Pub Date : 2022-09-27DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121506
Ryan L. Matthews, Brian N. Rutherford
ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of job demands and resources on international salesperson burnout. While general salesperson job demands are known, the current study seeks to identify role demands which are predominantly faced by international sales executives. Methodology/approach Job Demands-Resource Theory provides a foundation to expand the study of burnout to the international sales executive context. In addition, given the lack of established literature on international salesperson burnout, a grounded theory approach is ideal. Thirteen informants with experience selling internationally in all regions of the world were interviewed. The interviews averaged about 30 minutes and equated to 124 transcribed pages.A four-step process was applied to conduct this study. Step 1: Reviewing existing literature to guide the study. Step 2: Determine the analytical approach – including creating the interview guide, establishing sales profile criteria, and determining the data collection process. Step 3: Conducting the interviews, listening to the recorded interviews, and reading the transcripts. Step 4: Identifying themes and reporting the findings. Findings Four job demands are identified that are exacerbated within an international sales context (demands of understanding different cultures, the complexity of international business, understanding business, and demand of international travel). Job resources, at the firm and individual level, are examined as a buffer used to reduce the impact of job demands on burnout. Internal support and resource alignment were impactful at the firm level. Personal investments, personal time, and grit were impactful at the individual level. Additionally, this study identified sales closure rates, work-family conflict, and fight as self-undermining aspects that international sales executives experience. Research implications International sales research has remained limited. In 2011, only 97 articles were found over a 30-year period in the top 15 leading journal. To help address this limitation, this study identifies how job demands can lead to burnout, if not actively managed, within an international sales context. Practical implications The findings from this research indicate that managers need to be cognizant of the complexities of international travel. Duration to win can be much longer, win rates are significantly lower than domestic markets, and expenses can be significantly higher. Maximizing long-term results while balancing short-term costs need considerable attention. At a personal level, sales executives are more impactful when proper company policies and channels for communication with senior executives are aligned.International sales executives work in a function that requires travel away from home for two-to-three weeks at a time. Creating special policies for international sales executives to balance work and family can optimize company profitability while minimizing emp
{"title":"International Industrial Selling: Demands, Resources, and Burnout","authors":"Ryan L. Matthews, Brian N. Rutherford","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121506","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121506","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of job demands and resources on international salesperson burnout. While general salesperson job demands are known, the current study seeks to identify role demands which are predominantly faced by international sales executives. Methodology/approach Job Demands-Resource Theory provides a foundation to expand the study of burnout to the international sales executive context. In addition, given the lack of established literature on international salesperson burnout, a grounded theory approach is ideal. Thirteen informants with experience selling internationally in all regions of the world were interviewed. The interviews averaged about 30 minutes and equated to 124 transcribed pages.A four-step process was applied to conduct this study. Step 1: Reviewing existing literature to guide the study. Step 2: Determine the analytical approach – including creating the interview guide, establishing sales profile criteria, and determining the data collection process. Step 3: Conducting the interviews, listening to the recorded interviews, and reading the transcripts. Step 4: Identifying themes and reporting the findings. Findings Four job demands are identified that are exacerbated within an international sales context (demands of understanding different cultures, the complexity of international business, understanding business, and demand of international travel). Job resources, at the firm and individual level, are examined as a buffer used to reduce the impact of job demands on burnout. Internal support and resource alignment were impactful at the firm level. Personal investments, personal time, and grit were impactful at the individual level. Additionally, this study identified sales closure rates, work-family conflict, and fight as self-undermining aspects that international sales executives experience. Research implications International sales research has remained limited. In 2011, only 97 articles were found over a 30-year period in the top 15 leading journal. To help address this limitation, this study identifies how job demands can lead to burnout, if not actively managed, within an international sales context. Practical implications The findings from this research indicate that managers need to be cognizant of the complexities of international travel. Duration to win can be much longer, win rates are significantly lower than domestic markets, and expenses can be significantly higher. Maximizing long-term results while balancing short-term costs need considerable attention. At a personal level, sales executives are more impactful when proper company policies and channels for communication with senior executives are aligned.International sales executives work in a function that requires travel away from home for two-to-three weeks at a time. Creating special policies for international sales executives to balance work and family can optimize company profitability while minimizing emp","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"321 - 334"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43289502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-26DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121507
Michael Rodriguez, Stefanie L. Boyer
