ARTICLE IN PRESS
Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Australasian Marketing Journal
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / a m j
Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional
understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress, job
performance and turnover intentions
Jay P. Mulki a, John W. Wilkinson b,*
a
b
Marketing Group, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Australian Institute of Business, 27 Currie Street, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
A R T I C L E
I N F O
Article history:
Received 12 March 2016
Revised 7 April 2017
Accepted 10 April 2017
Available online
Keywords:
Customer-directed extra-role performance
Emotional understanding
Interpersonal customer conflict
Stress
Job performance
Turnover intentions
A B S T R A C T
Sales and customer service employees often face demanding or even abusive customers. This study utilized structural equation modeling to develop a preliminary model identifying relationships between
interpersonal customer conflict, key consequences of such conflict, and potential means to avoid or reduce
that conflict. Results confirm that interpersonal conflict with customers has a direct negative influence
on job performance, and works through felt stress to increase turnover intentions among employees.
However, results suggest that a salesperson’s emotional understanding and customer-directed extrarole performance reduce that conflict and increase job performance. Comparisons with prior related studies,
although none of those cover all relevant factors, indicate that these relationships are likely to be similar
in developed and developing economies. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.
© 2017 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Interpersonal conflict is a characteristic of the typical sales job
(Dubinsky et al., 1986) and also is likely to occur within a customer service role (Sliter et al., 2011). Conflict has been shown to
negatively influence performance in various settings (Reid et al.,
2004). Not surprisingly, therefore, it has been argued that conflict
management has become an important aspect of personal selling
and customer service, especially within firms adopting a relationship marketing strategy (Weitz and Bradford, 1999).
Within the marketing field, most research relating to conflict
has focused on conflict between channel partners, sales managers
and their salespeople, or members of sales teams; or on salesperson role ambiguity or role conflict. Very little research has focused
on interpersonal conflict between salespeople and their customers (Reid et al., 2004), or customer service employees and their
customers (Grandey et al., 2004). Most of that research has been
undertaken within developed countries. Since interpersonal conflict has a negative effect on performance, there is a need to
* Corresponding author. Fax: +61 8 8212 0032.
E-mail address: john.wilkinson@aib.edu.au (J.W. Wilkinson).
address this gap and to develop greater understanding of issues
relating to buyer–seller interpersonal conflict (Reid et al., 2004).
The aim of this study is to contribute toward the enhancement of
that understanding.
This is the first published study covering all relevant factors relating to interpersonal customer conflict. Therefore, the key
contribution of the study is the development of an extended conceptual model, linking interpersonal conflict with customers to both
consequences of, and potential remedies against, that conflict. The
findings provide understanding about how to avoid the consequences of interpersonal conflict with customers – as well as
confirming the generalizability of the collective findings of prior
studies. In addition, unlike most prior studies, this study has been
conducted within a developing economy, so that findings also
provide confirmation of the similarity in developed and developing countries of relationships between several factors relating to
interpersonal customer conflict.
2. Literature review and hypothesis development
A review of the literature suggests that interpersonal conflict
with customers results in increased felt stress, decreased job
performance and increased turnover intentions among sales and
customer service employees. Clearly, these outcomes have a direct
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
1441-3582/© 2017 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
2
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
or indirect negative impact on the firm’s financial performance.
For example, the tangible and intangible costs of sales force
turnover, including recruitment, selection and training costs, and
the opportunity cost of lost profits while a sales position is
vacant, can be substantial (Dubinsky et al., 1990; Hillmer et al.,
2004). Reducing the likelihood and severity of interpersonal conflict with customers therefore appears to be a worthwhile goal.
Two options identified in the literature relate to greater understanding of others’ emotions (to enable appropriate regulation
of emotions) and customer-directed extra-role performance
(CDERP).
2.1. Interpersonal conflict with customers and its effect on felt stress
‘Customer-based interpersonal conflict’ has been defined as ‘a
broad range of interpersonal mistreatment behaviors perpetrated
by someone in a client/customer role, such as rude behavior, yelling,
or other interpersonal deviant behaviors’ (Sliter et al., 2011, p. 425).
Salespeople and customer service employees occasionally experience such interpersonal conflict in the form of verbal aggression
(Dormann and Zapf, 2004; Grandey et al., 2004) and ‘rude, uncivil
behavior’ (Sliter et al., 2010, p. 468) when working with difficult
or demanding customers. They also may have to ‘accommodate rising
and often unreasonable customer demands while balancing resource constraints’ (Jaramillo et al., 2011, p. 349). It is considered
‘likely’ rather than merely ‘possible’ that customer service employees will experience some form of customer-based interpersonal
conflict (Sliter et al., 2011, p. 425).
Interpersonal conflict with customers can generate negative feelings, anxiety and higher levels of hostility (Judge et al., 2014). Felt
stress has been defined as ‘manifest physiological and psychological strains of the individual as a response to job-related stressors’
(McFarland, 2003, p. 312). Prior studies have identified such stress
as a negative consequence of various forms of conflict (Sager, 1994;
Schaubroeck et al., 1989; Sliter et al., 2011), including interpersonal conflict with customers (Mulki et al., 2015). Some studies have
found that interpersonal conflict is an even greater stressor for salespeople than role conflict or role ambiguity (Narayanan et al., 1999).
One cross-cultural study has found that interpersonal conflict is a
strong predictor of stress within various cultures (Liu et al., 2007).
A recent study of salespeople from Mexican financial institutions
also found that interpersonal conflict is a strong predictor of felt
stress (Mulki et al., 2015).
The following hypothesis is based on the above discussion:
H1. Sales or service employees’ interpersonal conflict with customers is positively related to felt stress.
