Active listening has been widely studied in marketing research due to the proven success in different fields. However, the underlying dynamics of active listening in sales context has been...Show moreActive listening has been widely studied in marketing research due to the proven success in different fields. However, the underlying dynamics of active listening in sales context has been underexposed. The goal of this study is to determine if the positive results of active listening in sales context can be achieved by inducing the perception of active listening in the customer. An experiment was conducted with a real active listening and a simulated active listening condition with a total of 50 participants. Results show a significant, positive relationship between both active listening and simulated listening and sales performance. No difference in sales performance was found between both conditions. The relation between active listening and sales performance was mediated by the customers’ perception of being heard. These findings give new insights for the way active listening is used as a sales technique to better sales performance.Show less
Active listening (AL) is an important leadership skill within the workplace. It is essential to investigate a possible causal association between AL, employee well-being and other measures....Show moreActive listening (AL) is an important leadership skill within the workplace. It is essential to investigate a possible causal association between AL, employee well-being and other measures. Therefore, the main question of this research is: “What is the effect of extraversion and gender on active listening skills of leaders in organisations and how does this skill relates to employee well-being?” A questionnaire was spread among 374 Dutch employees. The results showed that AL-skills of a leader have a positive relation with employee well-being. Also, female leaders apply active listening more often compared to male leaders. The results pointed out that extraversion does not have a negative relation with the AL-skills of leaders in organisations. Furthermore, Female leaders are better at AL compared to male leaders, but this difference is not larger for non-extravert leaders compared to extravert leaders. Future longitudinal research should confirm the causality between the variables.Show less
