Think about the last time you walked into a store and had a genuinely good experience with a salesperson. Now think about a time it went badly. What made the difference? Was it the salesperson’s product knowledge, their friendliness, or something harder to pin down? And did either experience lead you to post an online review or vent on social media?
A study published in the Journal of Consumer Marketing set out to answer exactly these questions. The research investigated which salesperson qualities modern consumers value most, how those priorities shift depending on the shopping situation, and which negative traits are most likely to trigger bad online reviews and social media complaints.
The question behind the research
In an age when shoppers can research nearly any product from their phones before stepping into a store, the role of the salesperson has changed. Consumers arrive better informed than ever, which raises the bar for what they expect from in-person sales interactions. The question driving this study was straightforward: what specific salesperson qualities do today’s consumers care about most, and do those priorities change depending on whether someone is shopping in a retail store, buying from a direct-selling consultant, or dealing with a problem after a purchase?
Maria Petrescu, a researcher at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, led the investigation. The study drew on two established theories. The first, Role Theory, suggests that people behave according to the roles assigned to them in a given situation. A salesperson, for example, is expected to act in certain ways, and customers judge them based on whether those expectations are met.
The second, Expectancy-Disconfirmation Theory, proposes that customer satisfaction depends on the gap between what consumers expect and what they actually experience. When a salesperson falls short of expectations, dissatisfaction follows. When they exceed expectations, satisfaction rises.
The study also distinguished between two types of salesperson behavior. “Functional customer orientation” refers to task-oriented actions like demonstrating product knowledge, answering questions, and solving problems. “Relational customer orientation” refers to the social, personal side of the interaction, including friendliness, honesty, and empathy. Think of it as the difference between a salesperson who knows the specs of every laptop on the shelf and one who makes you feel genuinely welcomed and listened to. The research aimed to figure out which combination of these two styles consumers prefer in different settings.
How the research was conducted
The study used a mixed-methods approach, combining two distinct studies. The first study was an exploratory analysis of what consumers actually say online about their experiences with salespeople. The second was a structured survey process designed to reach consensus among a group of consumers about which salesperson traits matter most.
In Study 1, the researchers collected 1,900 online consumer reviews from Google Maps for over 100 retail locations across the United States. The stores included Helzberg Diamonds, Macy’s, Conn’s Furniture, and Best Buy, all retailers where salespeople play a direct role in the shopping process. They also gathered thousands of Facebook comments from these same retailers, along with comments related to direct-selling companies like Cutco, Avon, Mary Kay, Amway, and Herbalife. In total, they analyzed over 2,600 retail-related comments and more than 1,000 direct-selling-related posts.
To make sense of this large volume of text, the researchers used a software tool called Leximancer, which identifies recurring themes and the relationships between concepts in written text. This produced visual maps showing which topics appeared together most frequently in consumer reviews and social media posts.
Study 2 was a three-round Delphi study. The Delphi method is a structured process where a group of participants answers questions across multiple rounds, with the results of each round fed back to participants so they can refine their opinions. It is commonly used to build consensus on complex topics. The researchers recruited a convenience sample of 54 U.S. consumers who were familiar with both retail and direct-selling environments. By the final round, 45 participants remained. These consumers were asked to select and rank the salesperson qualities they considered most important in three contexts: retail shopping, direct selling, and service failure situations. They were also asked to identify the negative traits they disliked most in salespeople.
What consumers value most depends on the situation
The content analysis of online reviews revealed that consumers frequently discussed salespeople being helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly. These themes appeared prominently in the visual concept maps generated by the software. Interestingly, despite the common assumption that people are more motivated to post negative reviews, the Google Maps reviews in this dataset leaned toward positive aspects of the sales experience.
The Facebook data told a different story. Social media comments contained noticeably more negative feedback, including references to returned products, incorrect information, wrong pricing, and long wait times. This suggests that consumers may use different online platforms for different types of feedback, with social media serving as a more common outlet for complaints.
When comparing retail and direct-selling contexts, the researchers found a notable difference. Consumers discussing direct-selling experiences placed more emphasis on the personal relationship with the salesperson and even emotional aspects of the interaction, alongside product quality. Those discussing retail experiences focused more on the overall service experience and the attention they received.
The Delphi study sharpened these findings. In a retail setting, the qualities that rose to the top were being knowledgeable, honest, friendly, helpful, and able to answer questions. In a direct-selling context, honesty and ethical behavior took on even greater importance. Consumers also valued knowledgeability and the ability to answer questions, but the emphasis on ethics was distinctly stronger here than in the retail setting.
For service failure situations, where something has gone wrong with a purchase and the consumer needs help, the priorities shifted again. Problem-solving ability was the dominant trait, selected by 82% of final-round participants. Responsiveness, empathy, and listening skills also ranked highly. This makes intuitive sense: when a customer has a problem, they want someone who can fix it, and who shows that they understand the frustration involved.
What pushes customers away
The study also examined which negative salesperson characteristics consumers disliked the most. Three traits stood out: being deceptive, being pushy, and being unethical. These were selected by more than half of the final-round Delphi participants. Aggressiveness and arrogance also ranked highly as negative traits.
Notably, the most disliked traits all fall on the relational side of customer orientation. Consumers appear to be particularly sensitive to feeling manipulated or pressured. This aligns with the broader finding that trust and honesty are foundational to the customer-salesperson relationship, regardless of the sales setting.
What this means for businesses
The practical takeaways from this research are fairly direct, and they come with an important nuance: one-size-fits-all hiring and training for salespeople may not be the most effective approach.
For retail managers, the findings suggest that hiring and developing salespeople who are knowledgeable, honest, and friendly should be a priority. In direct-selling environments, where the salesperson often operates more independently and the relationship is more personal, ethical behavior and the ability to field customer questions take on added weight. Managers in these settings might consider incorporating ethics training and product education as central elements of their programs.
For customer service and complaint-handling roles, the research points toward hiring individuals with strong problem-solving skills, empathy, and responsiveness. Training programs in these areas could focus on active listening techniques and structured approaches to resolving customer issues.
Across all contexts, the message about negative traits is clear: businesses should screen for and actively discourage deceptive, pushy, and unethical behavior. Personality assessments, behavioral interview questions, and role-playing exercises during the hiring process are all tools that managers could use to identify these tendencies before they reach the sales floor.
There are some important caveats to keep in mind. The study’s Delphi sample consisted entirely of U.S. residents, so the findings may not apply in other cultural contexts where consumer expectations around sales interactions could differ. The retail data was drawn from specific product categories, including jewelry, electronics, furniture, and department stores, meaning the results might not generalize to all types of retail. The study also did not examine online-only sales channels like live chat or video conferencing, which represent a growing share of customer-salesperson interactions.
Still, the core insight is worth paying attention to: in an era when product information is a click away, what separates a good sales experience from a bad one often comes down to how the salesperson makes the customer feel, whether they seem honest, whether they listen, and whether they can actually help. And in a time when a single social media post can reach thousands of potential customers, getting those interactions right has consequences that extend well beyond the individual sale.
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