2.2. The effects of interpersonal conflict with customers and felt
stress on job performance
Sales success is influenced by salespeople’s ability to develop
strong relationships with customers (Pettijohn et al., 2002). Relationships are based on mutual trust, with customers believing
that sales and customer service employees take care of their
interests and provide solutions that improve their business
operations. Interpersonal conflicts and rude customer behavior
indicate a lack of trust and disdain for a salesperson’s offerings,
resulting in loss of commitment and purchases. Since unpleasant
interactions are known to create a negative impact on employees’
affective dispositions (Bailey and McCollough, 2000), salespeople
may find it difficult to be customer-oriented to rude customers
and may deliberately withhold efforts to find solutions for those
customers.
In addition, the stress resulting from interpersonal conflict may
take an emotional toll on the salesperson, leading to lower job performance (Bruk-Lee and Spector, 2006; Jaramillo et al., 2011; Sliter
et al., 2011). For example, Bailey and McCollough (2000) found that
negative feelings generated by a rude customer tainted the salesperson’s affective state, leading to unfriendly behavior toward other
customers. Prior research confirms that stress appears to negatively influence job performance (Babin and Boles, 1996; Hui et al., 2004;
Mulki et al., 2015; Tarafdar et al., 2015). For example, stress has been
found to have a negative influence on salespeople’s commitment
to quality and, consequently, on customer perceptions of service
quality (Wetzels et al., 2000).
Based on the above discussion, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H2. Sales or service employees’ interpersonal conflict with customers is negatively related to job performance.
H3. Sales or service employees’ felt stress is negatively related to
job performance.
2.3. The effects of interpersonal conflict with customers and felt
stress on turnover intentions
Being social in nature, people’s behavior is influenced by the
quality of their interpersonal relationships. ‘Interpersonal conflict’
is a construct measuring the quality of those relationships, levels
of interpersonal conflict ranging from minor disagreements to
‘heated arguments’ and even ‘physical violence’ (Jaramillo et al.,
2011, p. 342). As explained by Li and Zhou (2013, p. 893), ‘service
workers have limited ways to respond to customer aggression’,
since ‘quarrelling … could result in customer complaints’ and, in
turn, ‘sanctions from management’. Consequently, responses
often include ‘problem-solving’ and ‘escape-avoidance’ strategies.
Frequent abuse from customers ‘typically evokes strong and
quick physiological, cognitive, and behavioral responses’, eventually leading to ‘negative outcomes’, including increased turnover
intentions.
Consistent with the above discussion, Jaramillo et al. (2011)
found a positive correlation between interpersonal conflict and
turnover intentions among salespeople from financial institutions
in South America. Interpersonal conflict also has been found to be
directly related to turnover intentions among nurses (Yeun, 2014),
and frontline service employees within four- and five-star hotels
in Cyprus (Karatepe et al., 2009). Various studies have found
positive correlations between other forms of conflict and turnover intentions. For example, Mulki et al. (2008) found a positive
correlation between role conflict and turnover intentions among
healthcare workers.
Similarly, stress also has been found to result in increased
employee resignation or turnover intentions (Schneider, 1980;
Shahzad et al., 2011). A meta-analysis of 186 studies found that
employees with felt stress develop withdrawal behavior and harbor
turnover intentions (Podsakoff et al., 2007). Within the sales field,
specifically, a study of direct selling employees found that higher
levels of stress lead to greater turnover intentions (Jaramillo et al.,
2013).
Based on the above discussion, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H4. Sales or service employees’ interpersonal conflict with customers is positively related to turnover intentions.
H5. Sales or service employees’ felt stress is positively related to
turnover intentions.
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
2.4. The effects of job performance on turnover intentions
Overall, studies exploring the link between job performance and
turnover intentions have been inconclusive (Biron and Boon, 2013).
According to Zimmerman and Darnold (2009, p. 144), ‘employees may respond to “shocks” in the work environment’ by
considering the option of resigning from their current jobs, possibly leading to serious intentions to leave their employers. Such shocks
would include negative feedback received during formal or informal performance reviews. Similarly, job insecurity associated with
poor performance may induce turnover intentions (Staufenbiel and
Konig, 2010). Such outcomes would not be inconsistent with the
mixed results reported in the literature, or with those recently suggested by Sturman et al. (2012). Those authors propose that the
relationship between performance and turnover is curvilinear; that
is, both low and high performers harbor greater turnover intentions than average employees. High-performing employees realize
they may have become attractive to competitors and command
better compensation, while poor performers may become dissatisfied with their current jobs and look for jobs elsewhere better
suiting their capabilities.
Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H6. Sales or service employees’ job performance is negatively related
to turnover intentions.
2.5. Understanding others’ emotions, customer-directed extra-role
performance and interpersonal conflict with customers
Salovey and Mayer (1990, p. 189) define ‘emotional intelligence’ as ‘the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and
emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions’. Based on the theory of
emotional intelligence, individuals with greater ‘emotion-regulation
ability’ have more effective strategies to maintain desirable emotions and to reduce or modify unfavorable emotions in both
themselves and other people (Brackett et al., 2010, p. 407) and, in
turn, to avoid or reduce conflict. Within the context of personal
selling, emotion-regulation ability enables a salesperson ‘to adopt
the appropriate emotions for a specific situation [or] customer’
(McFarland et al., 2016, p. 110).
This conceptual argument is consistent with views within the
sales research literature. For example, Kidwell et al. (2007, p. 119)
argue that ‘without the ability to recognize the emotions of
customers, even the most knowledgeable, adaptive, and cognitively
gifted salesperson is likely to perform poorly’. Law et al. (2008)
suggest that sales and service employees who have greater ability
to understand others’ emotions are better able to predict
others’ emotional responses. This can assist sales and service
employees to avoid or better cope with unpleasant and stressful
situations.
Greater understanding of customers’ emotions seems necessary to enable effective regulation of emotions and, in turn, to reduce
the likelihood and severity of interpersonal conflict. Also, a salesperson who understands issues from a customer’s perspective is
better equipped to structure options from the customer’s viewpoint and to craft solutions acceptable to the customer (Betancourt,
2004).
