The Power of Words: Analyzing Sales Role-Playing Performance Using LIWC Linguistic Insights

This exploratory study examines how language use in student sales role-plays may reflect learned behaviors and adaptability, key components of sales performance that are often overlooked by rubric-based assessments. Drawing on social learning theory and adaptive selling theory, we analyze transcripts from undergraduate sales role-plays using five Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) dictionaries—Absolutist Thinking, Communion, Masculinity, Money, and Politeness —to explore potential relationships between language patterns and evaluator-assigned performance scores. Our results reveal that students who used more absolutist language received lower overall communication scores, while money-related language positively correlated with product discussion and solution quality. These findings suggest that certain word choices may signal cognitive rigidity or situational confidence, which impact evaluator perception beyond process completion alone. We argue for greater attention to adaptive communication in sales education and propose that linguistic analysis offers a promising tool for assessing how students internalize and apply sales concepts in dynamic, conversational contexts.