Role Stress, Attitudes, and Job Outcomes in Business-To-Business Selling: Does the Type of Selling Situation Matter?

Previous research examining the interrelationships among role stress, attitudes, and outcomes in business-to-business selling has not given much consideration to the possible moderating influence of the type of selling situation. Using the seminal model of business-to-business selling introduced by Brown and Peterson (1993), the authors reexamine these interrelationships by controlling for the type of selling situation. The results reveal an intricate pattern of relationships and complex trade-offs of positive and negative consequences across the various selling positions. Overall, the findings suggest that mixing heterogeneous sales populations into an aggregate sample may lead to erroneous conclusions.