Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Problem- and emotion-focused coping dimensions and sales presentation effectiveness

  • Published:
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The ability to cope effectively with job-related stress may be important if salespeople are to perform effectively. Therefore, the specific nature of the coping tactics used by salespeople to deal with job-related stress and the use of certain coping strategies associated with sales presentation effectiveness of salespeople were investigated. Data provided by salespeople from three organizations were used to assess the degree to which specific coping strategies were related to sales presentation effectiveness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aldwin, Carolyn M. and Tracey A. Revenson. 1987. “Does Coping Help? A Reexamination of the Relation between Coping and Mental Health.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53 (August): 337–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, Albert. 1982. “Self-Efficacy Mechanism in Human Agency.”American Psychologist 37 (February): 122–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrman, Douglas N. and William D. Perreault, Jr. 1982. “Measuring the Performance of Industrial Salespersons.”Journal of Business Research 10 (September): 355–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrman, Douglas N. and William D. Perreault, Jr. 1984. “A Sales Role Stress Model of the Performance and Satisfaction of Industrial Salespersons.”Journal of Marketing 48 (Fall): 9–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bitner, Mary Jo, Bernard H. Booms, and Mary Stanfield Tetreault. 1990. “The Service Encounter: Diagnosing Favorable and Unfavorable Incidents.”Journal of Marketing 54 (January): 71–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breznitz, Shlomo. 1983.The Denial of Stress. New York: International University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carver, Charles S., Linda M. Peterson, Donna J. Follansbee, and Michael F. Scheier. 1983. “Effects of Self-directed Attention on the Performance and Persistence among Persons High and Low in Test Anxiety.”Cognitive Therapy and Research 7 (August): 333–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carver, Charles S., Michael F. Scheier, and Jagdish Kumari Weintraub. 1989. “Assessing Coping Strategies: A Theoretically Based Approach.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56 (February): 267–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chan, Kwok B. 1977. “Individual Differences in Reactions to Stress and Their Personality and Situational Determinants: Some Implications for Community Mental Health.”Social Science and Medicine 11 (January): 89–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Constanza, Robert S., Valerian J. Derlega, and Barbara A. Winstead. 1988. “Positive and Negative Forms of Social Support: Effects of Conversational Topics on Coping with Stress among Same-Sex Friends.”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 24 (March): 182–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, Lee J. 1951. “Coefficient Alpha and the Internal Structure of Tests.”Psychometrika 15 (September): 297–334.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewe, Philip J. and David E. Guest. 1990. “Methods of Coping with Stress at Work: A Conceptual Analysis and Empirical Study of Coping Issues.”Journal of Organizational Behavior 11 (June): 135–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donnelly, James H., Jr. and John M. Ivancevich. 1975. “Role Clarity and the Salesman.”Journal of Marketing 39 (January): 71–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubinsky, Alan J., Ronald E. Michaels, Masaaki Kotabe, Chae Un Lim, and Hee-Cheol Moon. 1992. “Influence of Role Stress on Industrial Salespeople’s Work Outcomes in the United States, Japan, and Korea.”Journal of International Business Studies 23 (Winter): 77–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleishman, John A. 1984. “Personality Characteristics and Coping Patterns.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior 25 (June): 229–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, Susan and Richard S. Lazarus. 1980. “An Analysis of Coping in a Middle-aged Community Sample.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior 21 (September): 219–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, Susan and Richard S. Lazarus. 1985. “If It Changes It Must Be a Process: Study of Emotion and Coping during Three Stages of a College Examination.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 48 (January): 150–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, Susan, Richard S. Lazarus, Christine Dunkel-Schetter, Anita DeLongis, and Rand J. Gruen. 1986a. “Dynamics of a Stressful Encounter: Cognitive Appraisal, Coping, and Encounter Outcomes.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 50 (May): 992–1003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folkman, Susan, Richard S. Lazarus, Rand J. Gruen, and Anita DeLongis. 1986b. “Appraisal, Coping, Health Status, and Psychological Symptoms.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 50 (March): 571–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goolsby, Jerry R. 1992. “A Theory of Role Stress in Boundary Spanning Positions of Marketing Organizations.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 20 (Spring): 155–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, Mardi J. 1982. “Stress Response Syndromes and Their Treatment.” InHandbook of Stress: Theoretical and Clinical Aspects. Eds. Leo Goldberger and Shlomo Breznitz. New York: Free Press, 711–732.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jöreskog, Karl and Dag Sörbom. 1984.Analysis of Linear Structural Relationships by Maximum Likelihood. Chicago: Scientific Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klinger, Eric. 1975. “Consequences of Commitment to and Disengagement from Incentives.”Psychological Review 82 (January): 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krohne, Heinz W. and Josef Rogner. 1982. “Repression-Sensitization as a Central Construct in Coping Research.” InAchievement, Stress and Anxiety. Eds. Heinz W. Krohne and Lothar Laux. Washington, DC: Hemisphere, 167–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latack, Janina. 