™Research Foundation
Built on established research.
Shaped by 15+ years in sales.
IncaZing brings together research on how people interpret setbacks, regulate emotion, adapt, persist and act under pressure, then applies those ideas to real selling situations.
The question behind IncaZing
For years, sales teams have measured what sellers do: calls, activities, pipeline, conversion and results.
But experience kept raising another question:
What happened before the action?
What did the seller think? How did they read the moment? How did they react? What did they decide?
That question led us back to established research.
Six research streams shaped the framework.
Explanatory style
How people explain wins, losses and setbacks.
Self-efficacy
What people believe they can handle, attempt and persist through.
Emotion regulation
How people manage emotional responses under pressure.
Adaptive selling
How sellers adjust behaviour to the situation.
Resilience & persistence
What happens after rejection, failure or poor results.
Learning & behaviour change
How development transfers into behaviour over time.
Some of the research that shaped our thinking.
Findings are stated in plain English. Where a source isn't sales-specific, we say so.
Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change
Bandura, A. · 1977 · Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215
Foundational psychology, not sales-specific.
What the research found
Bandura's work proposed that beliefs about personal capability influence whether people initiate coping behaviour, how much effort they invest, and how long they persist when facing obstacles.
How it informed our thinking
Selling repeatedly asks people to act under uncertainty, pressure and setbacks, making beliefs about capability an important foundation to study.
Salesperson Adaptive Selling Behavior and Customer Orientation: A Meta-Analysis
Franke, G. R. & Park, J.-E. · 2006 · Journal of Marketing Research, 43(4), 693–702
What the research found
The meta-analysis combined 155 samples involving more than 31,000 salespeople and found adaptive selling behaviour was positively associated with self-rated, manager-rated and objective performance measures.
How it informed our thinking
Strong selling is not only about knowing a playbook. Sellers also need to adjust what they do to the situation in front of them.
Regulation of Emotions, Interpersonal Conflict, and Job Performance for Salespeople
Mulki, J. P., Jaramillo, F., Goad, E. A. & Rivera Pesquera, M. · 2015 · Journal of Business Research, 68(3), 623–630
What the research found
The study found that stronger emotion regulation among salespeople was associated with lower interpersonal conflict and felt stress, which were linked with better performance outcomes.
How it informed our thinking
What a seller feels under pressure can influence what happens next, especially in moments involving customers, rejection and stress.
Transfer of Training: A Review and Directions for Future Research
Baldwin, T. T. & Ford, J. K. · 1988 · Personnel Psychology, 41(1), 63–105
Foundational organisational research, not sales-specific.
What the research found
The review identified trainee characteristics, training design and the work environment as important conditions affecting whether learning transfers into behaviour.
How it informed our thinking
Teaching something is not the same as changing what someone actually does later in the job.
Explanatory Style as a Predictor of Productivity and Quitting Among Life Insurance Sales Agents
Seligman, M. E. P. & Schulman, P. · 1986 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(4), 832–838
What the research found
The study examined whether explanatory style was associated with productivity and quitting among life-insurance sales agents.
How it informed our thinking
It strengthened our interest in what sellers make setbacks mean before deciding what to do next.
Research gave us the pieces. Sales experience connected them.
Established research
15+ years in sales
IncaZing Human Layer Framework
The research streams above were not created as one unified sales model. IncaZing brings them together into a practical framework for understanding what may happen between a selling situation and the action that follows.
The framework is grounded in established research and practitioner experience.
The same selling moment can lead to a different next move.
Seller A
“What did I miss?”
→ Reviews the call
→ Delays the next move
Seller B
“Something may have changed.”
→ Looks for another signal
→ Decides the next step
Same situation. Different interpretation. Different next move.
What we're building on top
Turning the research into something usable.
IncaZing applies this foundation through situation-based assessment and repeated development.
See how IncaZing works →How to read this research
The studies cited here form part of the foundation behind IncaZing.
Some come directly from sales research. Others come from broader psychology and organizational research.
We bring those streams together with more than 15 years of sales experience to build a practical framework for understanding what happens before the action.
Research attribution
IncaZing draws on published academic research across sales, psychology, and organizational behaviour. The studies referenced on this page are cited to acknowledge the research that informed our thinking. All original papers, theories, findings, and published materials remain the work of their respective authors and rights holders. IncaZing is independently developed, and reference to any researcher, institution, journal, or publisher does not imply affiliation with or endorsement of IncaZing.
The IncaZing framework is our own synthesis and practical application of these research foundations, informed by more than 15 years of sales experience.
Research references
- doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.2.191 ↗
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH - doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.4.693 ↗
Franke, G. R. & Park, J.-E. (2006). Salesperson Adaptive Selling Behavior and Customer Orientation: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(4), 693–702.
SALES RESEARCH - doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.08.009 ↗
Mulki, J. P., Jaramillo, F., Goad, E. A. & Rivera Pesquera, M. (2015). Regulation of Emotions, Interpersonal Conflict, and Job Performance for Salespeople. Journal of Business Research, 68(3), 623–630.
SALES RESEARCH - doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1988.tb00632.x ↗
Baldwin, T. T. & Ford, J. K. (1988). Transfer of Training: A Review and Directions for Future Research. Personnel Psychology, 41(1), 63–105.
FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH - doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.4.832 ↗
Seligman, M. E. P. & Schulman, P. (1986). Explanatory Style as a Predictor of Productivity and Quitting Among Life Insurance Sales Agents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(4), 832–838.
SALES RESEARCH