity directives could have deleterious effects on salespeople. This paper aims to address this possibility by investigating the moderating effects of salesperson regulatory focus on the relationship between managerial directives for salesperson ambidexterity and salesperson job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a mixed-method approach by using a field study of 106 matched sales manager–salesperson dyads from a large Fortune 500 B2B industrial distributor sales force and an experiment involving 152 B2B salespeople from a cross-section of industries. Findings The results indicate that sales manager ambidexterity requests reduce salesperson job satisfaction. However, the findings also demonstrate that salesperson regulatory focus moderates these negative effects such that the negative effect of manager ambidexterity requests on job satisfaction is reduced for salespeople with high vs low levels of regulatory focus ambidexterity balance. The results from the cross-sectional experimental study illustrate the cognitive mechanism that helps explain why this occurs. Research limitations/implications The Fortune 500 firm used in Study 1 uses a territory-based generalist sales force model where salespeople are not incentivized to prioritize hunting over farming (and vice versa). As a result, the findings may not generalize to firms with hunting/farming incentive systems or to those that operate in particular industries requiring a focus on either hunting or farming. Practical implications The findings show why managers attempting to direct territory-based salespeople to increase their ambidexterity behaviors may undermine the job satisfaction of certain salespeople by triggering a decrease in motivation while the same directives have the opposite effect for other salespeople. The findings also demonstrate salesperson reactions to ambidexterity requests, which provide additional insights for effective salespeople hiring, training and management. Originality/value The findings have implications for better understanding the effectiveness of sales management leadership directives. The study also offers a promising direction for future research to investigate salesperson receptivity to managerial controls.


The business-to-business inside sales force: roles, configurations and research agenda

March 2020

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643 Reads

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51 Citations

European Journal of Marketing

Purpose This study aims to explore the changing nature of the inside sales role and the individual capabilities required for success. Additionally, it examines the influence of organizational structure on inside sales force capabilities. Although business-to-business firms are investing heavily in inside sales forces, academic research lags behind this evolution. Design/methodology/approach Using a two-study qualitative approach, the authors examine contemporary inside sales forces’ responsibilities and operational configurations. Study 1 uses a cross-industry sample of sales leaders and professionals to examine roles and responsibilities. Study 2 used the second sample of sales leaders and professionals to explore the impact of various organizational configurations. Findings The study identifies important differences between inside and outside salespeople in terms of job demands and resources; inside salespeople’s greater reliance on sales technology and analytics than outside counterparts; and existing control systems’ failure to provide resources and incentives to match with inside salespeople’s increasing strategic benefits and job demands. The study also explores four distinct inside–outside configurations. The differences among these configurations help to explain the distinct benefits and costs of each configuration regarding the company, customer and intra sales force processes, which, in turn, determine inside salespeople’s strategic benefits and job demands. Research limitations/implications The authors discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for research on the evolving roles and capabilities of the inside sales force; antecedents and consequences of firms’ choice of inside–outside sales force configurations; and the impact of technology and the inside sales force. They propose a research agenda that includes a series of specific future research questions. Practical implications This study informs managers of the unique role of the inside sales force and how it differs from their outside counterpart. The results inform managers of the issues inherent to various inside sales configurations, helping them determine, which configuration best addresses their customers’ needs. Originality/value This research provides a detailed, updated account of the differences between inside and outside sales forces and the benefits/costs of major inside–outside sales force configurations. Drawing from job demands-resources, organizational structure and strategy-context fit theories, the authors develop research propositions about the underlying structural differences of inside-outside sales force configurations; how these differences drive the inside sales force’s increasing strategic benefits and job demands; and organizational choice of inside sales force configurations. A research agenda is then presented.


Summary of relevant individual-level ambidexterity research
Study 1: Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelation matrix
Study 1: Empirical results
Study 2: Conditional process analysis of salesperson hunting orientation → salesperson hunting time allocation at time t -1 → salesperson hunting time allocation at time t
Salesperson ambidexterity in customer engagement: do customer base characteristics matter?

April 2019

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688 Reads

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49 Citations

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Drawing from the interactional psychology of personality and multitasking paradigm, we examine the contingencies of salesperson orientation ambidexterity in the “exploration” of new customers (i.e., hunting) and the “exploitation” of existing customers (i.e., farming) to achieve sales growth and make time allocation decisions. The results from a field study and an experiment indicate that the impact of salesperson orientation ambidexterity is contingent on a salesperson’s customer base characteristics. First, a salesperson’s orientation ambidexterity in both hunting and farming leads to significantly higher (lower) sales growth when his or her existing customer base is large (small). Second, high levels of customer base newness in a salesperson’s customer portfolio weaken the relationship between hunting time allocation at time t – 1 and hunting time allocation at time t, suggesting that salespeople are not subject to a success trap in hunting. However, salespeople are subject to a success trap in farming. These findings shed new light on how a salesperson’s customer portfolio influences salesperson behaviors and performance, with implications for how to better manage ambidextrous behaviors in customer engagement.