Netemeyer and Maxham (2007, p. 132) define ‘customerdirected extra-role performance’ (CDERP) as ‘the degree to which
the service employee “goes the extra mile” and “helps customers
beyond job requirements”’. Similarly, Stauss et al. (2010, p. 521)
define customer-directed citizenship behavior as employees going
‘out of the way or beyond the call of duty for customers’. Bettencourt
(1997, p. 386) identified a positive relationship between (1) perceptions of customer support, including ‘spontaneous employee
3
behaviors and response to special requests’, and (2) customer
commitment, including cooperation with the supplier in the form
of ‘courtesy’ and being ‘polite and respectful’. Conversely, Reid
et al. (2004) found that industrial buyers’ perceptions of lower
levels of customer orientation, empathy and trust on the part of a
salesperson were related to higher levels of conflict between the
buyer and salesperson.
Social exchange theory (Cropanzano and Mitchell, 2005; Emerson,
1976) has relevance to customer service interactions in which customers and service providers have mutual expectations. While
customers often reciprocate CDERP with loyalty and word-ofmouth promotion, they are likely to resort to complaints or even
deviant behavior if perceived service levels fall below their expectations (Bettencourt, 1997). Numerous studies have shown that a
salesperson’s CDERP is associated with positive outcomes such as
customer satisfaction, commitment and performance (e.g., MacKenzie
et al., 2001; Rich et al., 2010), partly because customers realize that
these efforts are discretionary, voluntary and not necessarily rewarded by the sales organization. Social exchange theory suggests
that a customer would reciprocate extra efforts with commitment
to the supplier, word-of-mouth promotion and additional business (Podsakoff and MacKenzie, 1997). Conversely, even minor
breaches of promise or expectations may become major issues if
the customer perceives that the supplier is not expending the required effort (Sliter et al., 2011).
Based on the above discussion, the following hypotheses are proposed:
H7. Sales or service employees’ understanding of others’ emotions is negatively related to interpersonal conflict with customers.
H8. Sales or service employees’ understanding of others’ emotions is positively related to CDERP.
H9. Sales or service employees’ CDERP is negatively related to interpersonal conflict with customers.
H10. Sales or service employees’ CDERP is positively related to job
performance.
A model based on these hypotheses is illustrated in Fig. 1.
3. Method
3.1. Sample
This study was undertaken within a developing country given
the dearth of prior studies regarding interpersonal conflict with customers within such environments.
Responses from sales and service employees in financial and
software industries with offices in a large city in India were used
for this study. The combined sample is appropriate since both
types of employee are engaged in meeting the needs of business
customers and have frequent interactions with those customers.
There are important shared activities within sales and service
roles (Evans et al., 1999), and ‘prior literature indicates that
service and sales activities … share common ground’ (Jasmand
et al., 2012, p. 22). Other researchers also have undertaken studies
within large organizations comprising combined samples of customer service and sales employees (e.g., Renn et al., 2001), or
‘customer contact employees’ including ‘customer service personnel [and] salespeople’ (Pappas and Flaherty, 2008, p. 894). The use
of an Indian sample is appropriate since Indian buyers are becoming discriminating and more demanding as international firms
compete for market share (Gopal and Srinivasan, 2006), and such
a sample enables comparison with findings of related studies in
developed economies.
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
4
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
Turnover
Intentions
Understanding
Others’ Emotions
H7
H4
Interpersonal
Conflict with
Customers
H8 +
H9
Customer-Directed
Extra-Role
Performance
H5
+
H1
Felt
Stress
+
H6
H2
-
+
-
H3
-
Job
Performance
H10
+
Fig. 1. Hypotheses developed from prior research and extant theory.
The researchers used the alumni list of an Indian university to
recruit survey respondents. The researcher associated with this university emailed the survey to members of the list, along with an
appeal to the alumni requesting support for the project, and guaranteed confidentially of individual responses. In addition, the
researcher sent an email to the alumni group using University (electronic) stationery, explaining the purpose of the survey, guaranteeing
anonymity of individual responses, and offering to share results of
the study. MBA students of the researcher followed-up individual
members of the list by email over a three-month period.
In total, 162 responses were coded for analysis, after eliminating 21 incomplete responses. Non-response bias was tested by
comparing responses received in the first two weeks to responses
received in the last two weeks. No significant differences were found
in the mean values of key constructs used in the model.
Respondents’ tenure with their current company ranged from
less than one year to over 30 years, with a mean of 6.45 (σ = 5.23)
years. Respondents had an average total work experience of 7.70
(σ = 8.04) years in the industry. The majority of respondents were
males (82%). Responses were almost equally distributed among salespeople from the two sectors.
reflect customer-related responses. This scale asks employees to
report on the frequency of situations involving interpersonal
conflict with their customers, and uses end points ranging from
‘1 = Never’ to ‘6 = Extremely often’.
Common method bias is often a concern in relation to surveybased studies. A latent methods factor method, proposed by
Podsakoff et al. (2003), was used to address this issue. Following
this procedure, all measures in the structural model are loaded on
a single latent factor, in addition to their respective factors, and a
structural model is run. The path coefficients from this model are
then compared to the path coefficients from the structural model
used to test the hypotheses (Sonenshein and Dholakia, 2012). For
this study, the comparison showed that the pattern of results was
replicated, with substantially similar path coefficients for the two
models, providing support for the assumption that the pattern of
relationships was not significantly affected by common method bias
(Sonenshein and Dholakia, 2012).
3.2. Measures
Table 1 provides the correlation structure, means and standard
deviations for constructs used in the study. Correlation among the
constructs and control variables was assessed using SPSS 21.
Results of the correlation analysis provide support for most hypothesized relationships between constructs. Understanding Others’
Emotions is positively correlated with CDERP, and negatively
associated with Interpersonal Conflict with Customers. CDERP is
positively associated with Job Performance, and negatively associated with Interpersonal Conflict with Customers. Interpersonal
Conflict with Customers is positively related to Felt Stress and
Turnover Intentions, and negatively related to Job Performance.
Felt Stress is positively correlated with Turnover Intentions.
