Sustainability research has led to growing interest in the impacts of current production and consumption models, driven by greater awareness among companies and consumers. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the extent to which sustainable practices implemented in commercial distribution function as a strategic enabler of salespeople's innovative behaviour. It also examines the impact of sales-service ambidexterity on this relationship, as well as the importance of value co-creation.
The authors propose a theoretical model based on existing literature. This model was tested using partial least squares regression analysis (PLS-SEM) on a sample of 272 salespeople (business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C)) from Spain and Portugal who work for a multinational building and decorating materials company.
The results show that sustainability dimensions are key factors driving salespeople's innovative service behaviour. Furthermore, sales-service ambidexterity and value co-creation significantly strengthen this relationship. As a result, these variables enhance the positive impact of sustainable practices on innovative behaviour.
The study is limited by its regional scope, single-company sample and lack of distinction between B2B and B2C contexts. Future research should expand across geographies, firms and sales settings to strengthen external validity and uncover segment-specific dynamics.
For practice, the findings suggest that large firms can benefit from embedding sustainability into their sales strategies. Managers are advised to equip sales teams with ambidextrous capabilities and to foster value co-creation with clients, thereby stimulating innovative behaviour in commercial interactions.
The study extends sales theory by embedding sustainability's social, environmental and economic dimensions into the field, shifting the focus from purely economic outcomes to a multidimensional perspective. It also positions sustainability as a direct antecedent of salesperson innovation, showing how it enhances established mechanisms such as ambidexterity and value co-creation.
This study is original in connecting sustainable distribution channel practices with salespeople's innovative behaviour. By incorporating sales-service ambidexterity and value co-creation as mediating mechanisms, it moves beyond conventional views of sustainability and sales to propose a novel integrative framework.