Many sales organizations are working virtually and connecting with customers differently because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this pandemic, which is a prime example of environmental turbulence, many companies are challenged to be more innovative to maintain communication and collaboration with customers (Hartmann and Lussier 2020). Turbulence is an element of the business environment that constrains organizational behavior and performance. This has placed a focus on salespeople embracing collaboration tools and practices to support the new norm of the virtual sales environment. In the last two years, sales organizations’ ability to conduct face-to-face meetings with clients and prospects have been limited. Face-to-face meeting, luncheons, conferences, business events were all but gone due to the pandemic. Yet the responsibility of creating pipeline, delivering sales results and attaining quota never disappeared. Sales organizations have shown the ability to thrive through resiliency through not only grit but technical innovation. The impact of turbulence on performance has been investigated in a series of empirical studies, mostly focused on private sector organizations. A majority of these studies support the proposition that turbulence has a negative effect on performance (e.g., Anderson and Tushman 2001; Li and Atuahene-Gima and Ko 2001; Kuivalainen et al. 2004; Lin and Germain 2003). However, previous research suggests that in a turbulent environment, a firm will tend to make more adjustments and adaptations to become successful than in a stable environment (Sawyer 1993). Miller (1987) argues that as perceived environmental turbulence increases, the firm should devote more attention to innovation to gain advantages from its environment and for the organization. Business-to-business (B2B) organizations have experienced challenges such as an increase in the number of stakeholders in the sales process, customer knowledge, competition, advancements in technology and globalization (Arli, Bauer, and Palmatier 2018; Hartmann, Wieland, and Vargo 2018; Lim 2020; Lussier and Hartmann 2017). The objective of this paper is to build off this existing research and present a conceptual model illustrating the sales ecosystem’s ability to exemplify resilience and leverage technology to address the challenges the recent pandemic has presented to sales organizations. In this paper we conceptualize how environmental turbulence can impact performance. Using resource-based view (RBV) as the foundation we discuss the moderating relationship sales technology has between environmental turbulence and sale performance (see Figure 1). This study builds off the existing sales technology literature and discusses how even in challenging times, sales organizations cannot only survive but thrive during times of certainty. Our first step in the research is to present the theoretical background from the perspective of environmental turbulence and RBV. Next,
由于最近的COVID-19大流行，许多销售组织正在进行虚拟工作，并与客户建立不同的联系。这场大流行是环境动荡的一个主要例子，为了应对这场大流行，许多公司面临着更具创新性的挑战，以保持与客户的沟通和协作(Hartmann and Lussier 2020)。动荡是商业环境中制约组织行为和绩效的一个因素。这使得销售人员开始关注协作工具和实践，以支持虚拟销售环境的新规范。在过去的两年中，销售组织与客户和潜在客户进行面对面会议的能力受到了限制。由于疫情，面对面的会议、午餐、会议、商业活动几乎都消失了。然而，建立渠道、交付销售成果和完成配额的责任从未消失。销售组织已经展示了通过坚韧和技术创新的弹性来茁壮成长的能力。动荡对绩效的影响已经在一系列实证研究中进行了调查，主要集中在私营部门组织。这些研究中的大多数支持湍流对绩效有负面影响的命题(例如，Anderson和Tushman 2001;Li and Atuahene-Gima and Ko 2001;Kuivalainen et al. 2004;Lin and Germain 2003)。然而，先前的研究表明，在动荡的环境中，企业往往会比在稳定的环境中做出更多的调整和适应来获得成功(Sawyer 1993)。Miller(1987)认为，随着感知到的环境动荡的增加，企业应该更多地关注创新，以从环境和组织中获得优势。企业对企业(B2B)组织经历了各种挑战，如销售过程中利益相关者数量的增加、客户知识、竞争、技术进步和全球化(Arli, Bauer, and Palmatier 2018;Hartmann, Wieland, and Vargo 2018;Lim 2020;Lussier and Hartmann 2017)。本文的目的是在现有研究的基础上，提出一个概念模型，说明销售生态系统的弹性能力，并利用技术来应对最近大流行给销售组织带来的挑战。在本文中，我们概念化了环境湍流如何影响性能。以资源基础观点(RBV)为基础，我们讨论了销售技术在环境动荡和销售绩效之间的调节关系(见图1)。本研究建立在现有销售技术文献的基础上，并讨论了即使在充满挑战的时代，销售组织如何不仅能生存，而且能在确定性时期蓬勃发展。研究的第一步是从环境湍流和RBV的角度提出理论背景。接下来，我们展示开发的模型(见图2)及其对协作和销售绩效的影响。未来的研究和管理的启示，然后提供讨论积极的
{"title":"The New Norm for Sales Organizations: Impact of Technology During Environmental Turbulence","authors":"Michael Rodriguez, Stefanie L. Boyer","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121507","url":null,"abstract":"Many sales organizations are working virtually and connecting with customers differently because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this pandemic, which is a prime example of environmental turbulence, many companies are challenged to be more innovative to maintain communication and collaboration with customers (Hartmann and Lussier 2020). Turbulence is an element of the business environment that constrains organizational behavior and performance. This has placed a focus on salespeople embracing collaboration tools and practices to support the new norm of the virtual sales environment. In the last two years, sales organizations’ ability to conduct face-to-face meetings with clients and prospects have been limited. Face-to-face meeting, luncheons, conferences, business events were all but gone due to the pandemic. Yet the responsibility of creating pipeline, delivering sales results and attaining quota never disappeared. Sales organizations have shown the ability to thrive through resiliency through not only grit but technical innovation. The impact of turbulence on performance has been investigated in a series of empirical studies, mostly focused on private sector organizations. A majority of these studies support the proposition that turbulence has a negative effect on performance (e.g., Anderson and Tushman 2001; Li and Atuahene-Gima and Ko 2001; Kuivalainen et al. 2004; Lin and Germain 2003). However, previous research suggests that in a turbulent environment, a firm will tend to make more adjustments and adaptations to become successful than in a stable environment (Sawyer 1993). Miller (1987) argues that as perceived environmental turbulence increases, the firm should devote more attention to innovation to gain advantages from its environment and for the organization. Business-to-business (B2B) organizations have experienced challenges such as an increase in the number of stakeholders in the sales process, customer knowledge, competition, advancements in technology and globalization (Arli, Bauer, and Palmatier 2018; Hartmann, Wieland, and Vargo 2018; Lim 2020; Lussier and Hartmann 2017). The objective of this paper is to build off this existing research and present a conceptual model illustrating the sales ecosystem’s ability to exemplify resilience and leverage technology to address the challenges the recent pandemic has presented to sales organizations. In this paper we conceptualize how environmental turbulence can impact performance. Using resource-based view (RBV) as the foundation we discuss the moderating relationship sales technology has between environmental turbulence and sale performance (see Figure 1). This study builds off the existing sales technology literature and discusses how even in challenging times, sales organizations cannot only survive but thrive during times of certainty. Our first step in the research is to present the theoretical background from the perspective of environmental turbulence and RBV. Next,","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"468 1","pages":"311 - 319"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60118413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-21DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121510
E. Tanner, Rhett T. Epler, J. F. Tanner
ABSTRACT Purpose This paper examines emotion management through social exchange as an important aspect of coping with the emotional burden of person-career misfit. Person-career misfit, the degree to which the salesperson believes that the sales role is inconsistent with one’s identity, carries a heavy emotional toll when one finds oneself in a poorly-fitting career. A heavy emotional toll can result in myriad negative outcomes and can be troubling for the salesperson who is experiencing the burden. Emotion management and misaligned career-fit are under-researched areas in the domain of professional selling. Moreover, emotion management strategies also warrant study because the world of professional selling is rapidly changing, and the emotional impact of these changes is not fully understood. Method A survey of 325 business-to-business (B2B) salespeople was conducted; the sample frame was a Qualtrics panel. Structural equation modeling with AMOS 27 was applied to examine the proposed framework. Findings When person-career fit is poor, salespeople report greater use of emotion, regulation of emotion, and interpersonal mentalizing. The effects of the emotion management strategies are mediated by emotional labor, which then influences diminished accomplishment and depersonalization. Depersonalization then leads to emotional exhaustion, but diminished accomplishment does