Among the demographic variables, Tenure with Firm and Total
Work Experience are negatively correlated with Turnover Intentions (p ≤ 0.01). Further, Gender (Male = 1) showed a positive
relationship with Felt Stress; while Total Work Experience and
Percent Quota Achieved showed negative relationships with Interpersonal Conflict with Customers and Turnover Intentions,
respectively, at a significance level of p ≤ 0.05.
All latent constructs were measured with well-established and
previously-used instruments. Customer-Directed Extra-Role Performance (CDERP) was measured with a four-item scale adapted
from Netemeyer et al. (2005). Understanding Others’ Emotions
was measured with the four-item scale for emotional intelligence
from Law et al. (2004). Job Performance was measured with an
eight-item scale used by Piercy et al. (2001). Felt Stress was
measured with a four-item scale used by Netemeyer et al. (2005).
A single-item measure by Spector (1985), ‘How often have you
seriously considered quitting your present job?’ (1 = Never, 7 = Extremely often), was used to measure salesperson Turnover Intentions.
This measure has been found to be appropriate for measuring
behavioral intentions (Wanous et al., 1997). Except for Interpersonal Conflict with Customers, all measures used Likert-type
ratings ranging from ‘1 = Strongly disagree’ to ‘7 = Strongly agree’.
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers was measured with a fouritem scale developed by Spector and Jex (1998) and adapted to
4. Results
4.1. Correlation analysis
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
5
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
Table 1
Correlations, descriptive statistics, average variance extracted and reliability of constructs used in modela.
Code
Factor
UOFE
Understanding Others’ Emotions
CDERP
Customer-Directed Extra-Role Performance
FSTR
Felt Stress
IPCC
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
JOBP
Job Performance
TOI
Turnover Intentions
TENU
Tenure with Firm
EXPT
Total Work Experience
PCTG
Percent Quota Achieved
GEN
Gender (male = 1)
Mean
Standard deviation
Cronbach’s alpha*
Composite reliability*
Average variance extracted*
Maximum shared variance*
Average shared variance*
UOFE
CDERP
FSTR
IPCC
JOBP
1.00
0.29
−0.05
−0.23
0.11
−0.05
0.10
0.03
0.14
0.08
5.09
1.32
0.79
0.87
0.63
0.24
0.15
1.00
0.02
−0.22
0.29
−0.13
0.00
0.02
0.13
−0.01
4.86
1.33
0.76
0.84
0.58
0.24
0.16
1.00
0.32
0.12
0.29
0.06
0.04
0.02
0.19*
4.06
1.48
0.81
0.85
0.65
0.09
0.03
1.00
−0.26
0.27
−0.14
−0.17*
−0.13
0.04
3.81
1.31
0.62
0.64
0.39
0.23
0.16
1.00
−0.12
0.09
0.06
0.14
0.11
5.17
0.92
0.79
0.92
0.62
0.22
0.13
TOI
TENU
EXPT
PCTG
1.00
−0.27
−0.28
−0.18*
0.10
2.32
1.08
1.00
0.85
0.07
0.05
5.23
6.45
1.00
0.07
0.08
7.71
8.05
1.00
−0.04
77.95
24.85
a
Not applicable for Turnover Intentions, this measure comprising a single item.
Correlations in bold are significant at p ≤ 0.01.
* Significant at p ≤ 0.05.
4.2. Testing of the model
Testing of the proposed model was conducted in two stages. First,
an exploratory factor analysis was conducted for all scales used in
the model to assess the underlying factor structure of the scale items
and to confirm uni-dimensionality of the measures. A measurement model was then run using AMOS 21 to assess the properties
of the latent variables in the proposed model.
Results of the analysis showed acceptable fit indices: χ2 = 334.279,
df = 220, p ≤ 0.01; RMSEA = 0.052; CI90% = 0.048 to 0.056; CFI = 0.94;
TLI = 0.93; NFI = 0.86. As shown in Table 2, one low-loading item
was removed from each of three constructs (Interpersonal Conflict with Customers, Job Performance, and Felt Stress) and the
measurement model was re-run. Retention of five other items
with loadings below 0.70 (i.e., 0.62 to 0.69) is consistent with
recommended practice (Hulland, 1999; Wolfinbarger et al., 2011).
The new model was an improvement over the previous model,
with better fit indices: χ2 = 278.572, df = 179, p ≤ 0.01; RMSEA = 0.052;
CI90% = 0.043 to 0.068; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.94; NFI = 0.87. Reliability
of the scales was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha and found to be
above 0.70 except for the measure, Interpersonal Conflict with
Customers (α = 0.64).
Discriminant validity was tested using the procedure suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981). First, a test of the confidence
intervals of the factor correlations determined that none of the 95%
confidence intervals of the factor correlations included 1.0 (Anderson
and Gerbing, 1988). Second, the square root of the construct’s
Average Variance Extracted (AVE) exceeds correlations with other
constructs of the research model. Finally, as shown in Table 1, both
Maximum Shared Variance and Average Shared Variance are less
than AVE (Hair et al., 2010).
4.3. Testing of hypotheses
To test the stated hypotheses, a structural equation model
(SEM) with AMOS 21 ML method was run, since SEM provides the
flexibility to test several relationships simultaneously. Gender,
employee’s Tenure with Firm, Total Work Experience, and goal
completion (measured as Percentage Quota Achieved) were included in the model as control variables, since these are known to
impact salespersons’ attitudes and behaviors (Locander et al.,
2014). The results of the structural model, illustrated in Fig. 2,
indicate an acceptable fit with the data: χ2 = 362.78, df = 265;
RMSEA = 0.045; RMSEA90% = 0.033 to 0.056; CFI = 0.95; TLI = 0.94
(Hair et al., 2010). Stated hypotheses and path coefficients from
the analysis are identified in Table 3.
Understanding Others’ Emotions was found to have a significant positive relationship with CDERP (H8) and a negative
relationship with Interpersonal Conflict with Customers (H7); CDERP
Table 2
Scale items and standardized loadings from measurement model*.
