Does adaptive selling improve or hurt customer trust in the salesperson?

This study investigates the effect of adaptive selling on customer trust in the salesperson. In contrast with previous work, the link between adaptive selling and customer trust is approached from the customer perspective. Both behavioral (i.e. selling orientation) and situational moderators (i.e. relationship length and purchase importance) of such relationship are examined, using data from 134 buyers in a business-to-business context. Results indicate that adaptive selling has no significant effect, while selling orientation has a negative effect, on customer trust. However, the combination of adaptive selling and selling orientation has a negative effect on customer trust, which is attenuated by long relationships and high purchase importance. This study contributes to the literature by describing and contextualizing the potential pitfalls of adaptive selling, and stimulates sales managers and scholars to re-examine the so far idealized bright side of such salesperson’s behavior.