Assessing the antecedents and outcomes of salesperson’s psychological capital

This study aims to investigate the impact of a salesperson’s psychological capital (PsyCap) on sales performance through the interplay of work engagement and performance feedback. This study examines the role of thought self-leadership (TSL) as an antecedent of a salesperson’s PsyCap.

Grounded in the social cognitive theory and job demands–resources theory, a hypothesized model is proposed. To test the hypothesized model, data on sales professionals were collected from B2B sales organizations, and a structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.

The results demonstrate that TSL drives PsyCap in salespeople. The results also suggest an interesting relationship between salesperson’s PsyCap and their sales performance through work engagement as a mediator for PsyCap and sales performance. The moderating effect of performance feedback on work engagement was not significant and thus counterintuitive.

The results suggest that organizations should invest in training to develop the TSL of their salesforce, which will lead to enhanced performance through personal resources such as PsyCap. Further, the findings have implications for sales organization designs and structure.

This study augments the extant information on the linkage between a salesperson’s PsyCap and sales performance by suggesting mediation mechanisms and proposing an integrated framework with work engagement. Further, the authors establish TSL as an important cognitive mechanism to strengthen PsyCap in salespeople.