Scale item
Understanding Others’ Emotions
I always know others’ emotions from their behaviors.
I am a good observer of others’ emotions.
I am sensitive to the feelings and emotions of others.
I have a good understanding of the emotions of people around
me.
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
I get into arguments with customers at work.
Customers yell at me at work.
Customers are rude to me at work.
Customers do nasty things to me at work.
Customer Directed Extra-Role Performance (CDERP)
I go above and beyond the ‘call of duty’ when serving
customers.
I am willing to go out of my way to make a customer satisfied.
I voluntarily assist customers even if it means going beyond
the job requirements.
I often help customers with problems beyond what is
expected or required.
Job Performance
Building effective relationships with customers.
Making effective presentations to customers.
Keeping expenses at acceptable levels.
Achieving sales targets and other business objectives.
Understanding our products and services.
Providing feedback to management.
Understanding customer needs and work processes.
Contributing to my sales unit’s revenues.
Felt Stress
My job tends to directly affect my health.
At the end of the day, my job leaves me ‘stressed-out’.
Problems associated with work have kept me awake at night.
I feel fidgety or nervous because of my job.
Factor
loading
0.764
0.693
0.789
0.778
0.450a
0.626
0.623
0.672
0.705
0.846
0.763
0.706
0.812
0.805
0.303a
0.787
0.820
0.652
0.834
0.796
0.795
0.864
0.761
0.435a
* Not applicable for Turnover Intentions, this measure comprising a single item.
a Item was deleted.
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
6
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
Understanding
Others’ Emotions
-0.29
(-2.45)
Interpersonal
Conflict with
Customers
0.54
(5.82)
-0.23
(-2.02)
Customer-Directed
Extra-Role
Performance
0.28
(2.75)
Felt
Stress
0.27
(3.47)
Turnover
Intentions
-0.24
(-2.37)
0.38 (4.34)
Job
Performance
Fig. 2. Structural model of interpersonal conflict with customers.
has a negative relationship with Interpersonal Conflict with Customers (H9) and a positive relationship with Job Performance (H10);
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers has a positive relationship
with Felt Stress (H1) and a negative relationship with Job Performance (H2); and Felt Stress has a positive relationship with Turnover
Intentions (H5). However, Felt Stress was found to have a statistically insignificant relationship with Job Performance (H3), and
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers and Job Performance were
both found to have insignificant relationships with Turnover Intentions (H4 and H6, respectively). Thus, seven of the ten hypotheses
were supported.
Of the demographic variables, Total Work Experience has a negative relationship with Interpersonal Conflict with Customers, Gender
(Male =1) is positively related to Felt Stress, and Percent Quota
Achieved is negatively related to Turnover Intentions.
4.4. Post-hoc analysis
Two post-hoc analyses were conducted following initial analysis of the results of the tested model. Since the path coefficient from
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers to Turnover Intentions was
insignificant (β = 0.13, t = 1.29), it was decided to test for the me-
Table 3
Model standardized paths and t values.
Predictor
Dependent variable
Standardized β
t Value
Understanding of Others’ Emotions
Understanding of Others’ Emotions
CDERP
CDERP
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Felt Stress
Felt Stress
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Job Performance
Control variable
Tenure with Firm
Tenure with Firm
Tenure with Firm
Tenure with Firm
Tenure with Firm
Total Work Experience
Total Work Experience
Total Work Experience
Total Work Experience
Total Work Experience
Gender
Gender
Gender
Gender
Gender
Percent Quota Achieved
Percent Quota Achieved
Percent Quota Achieved
Percent Quota Achieved
Percent Quota Achieved
CDERP
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Job Performance
Felt Stress
Job Performance
Job Performance
Turnover Intentions
Turnover Intentions
Turnover Intentions
0.54
−0.29
−0.23
0.38
0.28
−0.24
0.14
0.27
0.13
−0.07
5.82
−2.45
−2.02
4.34
2.75
−2.37
1.82
3.47
1.29
−0.91
CDERP
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Job Performance
Felt Stress
Turnover Intentions
CDERP
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Job Performance
Felt Stress
Turnover Intentions
CDERP
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Job Performance
Felt Stress
Turnover Intentions
CDERP
Interpersonal Conflict with Customers
Job Performance
Felt Stress
Turnover Intentions
−0.19
0.10
0.22
0.08
−0.09
0.16
−0.34
−0.22
0.05
−0.18
−0.05
0.01
0.10
0.18
0.06
0.00
0.10
0.04
0.04
−0.19
−1.30
0.56
1.61
0.52
−0.64
1.05
−1.95
−1.55
0.30
−1.34
−0.72
0.13
1.48
2.28
0.85
0.05
1.19
0.60
0.54
−2.88
Note: Figures in bold indicate significance at p ≤ 0.05.
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
diating impact of Felt Stress. Since the paths between Interpersonal
Conflict with Customers and Felt Stress, and between Felt Stress and
Turnover Intentions were significant, a new model was run excluding Felt Stress (Baron and Kenny, 1986). Results showed that the
path between Interpersonal Conflict with Customers and Turnover Intentions is significant and positive (β = 0.27, t = 2.69), thus
indicating a mediating role played by Felt Stress. This result is consistent with arguments by Fogarty et al. (2000) that relationships
between stress-related factors and job outcomes occur through a
mediator, supported by findings of those researchers that the relationship between role conflict and turnover intentions among
accounting professionals occurs via the mediator, burnout.
Studies have shown that employee work experience often influences employee attitudes and behaviors. So, a second post-hoc
analysis was conducted to test for the moderating influence of Total
Work Experience in the relationship between Felt Stress and Turnover Intentions. Respondents were divided into three groups of
similar size based on their years of work experience. Two groups
were included in this analysis: respondents with 3.5 years or less
of work experience (n = 55), and those with 6 years or more of work
experience (n = 59). The third group of respondents, with work experience of between 3.5 and 6 years, was discarded to obtain a
bimodal-like distribution required for multi-group testing. For testing
moderation, SEM was run by restricting the path between Felt Stress
and Turnover Intentions to be equal, and the resulting χ2 value was
compared to that for the unrestricted path. The χ2 difference between
the two models was greater than the critical value (Δχ2 = 8.71, Δdf = 1,
p ≤ 0.01, Critical value = 3.84). The relationship between Felt Stress
and Turnover Intentions is stronger at low levels of work experience (β = 0.48; t = 3.42), becoming insignificant at high levels of work
experience (β = 0.17; t = 1.36).
