Salesforce automation tool selectivity: an agency theory perspective

Purpose - A strong and repeating theme in sales force automation (SFA) tool research is perceived usefulness. When salespeople perceived high levels of SFA tool usefulness, they report higher intent and actual use. The authors aim to apply agency theory to the concept of perceived usefulness (from the technology acceptance model) to explain why salespeople adopt some forms of SFA and reject still others. A set of hypotheses are proposed and tested revealing that salespeople will decide to use a SFA tool because they perceive it to be useful to themselves (i.e. PUsp) and to their management (PUsm). Design/methodology/approach - Based on responses from 105 salespeople, the SFA tools they used were categorized as either outcome-based (i.e. helping salespeople achieve their selling outcome goals) or activity-based tools (i.e. helping management monitor selling activities/behaviors). Regression analyses were used to test six hypotheses relating salespeople's usage of each category of tools (the dependent variable) to the salesperson perceived usefulness constructs (both PUsp and PUsm - the independent variables). Findings - The findings confirm that SFA tool use (either outcome-based or activity-based) is a function of both forms of perceived usefulness (i.e. PUsp and PUsm). Furthermore, when PUsp is high, the salesperson is more likely to use outcome-based (versus activity-based) SFA tools over a longer period of time. Practical implications - The paper validates agency theory as a useful paradigm for understanding salesperson SFA tool adoption. Salespeople will use SFA tools that they view as useful to their productivity and that the sales manager's influence over the salesperson's use of SFA tools may not be as important. To encourage use, firms need to emphasize how a SFA tool can meet salesperson needs. Originality/value - The paper is the first to hypothesize and test the relationship between perceptions of SFA tool usefulness and actual usage by considering salesperson perception of usefulness to themselves (PUsp) and perception of usefulness to their sales manager (PUsm).