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This study examined how customer perception of dependence on salesperson (CPDS) and customer–salesperson guanxi determine salesperson influence tactics (SITs) and salesperson influence effectiveness (SIE) in the context of Confucian-rooted culture. We issued 800 online questionnaires to customers of four Taiwanese life insurance companies and obtained 636 valid responses. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses. The results confirmed that CPDS and customer-salesperson guanxi determine SIT usage and SIE, where CPDS also facilitates close customer-salesperson guanxi. We discovered that SITs contribute to the positive effect of customer-salesperson guanxi on SIE, and customer-salesperson guanxi positively mediates the effect of CPDS on SIT usage and SIE. Customer-salesperson guanxi, CPDS, and information exchange, promise, and encouragement tactics contribute to SIE. This may be the first study to associate CPDS and customer-salesperson guanxi with SIT usage and SIE simultaneously in the context of Confucian-rooted culture. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2021.1947142. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the underlying impact of customer's perceived dependence on salesperson (CPDS), customer–salesperson guanxi (C-S guanxi), and the customer's preference of the salesperson's influence tactics (SITs) on the salesperson's influence effectiveness. The relationship between CPDS and C-S guanxi is also discussed. Based on the literature review, this study depicts the possible development paths of C-S guanxi and discusses the isolated impact of C-S guanxi dimensions, i.e., ganqing, renqing, mianzi and xinyong, on the customer's preference of SITs. Several research propositions, theoretical and managerial implications in the context of personal selling and Chinese society are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]