5. Discussion
The major objective of this research was to examine the influence of salespersons’ conflict with customers on job performance
and turnover intentions. The study also was intended to examine
how salespersons’ ability to understand others’ emotions influences customer-directed extra-role performance (CDERP) and
interpersonal conflict with customers. Results confirm that salespersons’ conflict with customers is detrimental to the organization
as it negatively impacts job performance, and contributes to turnover intentions by increasing felt stress. The findings also indicate
the importance of assessing customer emotions in developing good
relationships. An ability to understand customer emotions increases motivation to undertake CDERP, as the greater understanding
provides an added incentive to devise solutions and develop stronger relationships. Fortunately, emotional intelligence, including the
understanding of others’ emotions, can be improved through training (Deeter-Schmelz and Sojka, 2003; Law et al., 2004). Therefore,
sales managers should assess salespeople for emotional intelligence and include this topic within sales training programs.
It also was found that interpersonal conflict with customers increases felt stress, leading to increasing turnover intentions. A
mediating effect of felt stress was identified in the relationship
between interpersonal customer conflict and turnover intentions.
This is consistent with prior studies showing that stress resulting
from customer interactions can lead to emotional exhaustion,
burnout, and turnover intentions (Jaramillo et al., 2013; Mulki et al.,
2012). Sales managers should attempt to reduce employee stress
through appropriate counseling or training. Results also show that
employees with higher work experience are less likely to harbor turnover intentions, possibly indicating their greater ability to cope with
stress. Therefore, sales managers should consider using experienced employees to mentor less-experienced salespeople.
7
No significant relationship was found between felt stress and job
performance, despite evidence from a prior study of such a relationship (Mulki et al., 2015). This may be due to the hypothesized
effect of moderate levels of stress stimulating employees ‘to excel’
(Singh, 1998, p. 71). Alternatively, it is possible that sales and customer service employees experience a (positive) challenge when
dealing with conflict with customers. It has been found that ‘challenging job demands or work circumstances produce positive
feelings, even though [those situations] may be stressful, … consistent with the theoretical distinction that has been made in the
general stress literature between eustress and distress’; eustress being
‘stress that creates challenge and feelings of fulfilment or achievement’ (Cavanaugh et al., 2000, p. 66). This possibility is supported
by findings from studies of a positive relationship between stress
and job performance (Dubinsky et al., 1992; Örtqvist and Wincent,
2006).
Similarly, no significant relationship was found between job performance and turnover intentions. This is consistent with the
inconclusive nature of prior studies focused on these two factors
in various employment settings, and suggestions that ‘the causes
of employee turnover are multiple and complex, and are still only
poorly understood’ (Biron and Boon, 2013, p. 512).
In summary, findings of this study suggest that interpersonal conflict with customers leads to lower job performance; and to greater
felt stress and, consequently, greater turnover intentions, especially among less experienced employees; while the risk of customer
conflict is reduced if employees have greater understanding of others’
emotions, and adopt customer-oriented, extra-role behaviors; those
behaviors also leading to improved job performance. Findings are
consistent with prior studies in this area, which mainly focus on
employees in developed economies, except for one finding (of a significant relationship between felt stress and job performance) from
one prior study. Importantly, this consistency (with findings conducted mainly within developed economies) suggests that the
identified relationships are similar in developed and developing
economies.
The factors and some relationships between those factors identified in this study are consistent with findings of prior studies.
However, reviews of the literature confirm the absence of any other
comprehensive framework relating to the issues covered in this study.
Collectively, prior studies have identified relevant factors, but have
not identified all important relationships found in this study. Therefore, findings of this study contribute toward the enhancement of
knowledge of issues relating to interpersonal conflict with customers, and have implications for sales and customer service
management practitioners.
Since no prior study has covered all factors covered in this study,
the major contribution of the study is the development of a comprehensive model explaining the relationships of all factors relating
to interpersonal conflict with customers. This study confirms the possibility of reducing interpersonal customer conflict and its negative
consequences by ensuring employees fully understand emotions and
adopt customer-directed, extra-role behaviors. This is an important
finding given the potential costs associated with the negative outcomes of interpersonal conflict with customers. Since the study was
conducted in a developing economy, while most prior studies have
been undertaken in developed economies, findings also indicate that
relationships are likely to be similar in both types of economy.
6. Limitations and future research
Results of this study are subject to the normal limitations of organizational studies. Since the results are based on cross-sectional
data, causality cannot be assumed even though the hypothesized
relationships were based on theory and findings of previous studies.
Responses were collected from alumni and, despite guaranteeing
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
8
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
confidentiality and anonymity of responses, social desirability bias
might have influenced responses. While emerging economies such
as China and India are fast evolving into consumer societies, interactions between salespeople and customers are still influenced by
traditional norms (Wang and Waller, 2006). Respondents in this study
were sales and service employees in business-to-business sales roles
in India, and perceptions of ‘rude behavior’ may have been influenced by cultural and economic factors. Research indicates that
national culture influences employee perceptions of stress and effects
of stress on job attitudes and behavior (Liu-Qin et al., 2012).
The sample in this study comprises 82% males and, therefore,
findings may not be generalizable to firms with greater gender
balance. Since gender is known to impact organizational variables
(Karatepe, 2011), the study should be repeated with samples from
firms with higher proportions of female sales employees. Further
studies regarding the relationship of felt stress and job performance also seem necessary, given the inconclusive nature of findings
from this and prior studies. There also is a need for further research regarding the nature of felt stress associated with
interpersonal conflict – and other interactions —with customers, primarily to establish the degree to which such stress is ‘challengerelated’ (Cavanaugh et al., 2000) and, therefore, likely to be associated
with positive motivational and performance outcomes.
