Today, salespeople face more complex and challenging sales environments, which include increasing customer demands and expectations, complex buying and selling processes, technological advances, heated competition with the emergence of new competitors, and changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (Hartmann et al., 2018; Kalra et al., 2021; Rangarajan et al., 2021). Under these conditions, salespeople have been found to experience job stress (Kraft et al., 2019; Rangarajan et al., 2021). For instance, a study by UNCrushed and the Sales Health Alliance, which focuses on salespeople from the United States, found that 43% struggle with mental health issues, more than double the rate of the general population at 20% (Dutta, 2023).  Further, according to a 2022 report on sales turnover by Xactly (Xactly News Team, 2022), sales organizations in the United States had a turnover rate nearly three times higher than other, non-sales organizations also based in the United States, with an average representative turnover of 35%.

 

Our study fills a gap in the existing research, and its contributions to the field are as follows. First, most prior research on sales and organizational behavior has examined elements of complexity within the work environment that affect job stress and performance, including task and job complexity (Carlson & Ross, 2022; Shalley et al., 2009), product complexity (J. Johnson & Sohi, 2014), and internal organizational complexity (Schmitz & Ganesan, 2014). However, little is known about the factors outside the work environment. Given the highly competitive nature of the business-to-business environment, and the necessity for in-depth knowledge of external factors (Prajogo, 2016), investigation of external factors can be deemed crucial. In particular, customer complexity, a critical external factor, has been found to significantly affect the psychological and physical well-being of salespeople. It has been associated with burnout (S. Johnson et al., 2013), emotional exhaustion (Stock & Bednarek, 2014), and physical health symptoms (Cano et al., 2009). Therefore, we investigated how customer demandingness affects salespeople’s levels of job stress in the sales context.

 

Second, research on job demands–resources (JD–R) has identified various resources that affect job demands, including both personal and job resources such as optimism, self-esteem, self-efficacy, autonomy (Xanthopoulou et al., 2007), social support (Christian et al., 2011), task resources (Hakanen et al., 2008), and brand attachment (Allison et al., 2016). However, the factor of supportive interpersonal relationships, a key job resource in the JD–R context (Saijo et al., 2007), has remained underexplored in the existing research. Xanthopoulou et al. (2007) found that, in the context of supportive interpersonal relationships, several similarities between marketing and sales are closely linked to the concept of job resources in the JD–R model. In light of this, we highlighted marketing–sales collaboration as a valuable job resource for organizational success. Arnett and Badrinarayanan (2005) also emphasized the importance of marketing–sales collaboration for selling complex solutions to strategic customers. Moreover, Hughes et al. (2012) demonstrated that the combined efforts of marketing and sales can have a synergistic effect on organizational performance. Therefore, our study conceptualized marketing–sales collaboration as a job resource within the JD–R theory, and empirically demonstrated its impact on job stress.

 

Finally, prior studies have highlighted the need to investigate cross-departmental integration in specific external contexts, as its significance may vary by business environment and industry (Guenzi & Troilo, 2006; Troy et al., 2008). In this context, the present study explored the moderating role of marketing–sales collaboration in the relationship between customer demandingness and job stress. Based on the JD–R model, we proposed that marketing–sales collaboration moderates the negative impact of customer demandingness on job stress, an idea supported by prior research on the role of collaboration in reducing stress (Hughes et al., 2012). Thus, our study extends current research by examining marketing–sales collaboration as a job resource that buffers job demands in high customer-demandingness environments.

 

This study aimed to examine the impact of customer demandingness on salespeople’s psychological responses, and to identify factors that alleviate the psychological costs related to job stress.

The JD–R theory categorizes work environment factors into job demands and job resources (Demerouti et al., 2019). Job demands are aspects requiring physical or psychological effort, leading to associated costs, while job resources help employees to achieve work goals, reduce demands, and to promote growth.

 

Based on JD–R theory, we examined role conflict (i.e., psychological cost) as a response to customer demandingness (i.e., job demand), highlighting marketing–sales collaboration as a moderator of the impact of job demands on salespeople’s psychological responses.