not. Emotional work is a necessary and important part of any sales role and engaging in normal customer interactions can have a profound impact on the emotional health of the salesperson. Burnout is a long-standing and pernicious issue for salespeople, and we identify an important antecedent, a poor fit between the salesperson and the sales role. Research Implications Persevering in the face of lack of career fit carries emotional burdens that lead to emotional exhaustion through use and regulation of emotions, as well as interpersonal mentalizing. Burnout is a highly complex process that is unique for salespeople. For example, diminished accomplishment may be a form of coping and warrants further research. The sequencing of burnout also warrants future research. This is especially true as more salespeople are now in a hybrid or work-from-home (WFH) format and might not have as much contact with management or coworkers as in previous times. Organization-level role rejection is potentially very rich and nuanced theoretical outcome that warrants future study. Because of the sheer number of students that go into a sales role, it is highly likely that role rejection and poor career-person fit are common outcomes. This is evidenced by high levels of turnover in many sales roles. Yet, person-career misfit is an insidious form of role stress that remains understudied and under-understood. In addition, quit-while-succeeding is another theoretical extension that deserves future attention. Quit-while-succeeding means that a salesperson will do well and in spite of such success, suddenly leave
{"title":"Masking the Role or Masking the Toll? The Effects of Career Fit on Salesperson Burnout","authors":"E. Tanner, Rhett T. Epler, J. F. Tanner","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121510","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121510","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose This paper examines emotion management through social exchange as an important aspect of coping with the emotional burden of person-career misfit. Person-career misfit, the degree to which the salesperson believes that the sales role is inconsistent with one’s identity, carries a heavy emotional toll when one finds oneself in a poorly-fitting career. A heavy emotional toll can result in myriad negative outcomes and can be troubling for the salesperson who is experiencing the burden. Emotion management and misaligned career-fit are under-researched areas in the domain of professional selling. Moreover, emotion management strategies also warrant study because the world of professional selling is rapidly changing, and the emotional impact of these changes is not fully understood. Method A survey of 325 business-to-business (B2B) salespeople was conducted; the sample frame was a Qualtrics panel. Structural equation modeling with AMOS 27 was applied to examine the proposed framework. Findings When person-career fit is poor, salespeople report greater use of emotion, regulation of emotion, and interpersonal mentalizing. The effects of the emotion management strategies are mediated by emotional labor, which then influences diminished accomplishment and depersonalization. Depersonalization then leads to emotional exhaustion, but diminished accomplishment does not. Emotional work is a necessary and important part of any sales role and engaging in normal customer interactions can have a profound impact on the emotional health of the salesperson. Burnout is a long-standing and pernicious issue for salespeople, and we identify an important antecedent, a poor fit between the salesperson and the sales role. Research Implications Persevering in the face of lack of career fit carries emotional burdens that lead to emotional exhaustion through use and regulation of emotions, as well as interpersonal mentalizing. Burnout is a highly complex process that is unique for salespeople. For example, diminished accomplishment may be a form of coping and warrants further research. The sequencing of burnout also warrants future research. This is especially true as more salespeople are now in a hybrid or work-from-home (WFH) format and might not have as much contact with management or coworkers as in previous times. Organization-level role rejection is potentially very rich and nuanced theoretical outcome that warrants future study. Because of the sheer number of students that go into a sales role, it is highly likely that role rejection and poor career-person fit are common outcomes. This is evidenced by high levels of turnover in many sales roles. Yet, person-career misfit is an insidious form of role stress that remains understudied and under-understood. In addition, quit-while-succeeding is another theoretical extension that deserves future attention. Quit-while-succeeding means that a salesperson will do well and in spite of such success, suddenly leave","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"335 - 352"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47390259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-20DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121509
L. Matthews, D. Edmondson
ABSTRACT Purpose The focus of this article is to provide an overview of the existing business-to-business literature on two sales constructs that have been of interest to marketers. Although relatively new to the sales literature, the first construct is grit. This construct has been studied in a wide variety of manners for 130 years; however, within the sales literature, this construct has only been explored for the past three years. The second construct has been investigated in the sales literature for over 20 years is emotional exhaustion, which is one of the three dimensions of burnout. Furthermore, this article then introduces the eight manuscripts included in this special issue which expand marketing’s knowledge on these two constructs of interest. Research Implications Currently in the sales literature, there is a lack of research containing the grit construct. This article contributes to the marketing and sales literature by showcasing the importance of researching grit in sales. In addition, this article discusses the most popular researched burnout dimension, emotional exhaustion. Although emotional exhaustion has been studied in the sales literature, there is still additional research needed in order to fully understand the intricacies and situations that might lead to or result from a salesperson’s experiencing emotional exhaustion. Further, as with many underexplored constructs, such as grit, there is also an inconsistency in the research findings related to the relationship between grit and emotional exhaustion. Therefore, this article examines this inconsistency and provides some additional research ideas for consideration. Practical Implications This article calls attention to two constructs that can impact a sales organization’s long-term success. Prior research on each of these constructs is provided which highlights what a sales organization should and should not do in order to increase grittiness and reduce emotional exhaustion levels of their salesforce. Originality/Value/Contribution This article contributes to the literature in several meaningful ways. First, this article provides a detailed table of articles previously published in the sales literature that include the construct of grit. Second, this article investigates emotional exhaustion and its role in the sales process. A brief discussion on how grit might impact emotional exhaustion is also provided. Finally, based on prior research as well as insights gleaned from the eight articles included in this special issue, future research opportunities and suggestions are presented.
