Traditionally, salesperson selection studies have focused on predicting sales performance in terms of the salesperson's personality, socioeconomic, and demographic characteristics. Recognizing the need for examining the customer as well as the salesperson-customer interaction, recent researchers have conceptualized and empirically investigated this association. Although extensive social science theory and research have been developed and conducted relative to successful/unsuccessful

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... l relations, especially similarity/dissimilarity of participants' personalities, most marketing research has focused on the similarity of members' characteristics. The author presents a composite variable that isolates the determinants of successful interactions, thereby permitting more sophisticated analysis of the industrial salesperson-buyer dyad. Labeled family constellation, this concept incorporates family size, birth order, gender, and spacing of children. Instead of concentrating on either similarity/dissimilarity of dyadic individuals' characteristics, the author discusses a model that includes both viewpoints. After conceptually extending this model as well as highlighting successful and unsuccessful relationships, limitations and personal selling implications are presented.