Frontline Employee Creativity and Sales Performance: A Multilevel and Dyadic Investigation

The current research investigates how frontline employee (FLE) creativity contributes to sales performance through value-based selling and how contextual conditions shape this process. Drawing on Amabile’s Componential Theory of Creativity and the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability framework, we test a multilevel moderated mediation model using data from 252 employee-manager dyads in a Canadian art supply retail chain. Findings reveal that creativity influences sales performance indirectly through value-based selling, supporting a full mediation. In terms of moderation effects, the positive impact of creativity on value-based selling is even stronger when managerial job engagement is high. We note a different moderation pattern for organizational commitment. Indeed, when organizational commitment is high, FLEs sustain strong value-based selling regardless of their level of creativity. However, when organizational commitment is low, creativity becomes a key differentiating factor, enhancing value-based selling. Overall, these findings position value-based selling as the behavioral mechanism through which creativity affects sales performance and clarify the boundary conditions under which creativity has more or less effect on this central mediator. We further discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings for frontline service employees.