Customer demandingness is the extent to which customers have high expectations, standards, and unique requirements for products and services (Wang & Netemeyer, 2002). High customer demandingness can broaden the scope of salespeople’s role responsibilities and also of sales performance expectations (Schmitz & Ganesan, 2014). Hence, salespeople may struggle to align their needs with customer expectations, and also with how to maximize performance or prioritize aspects of their role. Increased customer demandingness can lead to role conflicts, as some customer expectations may directly conflict with those of salespeople (Ingram et al., 2011). Further, customer demandingness can create incompatible expectations between salespeople and customers, making it challenging for salespeople to adapt to diverse demands. Hence, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Customer demandingness will be positively related to role conflict.

We proposed that the variable of collaboration between marketing and sales departments can help to reduce salespeople’s levels of role conflict. Marketing–sales collaboration refers to when two departments share common goals, a vision, and responsibilities for common activities, thereby indicating a successful integration. It has been found to reduce communication difficulties, facilitate effective coordination, and, consequently, decrease role conflict (Ruekert et al., 1985; Troilo et al., 2009). Hence, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2: Marketing–sales collaboration will be negatively related to role conflict.

 

Moreover, excessive customer demand requires increased energy and effort from salespeople, which may lead them to feel overburdened with responsibility and work tasks (Yeboah-Banin et al., 2016), potentially resulting in stress (Jaramillo et al., 2013). In contrast to above, if the marketing and sales departments fail to collaborate effectively, differences in values and beliefs may emerge, resulting in increased friction between the two departments (Enyinda et al., 2021). Effective interaction between marketing and sales occurs when interdepartmental relations are characterized by a positive attitude, friendliness toward the outgroup, absence of prejudice toward the ingroup, and cooperation (Dewsnap & Jobber, 2002). If marketing and sales departments are not well integrated, they are more likely to develop stereotypes about departments they do not belong to, reinforcing a stronger ingroup identity, which may lead to increased role conflict (Hogg & Terry, 2000). Therefore, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3: The positive effect of customer demandingness on role conflict will be weaker for salespeople with high marketing–sales collaboration, and stronger for salespeople with low marketing–sales collaboration.

Role conflict refers to a situation in which salespeople receive contradictory information about their roles (Rangrez et al., 2022). As role conflict hinders employees’ abilities to achieve personal goals at work (Lepine et al., 2005), it may lead to decreased employee well-being (Vandenberghe et al., 2011) and lower job satisfaction (Netemeyer et al., 2004). Hence, we proposed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 4: Role conflict will be negatively related to job satisfaction.

 

The conceptual framework of our research is shown in Figure 1.

 

 

We conducted a survey that was distributed to salespeople who sell pharmaceutical products for companies in the Republic of Korea. Of the 420 salespeople contacted, we received 310 responses, resulting in a response rate of 73.8%. After excluding 53 anomalous responses, 257 were deemed usable.

 

The demographics of the 257 salespeople included in the final sample were as follows. The average tenure of the respondents was 7 years and 9 months (SD = 6 years and 8 months), with 23.3% of the sample in the range of 5–10 years. The average salesperson’s experience in their current position was 8 years and 4 months (SD = 6 years and 9 months), with 24.5% of the sample in the range of 5–10 years. Further, the average number of accounts visited by salespeople per month was 67.37 (SD = 40.19), referring to the total number of unique accounts visited. In terms of education level, all salespeople in our sample had at least a college degree.

 

We obtained informed consent from all participants involved in the study. We employed a traditional paper-and-pencil survey method for data collection. The purpose of the survey, to examine the job characteristics and performance of salespeople in the sales environment, was explained on the first page. To encourage participation, minimize risks, and to ensure informed consent, further details such as the estimated time to complete the survey, expected outcomes, and confidentiality assurances were provided. As confidentiality was guaranteed, participants were not required to each sign separate informed consent forms, but we included an informed consent form on the first page of the survey. Participants were assured that they could withdraw at any time. Those who completed the survey received compensation of KWR 10,000 (USD 6.97), and the results were provided only to those who requested them.

We utilized a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree in our survey, which was created based on prior research. We measured customer demandingness using a four-item scale adapted from Wang and Netemeyer (2002). An example item is “The clients I serve are demanding regarding product/service quality and reliability”. We assessed role conflict using a four-item scale from Rizzo et al.’s (1970) research on role stress. An example item is “I receive incompatible requests from two or more people”. Moreover, we measured marketing–sales collaboration using a five-item scale adapted from Homburg and Jensen (2007). An example item is “Marketing and sales act in concert in our business unit”. Finally, we assessed job satisfaction using a three-item scale adapted from Churchill et al. (1974). An example item is “I find my work very satisfying”.

