An investigation of the influence of coping resources in salespersons' emotional exhaustion

Abstract

Salesperson burnout continues to be a major concern among industrial marketing organizations. In this work, the authors examine whether certain coping strategies moderate the impact of work-related stressors on salesperson burnout; a previously unexamined area in the marketing literature. More specifically, this work examines if problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping significantly moderate the impact of role stress (ambiguity, conflict) on feelings of emotional exhaustion in an industrial sales setting. Findings indicate that problem-focused coping strategies moderate the impact of role stress on salespersons' emotional exhaustion; actually reversing the overall impact from positive to negative. However, findings surrounding the moderating effect of emotion-focused coping are mixed, raising interesting questions for future research efforts.