Introverts in the Business Field : Study of introverts in a line of business where being an extrovert is considered the norm
Järvinen, Bertta (2020)
Järvinen, Bertta
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020052212994
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020052212994
Tiivistelmä
This research studies introverts within sales and marketing, a line of business where being an extrovert is considered the norm, through one-to-one semi-structured interviews with two sales and marketing professionals. The base of this research is built from existing literature on the personality typology, the introvert-extrovert continuum, and the theory of sales and marketing, and desired characteristics of a good sales/marketing professional. As the same extrovert-ideal is also shared in most societies, this research explores and discusses briefly the biased idealisation of extroverted personality as well.
The data collected from the interviews provided insights into the individual experiences and feelings of two introverts working within sales and marketing; both of the participants were competent and successful in their jobs, but identified some challenges when comparing themselves with extroverts – the introverted over-discretion and difficulty of being pushy or obtruding compared to extroverts.
The overall conclusion of this research is that the introverts who participated in this study do succeed within sales and marketing, and they have many strengths that can be linked with the desired characteristics of a good salesperson or marketing professional. This research also validates the societies’ prejudiced vision of introverts as professionals; as the introvert-extrovert continuum is fluid and traits can be adapted, a specific personality type does not reflect the competence nor the talent one possesses, and therefore associating a specific personality type with a specific line of business is illogical and deceptive. However, more research needs to be conducted in the area of introverts in the business field, but overall the gathered data answered the thesis questions and aligned rather well with the already existing literature.
The data collected from the interviews provided insights into the individual experiences and feelings of two introverts working within sales and marketing; both of the participants were competent and successful in their jobs, but identified some challenges when comparing themselves with extroverts – the introverted over-discretion and difficulty of being pushy or obtruding compared to extroverts.
The overall conclusion of this research is that the introverts who participated in this study do succeed within sales and marketing, and they have many strengths that can be linked with the desired characteristics of a good salesperson or marketing professional. This research also validates the societies’ prejudiced vision of introverts as professionals; as the introvert-extrovert continuum is fluid and traits can be adapted, a specific personality type does not reflect the competence nor the talent one possesses, and therefore associating a specific personality type with a specific line of business is illogical and deceptive. However, more research needs to be conducted in the area of introverts in the business field, but overall the gathered data answered the thesis questions and aligned rather well with the already existing literature.