{"title":"The Role of Grit and Emotional Exhaustion in the Selling Process","authors":"L. Matthews, D. Edmondson","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121509","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121509","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose The focus of this article is to provide an overview of the existing business-to-business literature on two sales constructs that have been of interest to marketers. Although relatively new to the sales literature, the first construct is grit. This construct has been studied in a wide variety of manners for 130 years; however, within the sales literature, this construct has only been explored for the past three years. The second construct has been investigated in the sales literature for over 20 years is emotional exhaustion, which is one of the three dimensions of burnout. Furthermore, this article then introduces the eight manuscripts included in this special issue which expand marketing’s knowledge on these two constructs of interest. Research Implications Currently in the sales literature, there is a lack of research containing the grit construct. This article contributes to the marketing and sales literature by showcasing the importance of researching grit in sales. In addition, this article discusses the most popular researched burnout dimension, emotional exhaustion. Although emotional exhaustion has been studied in the sales literature, there is still additional research needed in order to fully understand the intricacies and situations that might lead to or result from a salesperson’s experiencing emotional exhaustion. Further, as with many underexplored constructs, such as grit, there is also an inconsistency in the research findings related to the relationship between grit and emotional exhaustion. Therefore, this article examines this inconsistency and provides some additional research ideas for consideration. Practical Implications This article calls attention to two constructs that can impact a sales organization’s long-term success. Prior research on each of these constructs is provided which highlights what a sales organization should and should not do in order to increase grittiness and reduce emotional exhaustion levels of their salesforce. Originality/Value/Contribution This article contributes to the literature in several meaningful ways. First, this article provides a detailed table of articles previously published in the sales literature that include the construct of grit. Second, this article investigates emotional exhaustion and its role in the sales process. A brief discussion on how grit might impact emotional exhaustion is also provided. Finally, based on prior research as well as insights gleaned from the eight articles included in this special issue, future research opportunities and suggestions are presented.","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"239 - 246"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47793147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-16DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121503
David E. Fleming, Andrew B. Artis, Eric G. Harris, J. R. Fergurson, M. Askew
ABSTRACT Purpose This study is designed to respond to repeated calls for research on sales person retentionby building upon a mature research stream to identify ways to reduce turnover in boundary spanning employees and the resultant effect it has on organizational productivity. Specifically, this research draws on the Job Demands-Resources model to explore the effect of employee perceptions of firm market orientation as a way to reduce role stressors and subsequently turnover intentions. It also looks at employee traits that may serve as a buffer to the role stress to turnover intentions link and can be part of the hiring selection process (in this case grit). In so doing, this research uses a sample of early career salespeople to examine the effects of a firm’s market orientation (MO) and selective hiring for specific traits (level of grit) on a salesperson’s intention to quit using Job Demand-Resources as a framework. Design/Methodology/Approach The authors utilized a questionnaire to collect data from a sample consisting of 260 respondents who were employed full-time and worked in either B2B or B2C sales as boundary-spanning employees. The measures utilized in this study have been used in previous research and have demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. Analysis of the latent constructs was conducted using PLS-SEM. The model was assessed as specified in the hypotheses and was estimated using the PLS algorithm to obtain path coefficient estimates. Findings Findings suggest that organizations can benefit internally from strong MO by mitigating stressors placed on boundary-spanning employees. Those who perceived strong MO in their employer experienced more clearly defined roles, which led to decreased role ambiguity. These increased levels of job satisfaction, which reduced turnover intention. Additionally, Grit appears to only moderate the link between role conflict and job satisfaction, which suggests that grit can serve as an additional resource salespeople can tap into in response to the demands of role stressors thereby reducing their likelihood of leaving their positions. Research Implications In this research, inclusion of market orientation as an antecedent to role stressors in the Job Demands-Resources model expands the conceptualization of the construct as it relates to salespeople in that market orientation is something the firm can control directly. This opens research opportunities to use this model in the sales literature. In addition, the job-demands-resources model expands the role of grit beyond positive psychology to be viewed as a resource in stressful situations and puts the role of grit into a theoretical framework for use in business contexts. As such, the current work suggests that the grit scale can be used to replace measures used for similar constructs such as tenacity. Practical Implications This research suggests that role ambiguity can be reduced by the presence of a market orientation. This reduction in r
{"title":"Reducing Salesperson Turnover Intentions via Organizational Market Orientation and Selective Hiring: A Job Demand-Resources Approach","authors":"David E. Fleming, Andrew B. Artis, Eric G. Harris, J. R. Fergurson, M. Askew","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121503","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose This study is designed to respond to repeated calls for research on sales person retentionby building upon a mature research stream to identify ways to reduce turnover in boundary spanning employees and the resultant effect it has on organizational productivity. Specifically, this research draws on the Job Demands-Resources model to explore the effect of employee perceptions of firm market orientation as a way to reduce role stressors and subsequently turnover intentions. It also looks at employee traits that may serve as a buffer to the role stress to turnover intentions link and can be part of the hiring selection process (in this case grit). In so doing, this research uses a sample of early career salespeople to examine the effects of a firm’s market orientation (MO) and selective hiring for specific traits (level of grit) on a salesperson’s intention to quit using Job Demand-Resources as a framework. Design/Methodology/Approach The authors utilized a questionnaire to collect data from a sample consisting of 260 respondents who were employed full-time and worked in either B2B or B2C sales as boundary-spanning employees. The measures utilized in this study have been used in previous research and have demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. Analysis of the latent constructs was conducted using PLS-SEM. The model was assessed as specified in the hypotheses and was estimated using the PLS algorithm to obtain path coefficient estimates. Findings Findings suggest that organizations can benefit internally from strong MO by mitigating stressors placed on boundary-spanning employees. Those who perceived strong MO in their employer experienced more clearly defined roles, which led to decreased role ambiguity. These increased levels of job satisfaction, which reduced turnover