Gender and Persuasion: Are men really more persuasive then women - Research Paper Example

?Gender and Persuasion: Are men really more persuasive then women Introduction 1 Research Background In the modern corporate world, women are entering into the occupation of sales and marketing that have traditionally been dominated by the men. It has always been considered that men are better than women when it comes to sales (Lane, 2000). However, with more and more women entering this domain, it is important to understand if men have higher skills at persuasion when compared to the women and if there are any particular segments within the sales domain where women outshine men and vice versa. This study looks how gender equations work in the field of sales and tries to identify the various aspects that bring out these differences in when it comes to sales skills of men and women. The research hypothesises that: 1.2 Research Hypothesis H1: Men are more persuasive than women in sales H2: Men are more pursuasive in certain sectors only 1.3 Research Questions The following research questions are employed to guide the research and to test the above research hypotheses: 1. Are there differences in the pursuasion skills of men and women in sales? 2. Are these differences based on stereotyping, or are they a result of differences in communication skills used by men and women? 3. Are these differences more pronounced in certain sectors and not in others? The above questions are used to guide the conduction of the literature review as well as the primary research. 1.3 Research Methods and Limitations The research uses qualitative method of direct personal interviews to collect information from 12 respondents only. The small sample size limits the scope and applicability of the research. However, the sample is drawn from a diverse spectrum of industries – pharmaceuticals, tourism, financial, real estate and retail - and hence it is expected that a diverse perspective can be obtained and analysed to inform the research. The research is also limited by the fact that the sample selection is undertaken in a non-random manner from among the pool of friends and acquantances of the researcher. However, an advantage of this type of judgmental sampling is that the respondents are inclined to be more open and honest with the researcher and hence add to the reliability and validity of the findings. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Gender Differences and Sales Historically, sales has always been a very male dominated career and most people attribute the reason for this because of stereotypical notion that men adopt a more powerful and aggressive style of selling, where as women are more relational in their approach. The issue of gender impact on sales started getting increased attention during late 1990s. The study done by Comer et al, in 1998 was focused on how there were gender differences in the entire process of sales management. In 1999, the Gardiner and Tiggeman research looked at how sales styles and competencies differ based on gender. The research done by Piercy et al in 2001, it was revealed that female sales managers may achieve better sales performance because of the greater use of a behavior control strategy (Piercy et al., 2001). This issue has been looked at by many recent scholars also. In the current scenario, sales have seen a direction change from a transaction based model to a model that is more relationship focused (Kotler and Keller, 2009). The study done by Beetles and Crane in 2005, it was seen that women are much more interested in maintaining a long term sales relationship when compared to the men. However, in the recent times, there have been wide speculations about this topic as many researchers feel that gender equations depend upon the segment of sale rather than entire sales management process. 2.2 The Current Discourse of Gender and Sales One of the major differences in the process of sales is the approach and males and females take during the beginning of the sales process. Female salespersons are more likely to achieve their objectives by building a good relationship early on in the sales life cycle (Lane and Crane, 2002). However, for men, they are much more focused on getting the task accomplished and the relationship is built only when they go about the sales process. Therefore, as the male salesperson is much more focused on getting on the task, there might be a higher note of persuasion at times, but it may not necessarily transfer to better sales results. With the shift to a more relational and long term approach to sales in the recent times, it is now believed by some scholars that sales is no longer a field that is dominated by men (Park and Holloway 2003). Another major difference in approach that men and women adopt in sales is the difference in communication skills. The communication studies done on speech style of women reveal that women adopt a more tentative style of communication, which is often misunderstood as tentativeness (Holmes, 1984). However, with men, they adopt a much more dominating style of communication with frequent interruptions, which is again misunderstood as being more persuasive. Researchers attribute the reason of this difference to both linguistic factors and occupational segregation which has resulted in gender stereotyping. This stereotyping has penetrated deeply into the sales field also. The general stereotype is that women sales representatives