Supervisory Feedback: Alternative Types and Their Impact on Salespeople's Performance and Satisfaction

Abstract

A fourfold typology of supervisory feedback is developed by crossing the locus of feedback (output vs. behavior) with the valence of feedback (positive vs. negative) provided to salespeople. Findings from an empirical study suggest that positive feedback serves an informational and a motivational function and has a significant effect on salespeople's performance and satisfaction. In contrast, negative feedback serves an informational function, but not a motivational function, and improves performance to a relatively small extent. Further, whereas positive output feedback is found to have the strongest total effect on performance, positive behavioral feedback appears to have the strongest total effect on satisfaction. Interestingly, neither negative output feedback nor negative behavioral feedback seems to reduce salespeople's satisfaction with supervisors. Finally, contrary to expectations, salespeople's acceptance of supervisory feedback does not appear to moderate these relationships in general.