intention. Additionally, Grit appears to only moderate the link between role conflict and job satisfaction, which suggests that grit can serve as an additional resource salespeople can tap into in response to the demands of role stressors thereby reducing their likelihood of leaving their positions. Research Implications In this research, inclusion of market orientation as an antecedent to role stressors in the Job Demands-Resources model expands the conceptualization of the construct as it relates to salespeople in that market orientation is something the firm can control directly. This opens research opportunities to use this model in the sales literature. In addition, the job-demands-resources model expands the role of grit beyond positive psychology to be viewed as a resource in stressful situations and puts the role of grit into a theoretical framework for use in business contexts. As such, the current work suggests that the grit scale can be used to replace measures used for similar constructs such as tenacity. Practical Implications This research suggests that role ambiguity can be reduced by the presence of a market orientation. This reduction in r","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"247 - 269"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47944117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-13DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121504
Tyler Hancock, E. Pullins, C. M. Johnson, Michael Mallin
ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how salesperson motivations can affect negative states such as envy and emotional exhaustion in the workplace. The study uses Social Comparison Theory and Self-Determination Theory to explain how motivation influences the development of envy and emotional exhaustion, resulting in both turnover intentions and unethical selling practices. This study aims to bridge a gap in the burnout and motivation literature by focusing on envy and emotional exhaustion in the salesforce and answering calls for more research on salesperson well-being, envy, and burnout. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a survey research methodology to address the effects of motivation on negative outcomes, envy, emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. Two hundred and eleven salespeople were surveyed to test the hypotheses. Established scales from prior research were adapted for use in the study and met appropriate levels of composite reliability. The model fit statistics met acceptable thresholds specified in the structural equation model literature. The study used a two-step structural equation modeling approach. First, the measurement model was validated using a CFA to test for reliability, unidimensionality, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Next, the structural model hypotheses were tested using AMOS 27. Next, the serial mediation and moderated serial mediation effects were assessed using the bootstrap method with 5000 bootstraps and a 95% confidence interval. Finally, estimands were created within AMOS 27 to test the indirect and interaction effects in the full structural model. Findings The results show that intrinsic motivation decreases the development of envy, which positively affects emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. The findings show that intrinsic motivation in the salesforce helps to prevent unfavorable comparisons that lead to envy and emotional exhaustion. Thus, sales organizations that nurture intrinsic motivators in the workplace are more likely to prevent salespeople from seeking employment elsewhere and discourage unethical selling behaviors. Additionally, the serial mediation analysis shows that envy and burnout mediate the relationships between intrinsic motivation on both unethical selling and turnover intentions through negative, fully serially mediated relationships. These findings suggest that a sales organization can take action to prevent envy and emotional exhaustion from causing severe problems by implementing intrinsic motivators. Finally, the interaction effects between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation show high levels of extrinsic motivation negate the effects of intrinsic motivation and increase the development of envy, emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. These findings show that sales organizations that invest heavily in extrinsic motivators such
{"title":"Understanding How Salesperson Envy and Emotional Exhaustion Lead to Negative Consequences: The Role of Motivation","authors":"Tyler Hancock, E. Pullins, C. M. Johnson, Michael Mallin","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121504","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121504","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how salesperson motivations can affect negative states such as envy and emotional exhaustion in the workplace. The study uses Social Comparison Theory and Self-Determination Theory to explain how motivation influences the development of envy and emotional exhaustion, resulting in both turnover intentions and unethical selling practices. This study aims to bridge a gap in the burnout and motivation literature by focusing on envy and emotional exhaustion in the salesforce and answering calls for more research on salesperson well-being, envy, and burnout. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a survey research methodology to address the effects of motivation on negative outcomes, envy, emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. Two hundred and eleven salespeople were surveyed to test the hypotheses. Established scales from prior research were adapted for use in the study and met appropriate levels of composite reliability. The model fit statistics met acceptable thresholds specified in the structural equation model literature. The study used a two-step structural equation modeling approach. First, the measurement model was validated using a CFA to test for reliability, unidimensionality, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Next, the structural model hypotheses were tested using AMOS 27. Next, the serial mediation and moderated serial mediation effects were assessed using the bootstrap method with 5000 bootstraps and a 95% confidence interval. Finally, estimands were created within AMOS 27 to test the indirect and interaction effects in the full structural model. Findings The results show that intrinsic motivation decreases the development of envy, which positively affects emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. The findings show that intrinsic motivation in the salesforce helps to prevent unfavorable comparisons that lead to envy and emotional exhaustion. Thus, sales organizations that nurture intrinsic motivators in the workplace are more likely to prevent salespeople from seeking employment elsewhere and discourage unethical selling behaviors. Additionally, the serial mediation analysis shows that envy and burnout mediate the relationships between intrinsic motivation on both unethical selling and turnover intentions through negative, fully serially mediated relationships. These findings suggest that a sales organization can take action to prevent envy and emotional exhaustion from causing severe problems by implementing intrinsic motivators. Finally, the interaction effects between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation show high levels of extrinsic motivation negate the effects of intrinsic motivation and increase the development of envy, emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. These findings show that sales organizations that invest heavily in extrinsic motivators such ","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"369 - 386"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46427215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-09DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121505
Matthew M. Lastner, Michael C. Peasley, Mark J. Pelletier
