Root, Root, Root for the Home Team: The Persuasive Ability of Salesperson Perceived Team Identification in the Buyer-Seller Dyadic Exchange

This manuscript investigates the previously under-researched impact of establishing similarity in team identification in the personal selling environment. This investigation into the influence of team identification on trust, satisfaction, gratitude, and purchase intentions in a personal selling context contributes to the literature on sales tactics and introduces the use of team identification to the personal selling literature. The results indicate that buyer purchase intentions, gratitude, trust, and satisfaction are affected by salesperson signaling of team identification. Furthermore, the level at which an individual identifies with their teams strengthens purchase intentions and satisfaction in the exchange. These results have important implications for sales managers, suggesting that using team identification as a sales tactic is likely to increase buyer perceptions of the sales representative resulting in increased purchase intentions.