1986. “Coping with Job Stress: Measures and Future Directions for Scale Development.”Journal of Applied Psychology 71 (August): 377–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, Richard S. 1983. “The Costs and Benefits of Denial.” InThe Denial of Stress. Ed. Shlomo Breznitz. Madison, CT: International University Press, 237–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, Richard S. and Susan Folkman. 1984.Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandler, George. 1982. “Stress and Thought Processes.” InHandbook of Stress: Theoretical and Clinical Aspects. Eds. Leo Goldberger and Shlomo Breznitz. New York: Free Press, 88–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • —————. 1983. “Consciousness: Its Function and Construction.”CHIP Report #117. University of California, San Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moos, Rudolf H. and Andrew G. Billings. 1982. “Conceptualizing and Measuring Coping Resources and Processes.” InHandbook of Stress: Theoretical and Clinical Aspects. Eds. Leo Goldberger and Shlomo Breznitz. New York: Free Press, 212–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, Debra L. and Charlotte Sutton. 1990. “Chronic Work Stress and Coping: A Longitudinal Study and Suggested New Directions.”Academy of Management Journal 33 (December): 859–869.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, Tim J. 1989. “Occupational Stress and Coping with Stress: A Critique.”Human Relations 42 (May): 441–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parkes, Katherine R. 1984. “Locus of Control, Cognitive Appraisal and Coping in Stressful Episodes.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 46 (July): 655–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————— 1990. “Coping, Negative Affectivity, and the Work Environment: Additive and Interactive Predictors of Mental Health.”Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (August): 399–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peale, Norman Vincent. 1956.The Power of Positive Thinking. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearlin, Leonard I. and Carmi Schooler. 1978. “The Structure of Coping.”Journal of Health and Social Behavior 19 (March): 2–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum, Michael and Dov Hadari. 1985. “Personal Efficacy, External Locus on Control, and Perceived Contingency of Parental Reinforcement among Depressed, Paranoid and Normal Subjects.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49 (August): 539–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheier, Michael F. and Charles S. Carver. 1987. “Dispositional Optimism and Physical Well-Being: The Influence of Generalized Outcome Expectancies on Health.”Journal of Personality 55 (June): 169–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheier, Michael F., Jagdish Kumari Weintraub, and Charles S. Carver. 1986. “Coping with Stress: Divergent Strategies of Optimists and Pessimists.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51 (December): 1257–1264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shontz, Franklin C. 1975.The Psychological Aspects of Physical Illness and Disability. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silver, Roxane L. and Camille B. Wortman. 1980. “Coping with Undesirable Life Events.” InHuman Helplessness. Eds. Judy Garber and Martin E. P. Seligman. New York: Academic Press, 279–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strutton, David and James R. Lumpkin. 1993. “The Relationship between Optimism and Coping Styles of Salespeople.”Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 13 (Spring): 71–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suls, Jerry and Barbara Fletcher. 1985. “The Relative Efficacy of Avoidant and Non-Avoidant Coping Strategies: A Meta-Analysis.”Health Psychology 4 (September): 249–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teas, R. Kenneth. 1983. “Supervisory Behavior, Role Stress, and Job Satisfaction of Industrial Salespeople.”Journal of Marketing Research 20 (February): 84–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tolor, Alexander and Dwain Fehon. 1987. “Coping with Stress: A Study of Male Adolescents’ Coping Strategies as Related to Adjustment.”Journal of Adolescent Research 2 (Spring): 33–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vingerhoets, Ad J. and P. J. Flohr. 1984. “Type A Behaviour and Self-Reports of Coping Preferences.”British Journal of Medical Psychology 57 (March): 15–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, Orville C., Jr., Gilbert A. Churchill, Jr., and Neil M. Ford. 1979. “Reactions to Role Conflict: The Case of Industrial Salesmen.”Journal of Business Administration 3 (May): 25–36.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Mississippi, USA

    David Strutton

  2. the University of Southwestern Louisiana, USA

    David Strutton & James R. Lumpkin

Authors
  1. David Strutton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James R. Lumpkin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Before entering academe, Dr. Strutton was in sales with the Tenneco Corporation and was president of a retailing firm in North Carolina. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Macromarketing, andJournal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, among other scholarly journals. Dr. Strutton’s current research interests include issues relating to sales and channels management.

He has a B.S. in chemistry and an M.B.A. in management and received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Arkansas. Before entering academe, Dr. Lumpkin worked in marketing research for Phillips Petroleum Company. His primary research interests include retail patronage theory, market segmentation, and research methodology, with recent research focused on the elderly consumer. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, The Gerontologist, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, and other scholarly journals.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Strutton, D., Lumpkin, J.R. Problem- and emotion-focused coping dimensions and sales presentation effectiveness. JAMS 22, 28–37 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070394221003

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070394221003

Keywords

Search

Navigation