ABSTRACT Purpose The increasing interest of grit research in sales represents an opportunity as sales-dependent organizations stand to benefit significantly from an enhanced understanding of how grit arises and how it affects sales performance. The nature of sales, with high levels of stress and rejection, presents conditions in which individuals possessing high levels of grit should find greater success than their less gritty peers. However, three predominant issues limit the findings of previous research on grit in a sales and marketing context: scholars have elected to measure grit (1) with adolescents before personality traits are fully established, (2) in non-sales contexts, or (3) using only one of the two dimensions of grit, generally assessing perseverance but not consistency. Thus, due to differing opinions among researchers regarding the usefulness of grit’s proposed subdimensions, perseverance and consistency of interests, the scant research in that has examined grit within organizational contexts presents a muddled picture of grit’s potential utility for the field of sales. Therefore, this study addresses all three concerns by investigating grit in a B2B sales setting, with adult salespeople, and on both dimensions of grit. Methodology Survey data were collected from 473 B2B salespeople (i.e. employed full-time in business-to-business sales as a salesperson) representing a cross-section of industries, including advertising, auto parts, business solutions, computer and technology-related sales, insurance, promotional products, telecommunications, and transportation and logistics. The model design allowed for exploration of two antecedents to grit, growth mind-set and self-efficacy, and two outcomes of interest, salesperson performance and organizational commitment. Further, we incorporate the contingent role managers can have on the relationships between growth mind-set and self-efficacy with perseverance of effort and consistency of interest by expanding a salesperson’s locus of control. All of these relationships were tested with Mplus v8, using a maximum likelihood estimator with robust standard errors. Findings Our findings build upon previous sales research examining the effects of grit on sales outcomes by demonstrating that each of grit’s dimensions has a positive relationship with performance and determining that the positive effects of grit extend to salesperson commitment to the organization. Moreover, we determine that a growth mind-set and self-efficacy are predictive of salesperson grit and that locus of control plays a moderating role in these relationships. However, we demonstrate that grit’s perseverance and consistency dimensions are not impacted uniformly by a growth mind-set and locus of control, indicating that additional insights may be gleaned from assessing and analyzing the grit construct using both dimensions. In particular, the results show that a salesperson’s growth mind-set is positively associated with per
{"title":"A Nuanced Analysis of Salesperson Grit: Exploring Perseverance, Consistency, and Mind-set","authors":"Matthew M. Lastner, Michael C. Peasley, Mark J. Pelletier","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121505","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121505","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose The increasing interest of grit research in sales represents an opportunity as sales-dependent organizations stand to benefit significantly from an enhanced understanding of how grit arises and how it affects sales performance. The nature of sales, with high levels of stress and rejection, presents conditions in which individuals possessing high levels of grit should find greater success than their less gritty peers. However, three predominant issues limit the findings of previous research on grit in a sales and marketing context: scholars have elected to measure grit (1) with adolescents before personality traits are fully established, (2) in non-sales contexts, or (3) using only one of the two dimensions of grit, generally assessing perseverance but not consistency. Thus, due to differing opinions among researchers regarding the usefulness of grit’s proposed subdimensions, perseverance and consistency of interests, the scant research in that has examined grit within organizational contexts presents a muddled picture of grit’s potential utility for the field of sales. Therefore, this study addresses all three concerns by investigating grit in a B2B sales setting, with adult salespeople, and on both dimensions of grit. Methodology Survey data were collected from 473 B2B salespeople (i.e. employed full-time in business-to-business sales as a salesperson) representing a cross-section of industries, including advertising, auto parts, business solutions, computer and technology-related sales, insurance, promotional products, telecommunications, and transportation and logistics. The model design allowed for exploration of two antecedents to grit, growth mind-set and self-efficacy, and two outcomes of interest, salesperson performance and organizational commitment. Further, we incorporate the contingent role managers can have on the relationships between growth mind-set and self-efficacy with perseverance of effort and consistency of interest by expanding a salesperson’s locus of control. All of these relationships were tested with Mplus v8, using a maximum likelihood estimator with robust standard errors. Findings Our findings build upon previous sales research examining the effects of grit on sales outcomes by demonstrating that each of grit’s dimensions has a positive relationship with performance and determining that the positive effects of grit extend to salesperson commitment to the organization. Moreover, we determine that a growth mind-set and self-efficacy are predictive of salesperson grit and that locus of control plays a moderating role in these relationships. However, we demonstrate that grit’s perseverance and consistency dimensions are not impacted uniformly by a growth mind-set and locus of control, indicating that additional insights may be gleaned from assessing and analyzing the grit construct using both dimensions. In particular, the results show that a salesperson’s growth mind-set is positively associated with per","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"271 - 291"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44904737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-09DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121508
C. H. Schwepker, Megan C. Good
ABSTRACT Purpose Two characteristics – Grit and Political Skill – appear to offer meaningful value to industrial marketers through improving customer relationship quality. The premise of this study is to investigate the role of these characteristics of business-to-business salespeople as they influence selling approaches and ultimately long-term customer relationships. Previous research in both academic and practitioner literature has noted political skill and grit are individually linked to salespeople but remain chiefly unexplored simultaneously and in terms of their impact on customer relationships. Methodology/Approach The data used in this research are from a sample of 240 business-to-business salespeople collected electronically by using the online platform of a national data broker. Self-reports were made about their grit, political skill, and customer relationship quality. These constructs were combined in a structural equation model. SPSS/Amos software was used to conduct multivariate analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement properties of each construct, while structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. Findings Results suggest grit is directly related to political skill and both are positively related to relationship quality. The results from this study lend credence to existing customer relationship literature and serve to extend our understanding, specifically as applied to business-to-business salespeople. In particular, we learn more about the role of grit and political skill in affecting the ability of salespeople to establish and maintain customer relationships. Research Implications In terms of the theoretical contribution, this study explores a seller’s perspective of two potentially important sales characteristics and relationship quality to extend findings on customer relationships. While grit has been considered an antecedent of outcome performance, the interaction between grit and political skill, and their impact on business-to-business salespeople’s customer relationship quality had heretofore not been examined. This study extends previous research on grit and political skill by examining the association between the two as well as the impact on relationship quality. Our research strengthens the importance of grit and political skill by finding the synergy between the two indicates that when these characteristics of salespeople are possessed or developed they can enhance the relationship building conducted by business-to-business salespeople. Practical Implications Sales leaders may benefit from administering the salesperson grit and political skill scales as part of the screening process and developing these values among salespeople through training and coaching. Sales leaders should emphasize the positive impact of adopting these in focusing on customers. The study makes a practical contribution through an improved understanding of how a seller’s co
