Salesperson grit: reducing unethical behavior and job stress
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 29 November 2021
Issue publication date: 22 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between grit, unethical behavior and job stress among business-to-business salespeople.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis includes 240 business-to-business salespeople. Structural equation modeling is used to test the study’s hypotheses.
Findings
Results suggest grit is directly related to less frequent unethical behavior and customer-directed deviance. Neutralization techniques positively moderate the relationship between salesperson grit and both unethical behavior and customer-directed deviance. Grit is indirectly related to job stress through the positive relationship between unethical behavior and job stress.
Research limitations/implications
Given research on grit in sales is relatively new several opportunities to pursue additional research in this area are presented.
Practical implications
Sales leaders may benefit from administering the salesperson grit scale as part of the screening process and developing grit among salespeople through training and coaching. Sales leaders should emphasize the negative impact of adopting neutralization techniques (excuses) in condoning unethical behaviors. The indirect effect of grit in reducing job stress through ethical behaviors underscores potential ways to mitigate costly and detrimental sales outcome losses.
Originality/value
This study develops a novel framework to explore the relationships between grit and unethical behaviors as moderated by neutralization techniques (excuses); examines an additional component of grit not previously considered in some studies of salespeople; and investigates whether these relationships increase a previously unexplored outcome – job stress.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
*Both authors contributed equally.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Schwepker, C.H. and Good, M.C. (2022), "Salesperson grit: reducing unethical behavior and job stress", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 37 No. 9, pp. 1887-1902. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-04-2021-0211
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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