The Efficacy of Cultural Intelligence for Adaptive Selling Behaviors in Cross-Cultural Selling: The Moderating Effect of Trait Mindfulness

Abstract This research investigates the contribution of cultural intelligence (CQ) in adaptive selling behaviors and international sales performance of Thai salespeople assigned to work at international trade shows in foreign countries. This study integrates the perspectives of categorization and cognitive resource theories to illustrate how CQ enables salespeople to make effective selling adaptations to achieve high performance in cross-cultural selling. These guiding theories also help identify the characteristics of salespeople with respect to trait mindfulness, which plays a facilitating role in promoting the effectiveness of CQ in this context. Data were collected from 365 Thai salespeople using a questionnaire survey. The results from the partial least squares regression analysis revealed a significant positive relationship between CQ and adaptive selling behaviors. Adaptive selling behaviors also mediated the positive association between CQ and international sales performance. Moreover, the moderating effect analysis showed that the positive relationship between CQ and adaptive selling behaviors was stronger in salespeople who possessed a high level of trait mindfulness.