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Social Media’s Influence on Business-to-Business Sales Performance

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 32; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2753/pss0885-3134320306

1557-7813

Michael Rodríguez, Robert M. Peterson, Vijaykumar Krishnan,

Knowledge Management and Sharing

AbstractThe implementation of social media technology in a firm’s marketing strategy has been adopted by some forward-thinking sales forces. Sharing content and building a network of contacts are the principles behind social media. The utilization of social media (e.g., LinkedIn and Twitter) for reaching business-to-business clients is a relatively new phenomenon with performance outcomes essentially unknown. Data were collected from 1,699 business-to-business salespeople from over 25 different industries. Using structural equation modeling, the findings support that social media has a positive relationship with sales processes (creating opportunities and relationship management) and relationship sales performance. Additional informationNotes on contributorsMichael Rodriguez,Michael Rodriguez (Ph.D., Stevens Institute of Technology), Assistant Professor of Sales and Marketing, Elon University, Elon, NC, mrodriguez4@elon.edu.Robert M. PetersonRobert M. Peterson (Ph.D., University of Memphis), White Lodging Professor of Sales, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, peterson@niu.edu.Vijaykumar KrishnanVijaykumar Krishnan (Ph.D., University of Cincinnati), Assistant Professor of Marketing, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, vkrishnanpalghat@niu.edu.