do not follow the traditional style of assertiveness, toughness, dominance or control. These factors were hitherto considered to be important aspects of sales strategy (Beetles and Crane, 2005). It has been also noticed that often responsibilities within the sales field are allocated because of gender stereotypes. Allocating easy and difficult sales territory based on gender is one such example, where the stereotype is that men will be able to deal with the challenge of a difficult sales territory (Smith, 2007). Hence, it is clear that more than the ability and the sales skills, the factor of gender stereotyping comes into play in the discourse of gender and sales. It cannot be generalized that men are more persuasive than women are when it comes to sales based on the difference in communication styles and approach – as this is yet an un-proven terrortory and no concreate evidence supporting this has been found. 2.3 Gender and Different Sectors of Sales As the issue of gender and sales started getting prominence, it was noteworthy that there were certain specific segments where one gender had an upper hand towards the others. For example, women sales persons did exceptionally well when it came to the sales of real estate or garments where as men had a tendency to perform better when it came to the sales of products such as alcohol or financial stocks. Within the field of sales, this difference is very prominent and even exists today (Moncrief et al, 2000). However this difference may not be necessarily due to better skills at selling these products, but it could be due to convenience, stereotypes as well as preconceived notions. In such areas, superior sales skills are often negated by the gender stereotypes because the members of one particular gender have a natural advantage in selling certain products or services. In certain fields such as sale of alcoholic beverages, the sales force is dominated by men. At times, this is because of importance given to the macho culture which has resulted in certain jobs that acquire typical male or female characteristics rather than getting gender neutral characteristics (Piercy et al, 2002). Therefore, these jobs cannot be defined well without referencing to the attribute of the people who perform these jobs. Hence, even the clients are used to seeing members of a particular gender performing these duties. Therefore while the clientele may be happy with having a women sales person selling real estate, they may be skeptical when they see a women being the sales person for alcohol. 2.4 How to bring about Equality Sales is one field where the established gender stereotypes are so strong that it is not easy to bring about equality. With changes in the approach of sales from being a transactional process to being a more relationship oriented person, the gender divide often gets further enhanced (Ucok, 2006). Most researchers agree that there is only one major way to bring about equality in the field of sales and that is by overcoming certain gender stereotypes. One major challenge is sales is a field where the persuasion skills are often connected with inherent characteristics of the genders (Kempf, et al, 2005). However, with the help of different strategies it is possible to bring about slow changes. Using more industry specific language to bring about standardization, experimenting, understanding the challenges that women face in a male dominant segment and vice versa can contribute to bringing about a change in the stereotypical notions in the field of sales. All these different steps can start the process of encouraging a culture where sales become a gender neutral profession with equality for both men and women. 2.5 Conclusion The review has revealed that sales are indeed an avenue where there are stark gender differences and stereotypes. From a traditionally male dominated field, it is now a field where there are different segments with men and women dominating each of them. It is not easy to establish sales as a profession where there is gender neutrality, although certain constant efforts can eventually lead to it. 2. Research Methodology 2.1 Research Approach and Methods The research takes a phenomenological research approach as it is deemed necessary that the contextual information and the perspective of the responents be included in the findings. A phenomenological research is useful in sociological research as it provides a large and contextually rich data that enables the researcher in understanding all the facets related to the problem at hand (Bryant and Charmaz, 2007). As the current research aims to explore the perceived differences between males and females in their ability to be pursuasive in sales, it is essential that the perception of the managers and supervisors of sales people be taken into consideration. As such, the current research employs a phenomenological stance. A phenomenological study is best conducted by employing qualitative methods as qualitative methods help in gauging detailed, in depth and situational information (Nicholas, 2005). The current study therefore uses face-to-face direct personal interview method to collect information from the selected managers and also uses reflective method of data analysis. The interview method enables the researcher to obtain detailed answers from the respondents and also collect additional contextual information through nuances, facial expressions and body language (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie and Turner, 2007). The interviews also enable the respondents to clear their doubts and let the researcher to cross-question or digress in order to explore the issue better (Fisher, 2004). The collected data is analysed using reflective method where the researcher reads and collates the reponses manually and then analyses them in a reflective manner using the available literature review background (Barker, 2005). The reflective method, though prone to researcher bias, yields a better analysis as the researcher is able to recall and assess the interview data with first hand information. 