Influence of Store Managers’ Climate of Concern for Employees on FLE Commitment, Customer Word-of-Mouth, and Store Traffic Growth: An Abstract: Proceedings of the 2018 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference

May 2018

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8 Reads

Establishing a favorable employee work environment is a critical factor in improving customer and financial performance (Brown and Leigh 1996; Schneider et al. 2002). Although it is generally agreed that store managers play an important role in enacting retail workplace environments, there is little empirical work that has examined relationships between manager characteristics, employee attitudes and behaviors, and store performance. Thus, the manner by which store managers’ individualized interpretations of organizational strategies influence frontline employees’ organizational attitudes is unclear. Addressing this gap, we examine how store managers’ psychological climate of concern for employees impacts employee affective commitment, leading to higher store performance. Drawing from social exchange and agency theories, we offer support for a theorized model that was subsequently tested using survey data obtained from store managers, employees, and customers and supplemented by longitudinal store performance data. Study findings show store managers’ idiosyncratic interpretations of workplace climate are pertinent in shaping FLE commitment. In addition, we provide evidence suggesting the positive effects of FLE commitment upon improvements in store traffic may be nonlinear. The robustness of the study findings are bolstered through the use of multisourced data and multilevel SEM analysis that takes into account the hierarchical structure of the data.


A process model of buyer responses to salesperson transgressions and recovery efforts: The impact of salesperson orientation

January 2016

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111 Reads

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16 Citations

Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management

Despite the damaging effects often associated with salesperson transgressions, our understanding of how buyers respond to these transgressions and the recovery efforts that typically follow is limited. The authors address this shortcoming across two studies of professional buyers. In the first, the authors examine buyers’ responses to salesperson ethical and service transgressions as moderated by their perceptions of the salesperson (i.e. whether they perceive the salesperson as being selling-oriented (SO) or customer-oriented (CO)). In the second study, the authors contrast the effects of an apology versus compensation in examining buyers’ responses to the overall transgression and recovery episode. Although study results indicate that a customer orientation amplifies buyers’ responses to the initial transgression, they also indicate that buyers’ responses to the overall episode are primarily a function of whether the recovery effort conforms to their expectations. Hence, while favorable salesperson perceptions (i.e. being perceived as CO) are detrimental in the context of the initial transgression, they are beneficial in the context of the overall transgression and recovery episode.


Citations (35)


... The findings reveal that both team cohesion and employee ambidexterity positively relate to employee adaptive performance and that employee ambidexterity mediates the relationship between team cohesion and employee adaptive performance. McClure et al. (2024) analyzed the effects of stress on job satisfaction. They found that ambidextrous salespeople are generally more stressed than their monodextrous counterparts and that stress mediates the ambidexterity-job satisfaction relationship. ...

Reference:

Individual learning ambidexterity behavior and individual job performance in services: the role of organizational structure
The dark side of salesperson ambidexterity: How salesperson ambidexterity increases felt stress
  • Citing Article
  • October 2024

Industrial Marketing Management

... Kaminski and Hopp [20] and Liu et al. [8] also identify the use of videos depicting the product-in-action as another success predictor. Relating to textual features in the projects' descriptions, subtitles, and titles, Zhang et al. [21] demonstrate that the description of projects that use exploratory language (words like discover, explore, experiment) received less financial support from backers compared to ones with exploitative language (execute, exploit, implement) in their description. The use of exploitative language can be aligned with textual features that evoke enthusiasm in backers [20] and thus assist with meeting In relation to pledging conditions, both the funding goal and funding period are systematically documented as important markers of project success. ...

To exploit or explore? The impact of crowdfunding project descriptions and backers’ power states on funding decisions
  • Citing Article
  • May 2022

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

... In negative encounters, customers use online direct (e.g., selling brand) and indirect (e.g., third-party institute) complaining forums to fix their issues and to alter the experiences of other customers (Obeidat et al., 2017). Unheard customers who are undergoing negative emotions are more likely to adopt unfavorable behaviors in the next stage, such as negative word of mouth (DeCarlo & Hansen, 2022). It is argued that in the B2B context, hate emotion pushes buying firms to approach the brand to settle the issue and then further, depending upon the brand's behavior during these customer-brand interactions, if justice is still not served, buying firms are expected to retaliate and bring down the exchange partner, i.e., the selling brand. ...

