报告主题：Dynamic Relationship Management and Marketing Spillovers: Insights from Managing Independent Sales Representatives in the Financial Services Industry

时间：12月10日（周二）下午1点

地点：旭日楼418

主讲人：郑华璐 博士

报告简介：

A company’s sales force may include employees and/or independent sales representatives (ISRs). Managing ISRs poses greater challenges than employees: Companies often have limited control and lack insights into ISRs’ preferences and capabilities. Moreover, ISRs self-select companies to work with. The asymmetric information and the independence between the two parties create an unequal and unobserved relationship, forcing companies to rely heavily, if not solely, on sales outcomes when segmenting and targeting ISRs. This study employs a bivariate Tobit Hidden Markov model to capture the relationship dynamics between companies and their ISRs. Using data from interactions between an insurance company and its independent financial advisors (one type of ISRs), we identify three relationship states between the parties: low, medium, and high. ISRs in different states are motivated at varying levels to work for the company. The company’s marketing efforts, including sales calls and face-to-face meetings, elevate ISRs to a higher state. However, marketing directed at one ISR negatively affects the relationship between their colleagues and the company - a spillover harming the company’s relationship with other ISRs. Using parameter estimates, we calculate the policy function for companies’ marketing resource allocation, assisting managers with distributing resources among ISRs and managing sales force investments.

报告人简介：

郑华璐：美国康涅狄格大学资源经济学博士，美国萨斯克汉纳大学Sigmund Weis 商学院市场营销系助理教授。其主要研究方向包括食品营销，营销伦理与政策，消费者福祉，社交媒体以及人工智能营销等。其在高水平权威期刊，包括Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 和European Journal of Marketing 等发表多篇学术论文。