Stephen Ikechukwu Ukenna

Field salespersons’ disengagement in deposit money banks (DMB) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has maintained an upward trajectory. Failures in sales target delivery mostly take the blame. Despite the obvious implications of non-target delivery for DMBs’ financial health, there is under-reportage culminating in little understanding regarding those factors that predict field salespersons’ performance from typical SSA settings. This paper bridges the gap by empirically examining antecedents of field salespersons’ sales target performance in DMBs in Nigeria that is alarmingly competitive and significantly characterized by physical-cash-transactions. Also, it examines the mediating effect of organizational commitment regarding identified antecedents on FS sales target performance in DMBs. A sample of 334 field salespersons from 17 DMBs in Southeastern Nigeria was surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach with the aid of Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 25.0 software concerning hypothesized paths in the research model. Reliability, convergence and discriminant validity were checked. Significant and positive relations regarding motivation, aptitude, and job satisfaction were confirmed; nevertheless, role perceptions and work environment show a negative and significant effect on sales target actualization. Skill-set shows no statistical support. Organizational commitment as a mediator shows a complementary partial mediation effect on determinants and sales target performance. Understanding both economic and human-inclined variables is crucial to improving the performance of field salespersons. Theoretical implications and directions for further research were proposed.

Acknowledgment
The authors express their deep gratitude to Prof. A. D. Nkamnebe of the Department of Marketing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria, for reviewing the manuscript and suggestions for improving the quality of the paper.