Examining buyers' negative word-of-mouth intentions following suspected salesperson transgressions
  • Citing Article
  • April 2022

Industrial Marketing Management

... In order to capture a diversified view, SMEs from different sectors, such as manufacturing, chemicals, machinery, equipment, and materials, were included. The criteria for forming the group of participants were based on the contributions of [46][47][48]. For sales managers, the criteria included (1) having a minimum of five years of experience in managing sales teams, (2) direct responsibility for strategic sales decisions in their respective companies, (3) demonstrated a track record of leading teams that met or exceeded sales targets in at least three of the last five years. ...

Manager directives for salesperson ambidextrous selling and resulting job satisfaction: a regulatory focus perspective
  • Citing Article
  • August 2021

European Journal of Marketing

... Search engines such as Google and Bing and social media platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, etc., provide critical insights about target markets and aid in building digital promotional programs to reach consumers. Sleep et al. (2020) indicated that relying on sales force automation is increasing, and the role of the sales forces is changing to increase the success rate. The use of AI at different levels in various fields is widespread. ...

The business-to-business inside sales force: roles, configurations and research agenda
  • Citing Article
  • March 2020

European Journal of Marketing

... Contextual ambidexterity supports the simultaneous adoption of explorative and exploitative learning behaviors. The focus is on the contextual factors that can help individuals behave ambidextrously by supporting the organizational context, which facilitates individual employees to develop and integrate exploration and exploitation over a period of time (Lam et al. 2019;Schnellbacher et al. 2019). Other authors advise against simultaneous adoption at the individual level because individual employees are forced to divide their time between two competing behaviors (Keller and Weibler 2015) or because simultaneous involvement in both seems impossible given the different modes of human attention (Laureiro-Martínez et al. 2015). ...

Salesperson ambidexterity in customer engagement: do customer base characteristics matter?

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

... There have been numerous studies that use the attribution theory to explain, predict, and understand behavioural phenomena (see for examples Sparkman and Locander, 1980;Furse et al. 1981;Teas and McElroy, 1986;Golden and Alpert, 1987;Bitner, 1990;Bitner et al. 1994;Stern, 1994;Taylor, 1994;DeCarlo and Leigh, 1996;Raghubir and Corfman, 1999;Dixon et al. 2001;Laczniak et al. 2001;Prabhu and Stewart, 2001;Maxham and Netemeyer, 2002;Bendapudi and Leone, 2003;Rifon et al. 2004;Tsiros et al. 2004;Morales, 2005). By reviewing the previous studies that use the attribution theory, Wang (2008) identifies a number of limitations of the theory in explaining behaviour, namely: (1) lack of the holistic view of attribution; (2) confounding between attribution processes and attributional processes; (3) neglecting motivation in attribution processes; (4) blurring differences between causal attribution and trait attribution; and (5) misplacing attribution as entire cognition. ...

Impact of Salesperson Attraction on Sales Managers’ Attributions and Feedback
  • Citing Article
  • April 1996

Journal of Marketing

... Receiving customers use NWOM to evaluate brands (Arndt, 1967;Laczniak et al., 2001). NWOM alters the customer's attitude towards the product or brand (Laczniak et al., 1996;Richins, 1984). Customers encounter a plethora of NWOM on the internet, having a varied impact. ...

Retail Equity Perceptions and Consumers’ Processing of Negative Word-of-Mouth Communication
  • Citing Article
  • October 1996

The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

... Though a general definition of transgressions exists in the sales literature, researchers surmise that transgressions and their downstream impact could differ by elements of the buyer-seller experience (Blocker, 2012;Hansen et al., 2016;Jones et al., 2011). Our work builds on these conjectures by identifying relational and sales process transgressions. ...

A process model of buyer responses to salesperson transgressions and recovery efforts: The impact of salesperson orientation
  • Citing Article
  • January 2016

Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management

... Implicit antiobesity attitudes are widely held, 33 and those held by health professionals 34 may manifest behaviorally in clinical decision making. 35 Unlike in business, where physical attractiveness has been shown to correlate with success, 36 there is no justification in medicine for bias based on physical appearance. Resident selection committees should invoke strategies to detect and manage appearance-based bias. ...

Physical Attractiveness on Cognitive Evaluations of Saleswomen’s Performance
  • Citing Article
  • January 1999

The Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice