How Performance Based Ranking Affect the Marketer Competitiveness? An Investigation of Proximity to A Standard, N-Effect and Social Category Fault Line

Most Marketing practitioners regard individual level competitiveness as a key dimension in determining organizational performance. However, optimizing competitiveness is not a simple task as it depends on situational factors as well as individual factors. Although certain important situational factors (i.e. N-effect: number of competitors; proximity to a standard: performance based ranking; and social category fault line: in-group vs. out-group), to a large extent, are within the control of the management, individual factors are less likely, due to greater diversity and subjectivity. These situational factors have been investigated extensively in an isolated and general manner. To fill this lacuna we investigated how situational factors interact with each other to determine individual’s competitiveness, drawing especial attention to intermediate rankers. We applied experimental research strategy and used variance analysis, multivariate analysis and chi-squire analysis for testing proposed hypothesis. Results (study 1) revealed that number of competitors (N-effect) has no influence on changing competitiveness and higher rankers are more motivated to compete than low rankers in the presence of both few number and large number of competitors (proximity to a standard). Further, higher accessibility of scale comparison stimulates high ranked individual to compete intensively against in-group members compared to out-group members whereas social category comparison was not accessible enough to motivate competition among low rankers significantly (study 2). Both studies provide evidence for the robustness of the theory of proximity to a standard.