References
Anderson, J.C., Gerbing, D.W., 1988. Structural equation modeling in practice: a review
and recommended two-step approach. Psychol. Bull. 103 (3), 411–423.
Babin, B.J., Boles, J.S., 1996. The effects of perceived co-worker involvement and
supervisor support on service provider role stress, performance and job
satisfaction. J. Retailing 72 (1), 57–75.
Bailey, J.J., McCollough, M.A., 2000. Emotional labor and the difficult customer: coping
strategies of service agents and organizational consequences. J. Prof. Serv. Mark.
20 (2), 51–72.
Baron, R.M., Kenny, D.A., 1986. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social
psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J. Pers.
Soc. Psychol. 51 (6), 1173–1182.
Betancourt, H., 2004. Attribution-emotion processes in White’s realistic empathy
approach to conflict and negotiation. Peace Confl. J. Peace Psychol. 10 (4),
369–380.
Bettencourt, L.A., 1997. Customer voluntary performance: customers as partners in
service delivery. J. Retailing 73 (3), 383–406.
Biron, M., Boon, C., 2013. Performance and turnover intentions: a social exchange
perspective. J. Managerial Psychol. 28 (5), 511–531.
Brackett, M.A., Palomera, R., Mojsa-Kaja, J., Reyes, M.R., Salovey, P., 2010. Emotionregulation ability, burnout, and job satisfaction among British secondary-school
teachers. Psychol. Sch. 47 (4), 406–417.
Bruk-Lee, V., Spector, P.E., 2006. The social stressors-counterproductive work behaviors
link: are conflicts with supervisors and coworkers the same? J. Occup. Health
Psychol. 11 (2), 145–156.
Cavanaugh, M.A., Boswell, W.R., Roehling, M.V., Boudreau, J.W., 2000. An empirical
examination of self-reported work stress among US managers. J. Appl. Psychol.
85 (1), 65–74.
Cropanzano, R., Mitchell, M.S., 2005. Social exchange theory: an interdisciplinary
review. J. Manage. 31 (6), 874–900.
Deeter-Schmelz, D.R., Sojka, J.Z., 2003. Developing effective salespeople: exploring
the link between emotional intelligence and sales performance. Int. J. Organ. Anal.
11 (3), 211–220.
Dormann, C., Zapf, D., 2004. Customer-related social stressors and burnout. J. Occup.
Health Psychol. 9 (1), 61–82.
Dubinsky, A.J., Howell, R.D., Ingram, T.N., Bellenger, D.N., 1986. Salesforce socialization.
J. Mark. 50 (4), 192–207.
Dubinsky, A.J., Dougherty, T.W., Wunder, R.S., 1990. Influence of role stress on
turnover of sales personnel and sales managers. Int. J. Res. Mark. 7 (2–3), 121–133.
Dubinsky, A.J., Michaels, R.E., Kotabe, M., Lim, C.U., Moon, H.-C., 1992. Influence of
role stress on industrial salespeople’s work outcomes in the United States, Japan,
and Korea. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 23 (1), 77–99.
Emerson, R.M., 1976. Social exchange theory. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2, 335–362.
Evans, K.R., Arnold, T.J., Grant, J.A., 1999. Combining service and sales at the point
of customer contact: a retail banking example. J. Serv. Res 2 (1), 34–49.
Fogarty, T.J., Singh, J., Rhoads, G.K., Moore, R.K., 2000. Antecedents and consequences
of burnout in accounting: beyond the role stress model. Behav. Res. Account. 12,
31–67.
Fornell, C., Larcker, D.F., 1981. Evaluating structural equation models with
unobservable variables and measurement error. J. Mark. Res. 18 (1), 39–50.
Gopal, A., Srinivasan, R., 2006. The new Indian consumer. Harv. Bus. Rev. 84 (10),
22–23.
Grandey, A.A., David, N.D., Hock-Peng, S., 2004. The customer is not always right:
customer aggression and emotion regulation of service employees. J. Organ. Behav.
25 (3), 397–418.
Hair, J.F., Jr., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E., 2010. Multivariate Data Analysis,
seventh ed. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Hillmer, S., Hillmer, B., McRoberts, G., 2004. The real costs of turnover: lessons from
a call center. People Strategy 27 (3), 34–41.
Hui, M.K., Au, K., Fock, H., 2004. Reactions of service employees to organization–
customer conflict: a cross-cultural comparison. Int. J. Res. Mark. 21 (2), 107–
121.
Hulland, J., 1999. Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research:
a review of four recent studies. Strateg. Manage. J. 20 (2), 195–204.
Jaramillo, F., Mulki, J.P., Boles, J.S., 2011. Workplace stressors, job attitude, and job
behaviors: is interpersonal conflict the missing link? J. Pers. Selling Sales Manage.
31 (3), 339–356.
Jaramillo, F., Mulki, J.P., Boles, J.S., 2013. Bringing meaning to the sales job: the effect
of ethical climate and customer demandingness. J. Bus. Res. 66 (11), 2301–2307.
Jasmand, C., Blazevic, V., de Ruyter, K., 2012. Generating sales while providing service:
a study of customer service representatives’ ambidextrous behavior. J. Mark. 76
(1), 20–37.
Judge, T.A., Simon, L.S., Hurst, C., Kelley, K., 2014. What I experienced yesterday is
who I am today: relationship of work motivations and behaviors to withinindividual variation in the five-factor model of personality. J. Appl. Psychol. 99
(2), 199–221.
Karatepe, O.M., 2011. Service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty: the
moderating role of gender. J. Bus. Econ. Manage. 12 (2), 278–300.
Karatepe, O.M., Yorganci, I., Haktanir, M., 2009. Outcomes of customer verbal
aggression among hotel employees. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manage. 21 (6),
713–733.
