Enabling Comparability of Responses in International Sales Force Surveys: Evidence from a Cross-National Survey of Salespeople and Sales Managers

Abstract

This research addresses a challenge within cross-national surveys of salespeople and sales managers: systematic differences between respondents from different countries in their interpretation of response categories associated with survey items measuring a construct of interest. As a result of these discrepancies in interpretation, analyses based on uncorrected survey responses may yield misleading results. The authors mathematically demonstrate the issue and then, drawing on the literature in education and political science, demonstrate a potential solution, the use of anchoring vignettes, which possesses substantial appeal in contexts where a researcher is interested in comparing construct means across contexts where intergroup differences would otherwise make such comparisons problematic. The authors use the proposed method on data from a cross-national survey of 1,051 salespeople and 163 sales managers across three countries (Brazil, Japan, and the United Kingdom) to evaluate self-assessments and upward assessments of a sales manager's drive. The findings highlight the importance of correcting for systematic differences in survey responses driven by cross-national differences, especially when the goal is to compare construct means. Further, the authors demonstrate the value of anchoring vignettes concerning several analytical goals relevant to academics and practitioners.