2.2 Sample Selection The sample was selected from among a list of sales companies from diverse sectors like alcohol distribution, restaurant and resorts, real estate, financial servives. This was done so as to get the perspective from a diverse section of the sales sector on the gender differences and how these are dealt with across the different industries. The selection of the sample was undertaken using judgmental sampling based on convenience of the researcher as well as the consent and availability of the organizations to participate in the research. The selected organizations were known to the researcher and hence the researcher was able to schedule meetings and influence participation in the research. A random method of sample selection is generally presumed to me more accurate as it is truly representative of the general population, as against to a non-randpom sample that may contain a skewed representation of the population (Bell and Opie, 2002). However, in case where qualitative methods are used and a phenomenological approach employed, a non-random or a judgmental sample may be expected to yield oere targetd information as the researcher can consider using those participants who are knowldgebale on the subject and willing to participate actively in the research; hence enhancing the validity of they research (Aronowitz and Ausch, 2000). A total of 12 Manager level respondents were selected as follows: Financial Services (Stock Brokers, banking) --- 2 Real Estate – 1 Retail – 2 Alcohol Distribution – 2 Toursim Marketing (Hotels, resorts, tour operators) – 3 Auto Sale - 1 Pharmaceutical – 1 2.3 Ethical Considerations The research employed all the ethical considerations that are necessary for research using human participants. The selected organizations and respondents were provided with informed consent forms that detailed the purpose of the research, method employed and the use that their responses are to be put to (Bryant and Charmaz, 2007). The researcher initiated the participants into research after their consent was obtained and briefed them further on the ethics and standards maintained. The researcher ensured that the privacy of the respondents’ personal data like name, age, designation was maintained and these data were used only for analysis and statistical interpretation for the research. The integrity and confidentiality of their responses was also maintained as the data is not revealed to any third party source that can use it for any purpose. Finally, the researcher also employed a collegue to cross check and assess the reflective analysis conducted so as to minimise any scope of researcher bias in the interpretation of the research findings. Chapter 3: Findings and Analysis 3.1 Managers’ Perception of Differences between Male and Female Sales-persons’ ability to pursuad The research found that majority of the respondents, across diverse industries believed that men were better at sales. The following table 2 shows the break-up of the findings with respect to the sector/industry. Table 1: Managers’ Perception of Pursuasive Skills of Men and Women in Sales Better Pursuasive Skills Number of Respondents Male 7 Female 5 Table 2: Different Sectors’ Managers’ Perception of Pursuasive Skills of Men and Women in Sales Better Pursuasive Skills Number of Respondents Male 7 Alcohol Distribution Alcohol Distribution Pharmaceutical Financial Services (Stock Brokers) Toursim Marketing (Hotels) Auto Sales Toursim Marketing (tour operators) Female 5 Retail Retail Financial Services (banking) Toursim Marketing (resorts) Real Estate It is interesting to note that the researcher found that the majority of the managers believed that female were not as good as male at pursuasive skills. The literature review has already revealed that there is a large amount of discrepancy and stereotyping in the sales industry (Piercy, Cravens and Lane, 2001) and women are traditionally considered as less pursuasive due to their bein non-aggressive or relationship oriented (Smith, 2007). However, the researcher intended to explore if the responses (and overwhelming support for male dominance in pursuasive skills) was the result of stereotyping and bias, or if the managers were able to provide unique insights about the reasons. As such, they were asked to support their answers with logic based reasons. 3.2 Reasons for Gender Differences in Pursuasiveness Some of the reasons cited by the respondents for their contention that males are better at pursuasion in sales are listed below: 1. Men are more aggressive and hence they reflect commitment and persevarance. These qualities give out the impression that they are committed to customer service and can stand behind their products. On the other hand, women are soft spoken and agreeable and may not sound too enthusiastic to the end customers – thus giving out a weaker front. ‘ 2. Men are more alert and active and are able to take on the physical strain of pursuing the customer and the sales towards a positive end. 3. Men tend to be focused on making the sales and driving revenues while women tend to focus on building image and relationships, which may be useful in the long term but may not get the desired sales immediately. 