Deciphering older female salespeople’s motivation to use social media in sales: insights from Malaysia

Social media has transformed business practices, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and organizations have increasingly acknowledged the impact of social media on their businesses. In the sales context, studies on older salespeople’s adoption of social media to increase their sales performance remain scarce in the literature. Using a qualitative approach, this study provides valuable insights into the motivations of older salespeople to learn and use new technologies and attain a higher level of social media engagement. Through interviews with 20 older female salespeople from the financial industry, and the consumer and household products sectors, the researchers found that older salespeople were externally and internally driven to learn new technology. External drivers included salespeople’s fear of missing out further (FOMOF), ineffective and obsolete selling approaches, and losing sales. Internal drivers included the desire to become a role model for younger team members, building a personal brand, and self-improvement. The findings provide substantial theoretical and practical implications to the body of sales literature.