We utilized Amos 18.0 to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM). The reliability of each construct was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, with values of .70 or higher indicating satisfactory reliability. To ensure the accuracy of the measurement model, we then performed confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicated that the model fit the data adequately, χ²(df) = 175.2(93), incremental fit index (IFI) = .96, Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = .94, comparative fit index (CFI) = .96.

    

Additionally, we assessed convergent validity using average variance extracted, where a value over .50 indicated acceptable validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The results showed that all constructs exhibited acceptable convergent validity, as shown in Table 1.

We used Amos 18.0 for conducting the SEM analysis. The goodness-of-fit indices were χ²(df) = 248.7(95), IFI = .92, CFI = .92. As IFI and CFI were both above .90, this indicated a good model fit. Furthermore, Hypotheses 1, 2, and 4 were all supported. Table 2 presents the findings for the main effects.

To minimize measurement errors that could reduce the visibility of higher-order effects, we used a two-step SEM approach adopted by Ping (1996). First, we calculated values for factor loadings and measurement error, and then we integrated all values including interactions into an SEM analysis, in Amos 18.0, to examine the moderating effect. We deemed that the model fit the data well, χ²(df) = 256.4(109), IFI = .92, CFI = .92. In addition, as shown in Table 2, Hypothesis 3 was supported.

Additionally, we tested the moderated mediation model using Model 7 of the PROCESS macro for SPSS. We found that marketing–sales collaboration moderated the indirect relationship between customer demandingness and job satisfaction through role conflict, with an index of .029 and a 95% confidence interval of [0.001, 0.065], which did not include zero (see Table 3).

As depicted in Figure 2, the simple slope analysis revealed that the positive relationship between customer demandingness and role conflict was weaker when levels of marketing–sales collaboration were high, compared to when they were low.

First, the findings of this study indicated a positive relationship between customer demandingness and role conflict, which is consistent with previous research (e.g., S. Johnson et al., 2013). This also supports the JD–R theory, by showing how environmental job factors, such as customer demands, contribute to role conflict as a psychological cost for salespeople. Second, our findings showed that marketing–sales collaboration negatively predicted role conflict, and that it also mitigated the effect of customer demandingness on role conflict. This supports JD–R theory by identifying cross-functional collaboration as a buffer to role conflict that may arise from job demands. Through the examination of the moderated mediation model, our study provides insights into how collaboration mitigates psychological costs and enhances job satisfaction, thereby enriching the JD–R framework and emphasizing the importance of effective marketing–sales collaboration. Finally, our findings demonstrated that role conflict negatively predicted job satisfaction. In other words, when salespeople’s roles are unclear or incompatible, it leads to a decrease in job satisfaction.

 

In conclusion, drawing on JD–R theory, this study identified marketing–sales collaboration as a key resource that helps reduce the psychological costs caused by job demands. Through effective marketing–sales collaboration, a synergistic effect of understanding customer needs and executing appropriate marketing strategies is achieved, thereby leading to improved psychological well-being for salespeople.

First, the outcomes of the current study yield valuable implications for managers seeking to optimize salespeople’s performance and well-being. The results suggest that customer demandingness significantly impacts salespeople’s role conflict and job satisfaction. While managers may not have direct control over the external factors of growing customer demandingness, proactive planning can better prepare them to successfully navigate these challenges. To enhance customer management, managers could implement targeted training programs focusing on effective negotiation techniques to meet customer needs.

 

Second, our study shows that salespeople’s role conflict, intensified by excessive customer demands, can be reduced when marketing–sales collaboration is strong rather than weak. Sales managers can alleviate conflicts and incompatible actions between sales and marketing by fostering collaboration, aligning objectives, and imposing limits on service offerings for customers whose needs fall outside the target profile or exceed standard expectations. Informal communication within interdepartmental relationships is particularly effective for addressing unstructured problems and dynamic environments, such as changes in customer needs (Rouziès et al., 2005). Therefore, sales managers should create a company environment wherein marketing and sales departments can participate together. That is, a place where salespeople can interact with marketing personnel, or by creating cross-functional teams for each major product.

While cross-sectional studies offer valuable insights into associations among variables, they have inherent limitations that need to be considered when interpreting the results and drawing conclusions. We suggest that future research using longitudinal or experimental designs could help to address some of these limitations, and to provide a more robust understanding of the complex relationships among environmental job demands and workers’ psychological responses.

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