4. Women are more soft spoken and appear tentative and unsure, which is detrimental for closing a deal 5. It’s important that sales people appear knowdgeable and decisive and people tend to consider males to be better at these attributes The above responses highlight the fact that the managers are aware of the differences in the approaches to communication that male and female employees adopt. The existence of differences in communication styles have already been documented and studied in previous research (Beetles and Crane, 2005) However, the existence of differences does not imply that one gender is better at pursuasion. In the case of the above interview responses, that was nevertheless the noted implication of the majority of the managers. The fact that the respondents believed men are more knowldgeable or decisive is a result of stereotyping and presumption rather than evidence of men’s superior pursuasion skills. 3.3 Gender Differences in Diverse Sectors The respondents were asked if they believed that men were more pursuasive in some indusries while women in others. The following figure shows that majority of the respondents stated that men were more successful in all the sectors except in retail and banking and real estate the opinion was divided. Figure 1: Gender Differences in Diverse Sectors These findings were in contrast to the findings from other research where it was found that men are found to be more successful in the case of financial services (Kempf, et al, 2005). However, women doing good in retail and real estate has already been documented (Ucok, 2006). 3.4 Gender Differences as Hindrance to Merit Based Appraisal The respondents were asked if they thought gender stereotyping should be removed and both genders recruited, selected and promoted on the basis of their merit. The respondents were divided on their opinion. Two of the respondents stated that it is important to ignore gender differences and use merit alone as a criterion. However, majority of the respondents stated that inherent qualities like approach to communications, image projection and appearance are needed to be taken into account in order to recruit the right person for the job. Some of the respondents also stated that there is a need to adopt intensive training so that irrespective of gender differences, hard work and right attitude can be instilled and success attained. 3.5 Gender Differences in Pursuasion and Future Trends in sales The respondents were asked their opinion of how the role of gender difference may get affected in the future. The respondents were of the opinion that the gender differences may contunue to play out even in future as the attributes needed to make sales in specific industries will remain the same. However, it was also opined that in future, due to use of communication technologies and better training programs, it is expected that gender based differences in communication approaches and pursuasion skills may become less. Chapter 4: Conclusions and Recommendations The research was conducted among the managers from diverse industrial sectors that are predominantly involved with sales. The research found that there exists a definite stereotyping and bias about the female employees and their pursuasion skills. This bias is based on the perception of the difference in approaches that men and women take in pursuaing a sales target, making the sales pitch and closing the deal. Women tend to be soft spoken, less aggressive and relationship oriented while men are more aggressive, and pushy. These attributes (being aggressive and pushing) are stereotypically considered to be beneficial for sales, especially in sectors like alcohol distribution, phramaceutical sales, stock brokering and hence, men are predominantly regarded as better at pursuasion skills in these sectors. However, with the changing orientation of the sales - from simply selling one time to long term relationship management with the customer – it is noted that the distinct qualities and attributes that female representatives bring to their work are also useful. It is also expected that with the increased use of communication technologies and new avenues of following up on sale, attributes like organization, sincerity, commitment, customer focus etc. become more prominent than being aggressive or forthcoming with the customer. The research concludes with the summarizing that difference in communication approaches are casue of stereotyping for women, but not neccesarily imply that women are less pursuasive than men in sales. Appendix A: 1. Who do you think are better at sales, men or women? 2. What are the reasons for your choice? 3. Do you think that the gender differences in sales are highlighted in some specific sectors or industries? 4. Do you think gender differences in sales need to be removed so that skill and talent plays a major role in hiring, terrotory allocation and promotion of sales people? 5. Do you think that in future, the gender differences may become irrelevant? Give your reasons for thinking so. 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