Realistic job information and salesforce turnover: an investigative study

Abstract

Little research has been done on the impact of realistic job information on the salesperson′s decision to terminate a sales position. Using propensity to leave as a surrogate for salesforce turnover, presents the results of an investigative study of realistic job information in sales interviewing. Breaks down the construct of realistic job information into four dimensions, namely volume; personal relevance; depth; and accuracy. Finds that salespersons who display a higher tendency to leave their jobs believed their job preview to have been less realistic than those who exhibit a propensity to stay in their positions. Also finds, however, that while relevance, depth and accuracy of job information are strong predictors of propensity to leave a sales job, volume of information is not, suggesting that the problem may be one of interview quality, rather than information quantity.

Citation

Pitt, L.F. and Ramaseshan, B. (1995), "Realistic job information and salesforce turnover: an investigative study", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 29-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683949510085965