{"title":"Improving Business-to-Business Relationship Quality Through Salespeople’s Grit and Political Skill","authors":"C. H. Schwepker, Megan C. Good","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121508","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121508","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose Two characteristics – Grit and Political Skill – appear to offer meaningful value to industrial marketers through improving customer relationship quality. The premise of this study is to investigate the role of these characteristics of business-to-business salespeople as they influence selling approaches and ultimately long-term customer relationships. Previous research in both academic and practitioner literature has noted political skill and grit are individually linked to salespeople but remain chiefly unexplored simultaneously and in terms of their impact on customer relationships. Methodology/Approach The data used in this research are from a sample of 240 business-to-business salespeople collected electronically by using the online platform of a national data broker. Self-reports were made about their grit, political skill, and customer relationship quality. These constructs were combined in a structural equation model. SPSS/Amos software was used to conduct multivariate analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the measurement properties of each construct, while structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. Findings Results suggest grit is directly related to political skill and both are positively related to relationship quality. The results from this study lend credence to existing customer relationship literature and serve to extend our understanding, specifically as applied to business-to-business salespeople. In particular, we learn more about the role of grit and political skill in affecting the ability of salespeople to establish and maintain customer relationships. Research Implications In terms of the theoretical contribution, this study explores a seller’s perspective of two potentially important sales characteristics and relationship quality to extend findings on customer relationships. While grit has been considered an antecedent of outcome performance, the interaction between grit and political skill, and their impact on business-to-business salespeople’s customer relationship quality had heretofore not been examined. This study extends previous research on grit and political skill by examining the association between the two as well as the impact on relationship quality. Our research strengthens the importance of grit and political skill by finding the synergy between the two indicates that when these characteristics of salespeople are possessed or developed they can enhance the relationship building conducted by business-to-business salespeople. Practical Implications Sales leaders may benefit from administering the salesperson grit and political skill scales as part of the screening process and developing these values among salespeople through training and coaching. Sales leaders should emphasize the positive impact of adopting these in focusing on customers. The study makes a practical contribution through an improved understanding of how a seller’s co","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"293 - 309"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46420612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-08DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121502
Barron W. Brown, Jennifer A. Locander, William B. Locander
ABSTRACT Purpose Pressure to achieve or exceed performance goals accompanies many sales positions in business-to-business (B2B) organizations. Sales supervisors experience pressure from executives to hit sales targets, exceed quotas, and increase market share. Such pressures may result in supervisor adoption of a bottom-line mentality (SBLM). When this occurs, supervisors tend to focus solely on achieving bottom-line results. When supervisors manage the sales force with this mentality, it may cause their salespeople to experience mental and emotional stress. Individual salespeople are likely to cope with the stress induced by SBLM by employing dysfunctional decision-making behaviors. Ironically, the dysfunctional decision-making techniques used to alleviate the stress engendered by SBLM may actually increase salesperson emotional exhaustion. In this stressful and results-driven environment, salespeople may direct their efforts toward obtaining certain goals at the expense of other priorities, such as their emotional well-being. When salespeople experience emotional exhaustion, various negative outcomes may result. In the present study, we investigate whether emotional exhaustion affects salesperson cognitive and emotional engagement and intentions to seek alternative employment opportunities. Essentially, this study assesses the potential trickle-down effect of performance pressure from organizational executives down organizational channels to sales supervisors and the sales force. Empirically, we examine how SBLM affects salesperson decision making, emotional exhaustion, job engagement, and turnover intention. Methodology A theoretical model of our hypothesized relationships is presented and tested using a sample of 274 business-to-business (B2B) salespeople. The sample was obtained through Qualtrics Panels, and a project manager was utilized to conduct an initial cleaning of the data to improve objectivity during data collection and analysis. Survey respondents were subjected to multiple screening questions and attention checks to enhance data quality. All constructs used in the survey were adapted from previous research and were measured using 7-point likert scales. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the measurement properties of all constructs, and structural equation modeling (i.e. AMOS 26) was utilized to test the hypothesized relationships in our model. Findings The results highlight multiple negative repercussions of the hypothesized trickle-down effect of organizational performance pressure on sales supervisors and the sales force. Specifically, our findings show that (1) performance pressure from organizational executives incites SBLM, (2) SBLM encourages hypervigilant decision making in salespeople, (3) hypervigilant decision making is a strong predictor of emotional exhaustion, and (4) emotionally exhausted salespeople have lower levels of both cognitive and emotional job engagement and higher intentions to seek al
