A study compared job satisfaction, performance, and turnover in direct selling between full-time and part-time salespeople. Mary Kay Cosmetics, Saladmaster, United Consumers Club, and Tupperware supplied the names and addresses of potential respondents who had begun selling within the past 6 to 12 months. A mail questionnaire was sent to 1,600 respondents throughout the US. The comparison revealed that part-time workers had greater job satisfaction and less propensity to quit; they also were better performers as measured by earnings per hour worked. When the same respondents were analyzed in terms of other jobs held simultaneously with their direct selling job, some evidence indicated that job satisfaction was lower, while earnings per hour and propensity to quit were greater to the extent that other outside employment was increased. The findings, which are consistent with social comparison and frame of reference theories, suggest that part-time employment for outside salespeople merits serious consideration by sales managers.
Keywords: Comparative Analysis, Direct Selling, Employee turnover, Full time, Job satisfaction, Part time employment, Performance, Salespeople, Statistical Analysis