Application of Herzberg Two-Factor Theory Model for Motivating Retail Salesforce

The primary objective of this study is to find out the satisfiers and dissatisfiers among the salesmen motivation techniques adopted in the retail sector by applying Herzberg two-factor theory and to examine how far the theory is applicable in the emerging retail sector using multivariate analysis. The Herzberg two-factor theory of motivation for retail salesforce was tested using data from 150 salespeople working in the 15 leading retail outlets in the city of Visakhapatnam. For both the factors — hygiene and motivation — the factor analysis was executed separately to identify the most satisfied motivation measures by sales persons. It was found in the study that the salesmen of the retail sector are highly motivated with hygiene factors like social security measures, working conditions, sales incentives and welfare facilities. The salesmen of the retail sector are highly motivated with motivation factors like work-life balance, autonomy at selling, financial stability of the organization and management recognition of sales performance. The results show that the salesmen in retail sector are more satisfied with hygiene factors than motivation factors.