IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zib/zbmecj/v9y2025i2p92-98.html

The Role Of Message-Sending Skills In Listening And Feedback: Evidence From A Mediation Analysis In The Retail Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Mpumelelo Longweni

    (WorkWell Research Unit, School of Management Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus.)

  • Lerato Education Mdaka

    (WorkWell Research Unit, School of Management Sciences, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus.)

Abstract

Managerial communication is widely acknowledged as a cornerstone of organisational effectiveness, with listening, message-sending, and feedback skills forming some of its essential components. Yet, the precise role of message-sending skills in this triadic relationship remains contested. Earlier evidence across manufacturing and service industries highlighted message-sending as important but effective primarily when accompanied by the ability to deal with interference. More recently, in the manufacturing sector, message-sending did not independently mediate the link between listening and feedback, surfacing only in combination with interference-handling skills. Against this backdrop, the present study examines the retail industry, revealing that message-sending skills do mediate the relationship between listening and feedback, even in the absence of interference management. Using survey data from 289 retail employees, structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised mediation model. The results confirm a significant mediating role for message-sending, underscoring the context-specific nature of communication competencies. The study advances understanding of communication competence by demonstrating that the influence of message-sending varies across industries. The findings highlight the importance of communication training that is tailored to industry-specific dynamics, particularly in customer-facing sectors such as retail.

Suggested Citation

  • Mpumelelo Longweni & Lerato Education Mdaka, 2025. "The Role Of Message-Sending Skills In Listening And Feedback: Evidence From A Mediation Analysis In The Retail Industry," Malaysian E Commerce Journal (MECJ), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 9(2), pages 92-98, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:zib:zbmecj:v:9:y:2025:i:2:p:92-98
    DOI: 10.26480/mecj.02.2025.92.98
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://myecommerecejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025-issue2/2mecj2025-92-98.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.26480/mecj.02.2025.92.98?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shiva Kakkar & Neharika Vohra, 2021. "Self-Regulatory Effects of Performance Management System Consistency on Employee Engagement: A Moderated Mediation Model," American Business Review, Pompea College of Business, University of New Haven, vol. 24(1), pages 225-248.
    2. Roland Goldberg & Johan Gouws, 2023. "The Preferred Retail Format Of Millennials In South Africa," Malaysian E Commerce Journal (MECJ), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 68-74, September.
    3. Mpumelelo Longweni & Lerato E. Mdaka, 2024. "The mindful manager: exploring habits of mind during creative problem-solving in agricultural businesses," Journal of the Academy of Business and Emerging Markets, Academy of Business and Emerging Markets, vol. 4(2), pages 31-42.
    4. Qian, Jing & Lin, Xiaosong & Chen, George Zhen-Xiong, 2012. "Authentic leadership and feedback-seeking behaviour: An examination of the cultural context of mediating processes in China," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 286-299, May.
    5. Mpumelelo Longweni & Lerato E. Mdaka, 2023. "Ubuntu’s business edge: a systematic literature review and future directives," Journal of the Academy of Business and Emerging Markets, Academy of Business and Emerging Markets, vol. 3(2), pages 41-54.
    6. Patrick Siegfried & Zhu Quankun, 2022. "The Development Prospect Of Retail Virtual Store," Malaysian E Commerce Journal (MECJ), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 14-16, February.
    7. Grigoras Mihnea GINGIOVEANU LUPULESCU & Francisca-Elena ZAMFIR, 2023. "Intrinsic Incentives for Online Business Reviews: Driving Knowledge Transfer Across Businesses," Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, College of Management, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, vol. 11(2), pages 138-151, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sherry E. Moss & Meng Song & Sean T. Hannah & Zhen Wang & John J. Sumanth, 2020. "The Duty to Improve Oneself: How Duty Orientation Mediates the Relationship Between Ethical Leadership and Followers’ Feedback-Seeking and Feedback-Avoiding Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(4), pages 615-631, September.
    2. Song, Jun & Wang, Dongdong & He, Changqing, 2023. "Why and when does inclusive leadership evoke employee negative feedback-seeking behavior?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 292-301.
    3. Yang Ching Hian & Ying-Leh Ling, 2019. "The Influence of Transformational Leadership towards Employee Feedback Seeking Behaviour," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 3(3), pages 14-22, March.
    4. Jin Cheng & Kunlin Li & Ting Cao, 2023. "How Transformational Leaders Promote Employees’ Feedback-Seeking Behaviors: The Role of Intrinsic Motivation and Its Boundary Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-25, November.
    5. Fabian SCHMIDTKE & Patrick SIEGFRIED, 2022. "Implementation Strategies Of A Modern Showroom Concept For Retailers With A Wide Range Of Products," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(1), pages 7-22, May.
    6. Wei Zhang & Xuejun Wang & Dingnan Xie, 2021. "Evaluating the Impact of Positive Implicit Followership towards Employees’ Feedback-Seeking: Based on the Social Information Processing Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zib:zbmecj:v:9:y:2025:i:2:p:92-98. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Zibeline International Publishing The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Zibeline International Publishing to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://myecommerecejournal.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.