Self-Promotion versus Supplication: How Supervisor Age Shapes the Performance Consequences of Salesperson Impression Management Tactics
(A2026-133252)

AUTHORS

Rodrigo Guesalaga, Universidad del Desarrollo; Belén Bande, Associate Professor of Marketing/School of Business Administration Studies/University of Santiago de Compostela; Pilar Fernández-Ferrín, Institute of Applied Business Economics. University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).

ABSTRACT

This study examines how two impression management tactics—self-promotion (positive) and supplication (negative)—affect salesperson performance and emotional exhaustion. Drawing on Self-Presentation Theory and Impression Management Theory, we analyze task-, team-, and organizational-level performance using data from 206 salesperson–supervisor dyads. Results show that supplication increases emotional exhaustion and indirectly harms performance, while self-promotion unexpectedly reduces exhaustion. The effects of both tactics on performance appraisals depend on supervisors’ age: supplication is detrimental with younger supervisors but becomes positive with older ones; self-promotion shows the opposite pattern. These findings offer new insights into when and how impression management helps or hinders sales effectiveness.