Purpose: This study aims to empirically analyze how salespersons’ perceived digital competence influences the perceived value and loyalty toward digital technologies, as well as their sales performance, within platform-based digital sales environments. Focusing on the Chinese market—where online platform sales activities are among the most active in the world—the study seeks to identify how digital tools are utilized by salespersons and the mechanisms through which they impact performance. The findings are expected to of f er practical implications for developing effective sales strategies in the era of digital transformation.Research design, data, and methodology: This study conducted a survey targeting salespersons who utilize digital technologies in their sales activities. An online survey was administered to a panel provided by research company A, a professional research firm based in China. A total of 276 responses were collected. After excluding 20 responses from individuals who indicated that they do not use digital technologies or provided insincere answers, 256 valid responses were used for the final analysis.Results: The study presents the verification results of hypotheses First, perceived usefulness did not have a statistically significant effect on perceived value of digital technology among salespersons. Second, perceived usefulness also did not significantly affect digital loyalty. Third, perceived ease of use had a statistically significant but negative effect on perceived value. Fourth, perceived ease of use did not significantly affect digital loyalty. Fifth, perceived playfulness had a significant positive effect on perceived value. Sixth, perceived playfulness also had a significant positive effect on digital loyalty. Seventh, perceived convenience significantly affected perceived value. Eighth, perceived convenience significantly affected digital loyalty. Ninth, perceived value had a significant positive effect on sales performance. Finally, digital loyalty had a significant positive effect on sales performance.Conclusions: This study empirically examined the impact of salespersons’ digital competence on sales performance, offering both theoretical and practical implications.
Sun et al. (Sun,) studied this question.