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Verbeke W, Bagozzi RP, van den Berg WE, et al. Polymorphisms of the OXTR gene explain why sales professionals love to help customers. Front Behav Neurosci. 2013;7:171doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00171.
Verbeke, W., Bagozzi, R. P., van den Berg, W. E., & Lemmens, A. (2013). Polymorphisms of the OXTR gene explain why sales professionals love to help customers. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 7171. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00171
Verbeke, Willem, et al. "Polymorphisms of the OXTR gene explain why sales professionals love to help customers." Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience vol. 7 (2013): 171. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00171
Verbeke W, Bagozzi RP, van den Berg WE, Lemmens A. Polymorphisms of the OXTR gene explain why sales professionals love to help customers. Front Behav Neurosci. 2013 Nov 27;7:171. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00171. eCollection 2013. PMID: 24348351; PMCID: PMC3841759.
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Front Behav Neurosci. 2013 Nov 27;7:171. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00171. eCollection 2013.

Polymorphisms of the OXTR gene explain why sales professionals love to help customers.

Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience

Willem Verbeke, Richard P Bagozzi, Wouter E van den Berg, Aurelie Lemmens

Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Economics, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam, Netherlands.
  2. Department of Marketing, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
  3. Department of Marketing, University of Tilburg Tilburg, Netherlands.

PMID: 24348351 PMCID: PMC3841759 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2013.00171

Abstract

Polymorphisms of the OXTR gene affect people's social interaction styles in various social encounters: carriers of the OXTR GG, compared to the OXTR AA/AG in general, are more motivated to interact socially and detect social salience. We focus on sales professionals operating in knowledge intensive organizations. Study 1, with a sample of 141 sales people, shows that carriers of the OXTR GG allele, compared to the OXTR AA/AG allele, are more motivated to help customers than to manipulatively impose goods/services on them. Study 2, using genomic functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on a sample of 21 sales professionals processing facial pictures with different emotional valences, investigates key nuclei of social brain regions (SBRs). Compared to OXTR AA/AG carriers, OXTR GG carriers experience greater effective connectivity between SBRs of interest measured by Granger causality tests using univariate Haugh tests. In addition, the multivariate El-Himdi and Roy tests demonstrate that the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and pars opercularis (inferior frontal gyrus) play key roles when processing emotional expressions. The bilateral amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) show significantly greater clout-influence on other brain regions-for GG allele carriers than non-carriers; likewise, the bilateral pars opercularis, left amygdala, and left mPFC are more receptive to activity in other brain regions among GG allele carriers than AG/AA allele carriers are. Thus, carriers of the OXTR GG allele are more sensitive to changes in emotional cues, enhancing social salience. To our knowledge, this is the first study on how insights from imaging genetics help understanding of the social motivation of people operating in a professional setting.

Keywords: Granger causality; OXTR; connectivity; genomic imaging; oxytocin; sales professionals; social salience; translational implications

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