A comparative study of reward systems among sales professionals: Compliance, resistance and persuasion to determine the effects of immunity

The purpose of the dissertation was to examine and analyze, through a quantitative approach, a comparative study of reward systems among sales professionals, with attention to the effects of: compliance, resistance and persuasion on the subjects' level of immunity. Participants included: 50 participants in the sales occupations assigned to the "gift/sales" experimental condition and 50 were assigned to the "no gift/sales" condition. Fifty participants from non-sales occupations were assigned to the "gift/sales" experimental condition and 50 were assigned to the "no gift/sales" condition.; Results suggested there was a relationship between gift-giving and response rates for non-sales recipients but there was no cause and effect because the sample size was not significant. However, the findings on the response rate led to valuable insight to leaders targeting populations with gifts for increased sales. The researcher's results showed there was a relationship between the gift/professional group membership and response rate. When professional groups were combined, a chi-square test on gift receipt groups revealed a significant association between gift receipt and responding. Participants who received gifts were more likely to respond (64.6%) than those who did not receive gifts (35.4%).; The hypothesis that individuals in sales professions, who recognized this compliance technique as a trick because of their knowledge about and the use of this technique themselves, were resistant or "immune" than individuals in non-sales occupations, was supported by the results of the present dissertation. Despite the fact that the results showed evidence of resistance among sales participants, the dissertation did adequately determine that the participants in sales were indeed familiar with and regularly used the norm of reciprocity as a compliance technique.