Title: The moderating effect of adaptive selling behaviour on the benefits of social media usage in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors: Arti Pandey; Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol

Addresses: International College, Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Thung Maha Mek, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand ' International College, National Institute of Development Administration, 148 Serithai Road, Klong-Chan, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10240, Thailand

Abstract: Grounded in the media naturalness theory and compensatory adaptation theory, this research examines whether adaptive selling behaviour can be a moderator that strengthens the effect of social media usage on sales and sales performance. Survey data were collected from 227 export salespeople from 120 companies in Thailand who have begun to use social media in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results supported the positive association between social media usage in sales and sales performance. Nevertheless, the result from the moderating effect test revealed that social media usage in sales' positive effect on sales performance is particularly strong among salespeople with high adaptive selling behaviour. For salespeople with low adaptive selling behaviour, social media usage in sales has a weak effect on sales performance. Our research provides implications to sales organisations, which can increase productivity of their human capital.

Keywords: adaptive selling behaviour; sales performance; social media; marketing communication; human capital; productivity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIMA.2025.149655

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, 2025 Vol.23 No.4, pp.388 - 406

Received: 15 Jul 2022
Accepted: 01 May 2023
Published online: 10 Nov 2025 *

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