Towards Construction and Classification of Personal Selling Core Competences in the Tourism Industry－Using FAHP Method

• Main Authors: Liu, Yung-Lun, 劉泳倫
• Other Authors: Hsieh, Lung-Far
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/30243362781762032395

博士 === 大葉大學 === 管理學院博士班 === 103 === ABSTRACT The object of this study is to classify the distinctive core competences indicators of personal selling for the salesperson in the tourism industry and construct the weight or importance of each indicator into a hierarchical model. Personal Selling has been recognized as one of the promotional tools available to the marketing function of an organization or company by prior studies; it involves direct interaction between the customer and company with the intent of selling a product or service to their potential customers. In a service-based organization or company like a tourism agency where the nature of the product is a human interaction, thus the role of salesperson attitude and skills of handling customers are quite important. More specifically, the identification of personal selling competences for salesperson in the tourism industry to sell tourism products to independent tourists, families, or companies is requisite. To achieve this, this study first conducted extensive literature review for identifying the main factors, variables affecting salesperson core competences, then this study classified the key factors by the Delphi method, and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP) to determine the weight of each criteria and variable. The result reveals that the core competences indicators of personal selling in the tourism industry including six indicators in 1st level, these are self-management, industry knowledge, strategic positioning, communication, interpersonal and customer relationship, and critical thinking, as well as other 29 sub-indicators in 2nd level. In order to realize how the tourism industry in Taiwan reacted to the core competences in personal selling domain, this study also conducted an empirical study to see the difference between theoretical and empirical studies; the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for 305 valid samples by AMOS 20 was used based on the above-mentioned results. The discussion each of the indicators, implication, and recommendations are provided. The model of core competences indicators developed by this study can be treated as criteria for measuring salesperson performance in the tourism industry, and it also can be treated as guide line for cultivating salespersons. Key Words: salesperson; core competences; Delphi; Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (Fuzzy AHP); Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)