在公司市場導向的實踐上，銷售人員的顧客導向銷售扮演關鍵性的角色。問題是，在與顧客互動時，為何有些銷售人員偏好傳統販售導向、有些卻自發地採用顧客導向銷售呢？目標導向理論提供了一個解釋銷售人員行為差異的架構。本研究以國內壽險業 356位業務人員為問卷調查實證對象，驗證銷售人員目標導向對其販售導向／顧客導向銷售的影響。迴歸分析顯示，銷售人員愈傾學習導向，愈可能展現顧客導向銷售、愈不可能出現販售導向行為；銷售人員愈傾迴避表現導向，愈可能展現販售導向銷售、愈不可能出現顧客導向銷售行為。此外，銷售人員的趨向表現導向則會同時激發其顧客導向及販售導向行為。最後本研究分別就學術意涵、及銷售力管理提出說明與建議。

Sales force’s customer-oriented selling (COS) plays a key role in implementing a company's market orientation. The key questions is why some salespersons preferably display “traditional” selling-oriented (SO) behaviors during customer interaction, and some others autonomously adopt COS behaviors. Goal orientation theory, originally developed in educational psychology, provides a theoretical framework for explaining many such differences. This study explores the relationships of salespeople’s goal orientation to their COS and SO behaviors. Three hundred and fifty-six salespeople from four life insurance firms in Taiwan were sampled as subjects. The results of regression analysis indicate that salespeople’s learning orientation has positive influence on their COS behavior and negative on SO. In contrast with learning orientation, salespeople's performance-avoidance orientation has positive influence on their SO behavior and negative on COS. In addition, salespeople’s performance-approach orientation has positive influence on both SO and COS behaviors. Finally, theoretical implications for academic application and managerial implications for managers are suggested.