{"title":"Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Cascading Impact of Performance Pressure on Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Salesperson Hypervigilant Decision Making, Emotional Exhaustion, and Engagement","authors":"Barron W. Brown, Jennifer A. Locander, William B. Locander","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121502","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2121502","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose Pressure to achieve or exceed performance goals accompanies many sales positions in business-to-business (B2B) organizations. Sales supervisors experience pressure from executives to hit sales targets, exceed quotas, and increase market share. Such pressures may result in supervisor adoption of a bottom-line mentality (SBLM). When this occurs, supervisors tend to focus solely on achieving bottom-line results. When supervisors manage the sales force with this mentality, it may cause their salespeople to experience mental and emotional stress. Individual salespeople are likely to cope with the stress induced by SBLM by employing dysfunctional decision-making behaviors. Ironically, the dysfunctional decision-making techniques used to alleviate the stress engendered by SBLM may actually increase salesperson emotional exhaustion. In this stressful and results-driven environment, salespeople may direct their efforts toward obtaining certain goals at the expense of other priorities, such as their emotional well-being. When salespeople experience emotional exhaustion, various negative outcomes may result. In the present study, we investigate whether emotional exhaustion affects salesperson cognitive and emotional engagement and intentions to seek alternative employment opportunities. Essentially, this study assesses the potential trickle-down effect of performance pressure from organizational executives down organizational channels to sales supervisors and the sales force. Empirically, we examine how SBLM affects salesperson decision making, emotional exhaustion, job engagement, and turnover intention. Methodology A theoretical model of our hypothesized relationships is presented and tested using a sample of 274 business-to-business (B2B) salespeople. The sample was obtained through Qualtrics Panels, and a project manager was utilized to conduct an initial cleaning of the data to improve objectivity during data collection and analysis. Survey respondents were subjected to multiple screening questions and attention checks to enhance data quality. All constructs used in the survey were adapted from previous research and were measured using 7-point likert scales. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the measurement properties of all constructs, and structural equation modeling (i.e. AMOS 26) was utilized to test the hypothesized relationships in our model. Findings The results highlight multiple negative repercussions of the hypothesized trickle-down effect of organizational performance pressure on sales supervisors and the sales force. Specifically, our findings show that (1) performance pressure from organizational executives incites SBLM, (2) SBLM encourages hypervigilant decision making in salespeople, (3) hypervigilant decision making is a strong predictor of emotional exhaustion, and (4) emotionally exhausted salespeople have lower levels of both cognitive and emotional job engagement and higher intentions to seek al","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"353 - 368"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47006837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-03DOI: 10.1080/1051712X.2022.2058539
Liming Zhao, Xuejiao Bai
ABSTRACT Purpose To investigate the internal mechanism by which comprehensive positive referrals in B to B marketing generate multiple effects. Methodology/Approach Author conducted 2 preliminary explorations. Practitioner note 1 analyzed the influence of ERV and IB on referral effect. Practitioner note 2 analyzed the influence of the interaction between them on referral effect. The data came from a questionnaire survey of 112 purchasing staffers from 40 fresh food supermarket chains operating in China. Findings Referrals whose effective referral value (ERV) is lower than a certain level are more likely to produce negative effect, and vice versa. The boundary condition depends on the initial belief (IB) of potential customers on the comprehensive performance level of the referred suppliers. The author calls this mechanism the relative theory of referral effect. Research Implications First, this practitioner note makes a theoretical contribution to the research literature related to WOM and referral effect. This is the first literature to introduce IB into the referral multiple effects analysis framework, and the first to reveal the mechanism of multiple effects from the perspective of the relative level of ERV and IB. Second, this paper contributes to the research on WOM. Rocklage and Fazio (2020) analyzed the mechanism of negative effects of positive emotions in positive WOM (PWOM) due to product categories, but it should be noted that the independent variable was positive emotions rather than the positive information content itself. In this sense, this practitioner note is the first to analyze the negative effects of positive information, which enriches the literature related to WOM. Practical Implications the preliminary findings of this practitioner note have guiding significance for marketing practice. That it is unlikely that the referrer will have a positive impact on high-reputation suppliers. For suppliers with low and medium reputation levels, the referrer is a double-edged sword. Therefore, it is not recommended that high-reputation suppliers implement supplier-selected-referral programs, and low and medium-reputation suppliers should be cautious in selecting referrers, for the referrer may have negative effects. Originality/Value/Contribution The author makes up for this deficiency in the existing research by building a multiple effect analysis framework including ERV and IB, thus promoting the development of research theory related to WOM and referral effects.
{"title":"Referrals are A Double-Edged Sword: A Relative Theory of Referral Effects","authors":"Liming Zhao, Xuejiao Bai","doi":"10.1080/1051712X.2022.2058539","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2022.2058539","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Purpose To investigate the internal mechanism by which comprehensive positive referrals in B to B marketing generate multiple effects. Methodology/Approach Author conducted 2 preliminary explorations. Practitioner note 1 analyzed the influence of ERV and IB on referral effect. Practitioner note 2 analyzed the influence of the interaction between them on referral effect. The data came from a questionnaire survey of 112 purchasing staffers from 40 fresh food supermarket chains operating in China. Findings Referrals whose effective referral value (ERV) is lower than a certain level are more likely to produce negative effect, and vice versa. The boundary condition depends on the initial belief (IB) of potential customers on the comprehensive performance level of the referred suppliers. The author calls this mechanism the relative theory of referral effect. Research Implications First, this practitioner note makes a theoretical contribution to the research literature related to WOM and referral effect. This is the first literature to introduce IB into the referral multiple effects analysis framework, and the first to reveal the mechanism of multiple effects from the perspective of the relative level of ERV and IB. Second, this paper contributes to the research on WOM. Rocklage and Fazio (2020) analyzed the mechanism of negative effects of positive emotions in positive WOM (PWOM) due to product categories, but it should be noted that the independent variable was positive emotions rather than the positive information content itself. In this sense, this practitioner note is the first to analyze the negative effects of positive information, which enriches the literature related to WOM. Practical Implications the preliminary findings of this practitioner note have guiding significance for marketing practice. That it is unlikely that the referrer will have a positive impact on high-reputation suppliers. For suppliers with low and medium reputation levels, the referrer is a double-edged sword. Therefore, it is not recommended that high-reputation suppliers implement supplier-selected-referral programs, and low and medium-reputation suppliers should be cautious in selecting referrers, for the referrer may have negative effects. Originality/Value/Contribution The author makes up for this deficiency in the existing research by building a multiple effect analysis framework including ERV and IB, thus promoting the development of research theory related to WOM and referral effects.","PeriodicalId":46235,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing","volume":"29 1","pages":"221 - 238"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42964911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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