At the Direct Selling Association’s Annual Meeting in June, DSEF Fellows Drs. Victoria Crittenden (Babson College), Caroline Glackin (Fayettesville University), and Sandy Jap (Emory University) presented their latest direct selling insights during a panel discussion led by former DSEF Board Member, Kerry Tassopoulos, Of Counsel—Government Affairs, Sunwest Communication.

“DSA Members learned about the leading edge of research into direct selling and how it can be applied to their businesses,” says Caroline, who shared findings from her research on Hispanic acculturation. “They were given plenty of food for thought. For me, the immediate positive response from key channel leaders, and their offers to collaborate were fantastic and will allow a deeper and more robust understanding of my topic.”

During the panel discussion, Vicky described how her research on women and entrepreneurship helps mainstream direct selling by demonstrating the power of the channel and its ability to empower women personally and professionally. She also highlighted her upcoming monograph, Go-to-Market Strategies for Women, which includes two chapters on direct selling.

Sandy discussed new research on the effectiveness—or lack of effectiveness—of home parties, digital parties, online sales, websites and other channels. She described how top sellers create personas on blogs and social media and, in that space, are not “selling” at all, but creating curiosity to drive people to ask more about the companies they represent.