Kidwell, B., McFarland, R.G., Avila, R.A., 2007. Perceiving emotion in the buyer-seller
interchange: the moderated impact on performance. J. Pers. Selling Sales Manage.
27 (2), 119–132.
Law, K.S., Wong, C.-S., Song, L.J., 2004. The construct and criterion validity of emotional
intelligence and its potential utility for management studies. J. Appl. Psychol.
89 (3), 483–496.
Law, K.S., Wong, C.-S., Huang, G.-H., Li, X., 2008. The effects of emotional intelligence
on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development
scientists in China. Asia Pac. J. Manage. 25 (1), 51–69.
Li, X., Zhou, E., 2013. Influence of customer verbal aggression on employee turnover
intention. Manage. Decis. 51 (4), 890–912.
Liu, C., Spector, P.E., Shi, L., 2007. Cross-national job stress: a quantitative and
qualitative study. J. Organ. Behav. 28 (2), 209–239.
Liu-Qin, Y., Spector, P.E., Sanchez, J.I., Allen, T.D., Poelmans, S., Coopers, C.L., et al.,
2012. Individualism-collectivism as a moderator of the work demands-strains
relationship: a cross-level and cross-national examination. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 43
(4), 424–443.
Locander, D.A., Mulki, J.P., Weinberg, F.J., 2014. How do salespeople make decisions?
The role of emotions and deliberation on adaptive selling, and the moderating
role of intuition. Psychol. Mark. 31 (6), 387–403.
MacKenzie, S.B., Podsakoff, P.M., Rich, G.A., 2001. Transformational and transactional
leadership and salesperson performance. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 29 (2), 115–134.
McFarland, R.G., 2003. Crisis of conscience: the use of coercive sales tactics and
resultant felt stress in the salesperson. J. Pers. Selling Sales Manage. 23 (4),
311–325.
McFarland, R.G., Rode, J.C., Shervani, T.A., 2016. A contingency model of emotional
intelligence in professional selling. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 44 (1), 108–118.
Mulki, J.P., Jaramillo, J.F., Locander, W.B., 2008. Effect of ethical climate on turnover
intention: linking attitudinal- and stress theory. J. Bus. Ethics 78 (4), 559–574.
Mulki, J.P., Jaramillo, F., Malhotra, S., Locander, W.B., 2012. Reluctant employees and
felt stress: the moderating impact of manager decisiveness. J. Bus. Res. 65 (1),
77–83.
Mulki, J.P., Jaramillo, F., Goad, E.A., Pesquera, M.R., 2015. Regulation of emotions,
interpersonal conflict, and job performance for salespeople. J. Bus. Res. 68 (3),
623–630.
Narayanan, L., Menon, S., Spector, P.E., 1999. Stress in the workplace: a comparison
of gender and occupations. J. Organ. Behav. 20 (1), 63–73.
Netemeyer, R.G., Maxham, J.G., 2007. Employee versus supervisor ratings of
performance in the retail customer service sector: differences in predictive validity
for customer outcomes. J. Retailing 83 (1), 131–145.
Netemeyer, R.G., Maxham, J.G., Pullig, C., 2005. Conflicts in the work–family interface:
links to job stress, customer service employee performance, and customer
purchase intent. J. Mark. 69 (2), 130–143.
Örtqvist, D., Wincent, J., 2006. Prominent consequences of role stress: a meta-analytic
review. Int. J. Stress Manag. 13 (4), 399–422.
Pappas, J.M., Flaherty, K.E., 2008. The effect of trust on customer contact personnel
strategic behavior and sales performance in a service environment. J. Bus. Res.
61 (9), 894–902.
Pettijohn, C.E., Pettijohn, L.S., Taylor, A.J., 2002. The influence of salesperson skill,
motivation, and training on the practice of customer-oriented selling. Psychol.
Mark. 19 (9), 743–757.
Piercy, N.F., Cravens, D.W., Lane, N., 2001. Sales manager behavior control strategy
and its consequences: the impact of gender differences. J. Pers. Selling Sales
Manage. 21 (1), 39–49.
Podsakoff, N.P., LePine, J.A., LePine, M.A., 2007. Differential challenge stressorhindrance stressor relationships with job attitudes, turnover intentions, turnover,
and withdrawal behavior: a meta-analysis. J. Appl. Psychol. 92 (2), 438–454.
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002
ARTICLE IN PRESS
J.P. Mulki, J.W. Wilkinson / Australasian Marketing Journal ■■ (2017) ■■–■■
Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., 1997. Impact of organizational citizenship behavior
on organizational performance: a review and suggestion for future research. Hum.
Perform. 10 (2), 133–151.
Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, J.Y., Podsakoff, N.P., 2003. Common method biases
in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended
remedies. J. Appl. Psychol. 88 (5), 879–903.
Reid, D.A., Bolman Pullins, E., Plank, R.E., Buehrer, R.E., 2004. Measuring buyers’
perceptions of conflict in business-to-business sales interactions. J. Bus. Ind. Mark.
19 (4), 236–249.
Renn, R.W., van Scotter, J.R., Barksdale, W.K., 2001. Earnings-at-risk incentive plans:
a performance, satisfaction and turn over dilemma. Compens. Benefits Rev. 33
(4), 68–73.
Rich, B.L., Lepine, J.A., Crawford, E.R., 2010. Job engagement: antecedents and effects
on job performance. Acad. Manage. J. 53 (3), 617–635.
Sager, J.K., 1994. A structural model depicting salespeople’s job stress. J. Acad. Mark.
Sci. 22 (1), 74–84.
Salovey, P., Mayer, J.D., 1990. Emotional intelligence. Imag. Cogn. Pers. 9 (3), 185–211.
Schaubroeck, J., Cotton, J.L., Jennings, K.R., 1989. Antecedents and consequences of
role stress: a covariance structure analysis. J. Organ. Behav. 10 (1), 35–58.
Schneider, B., 1980. The service organization: climate is crucial. Organ. Dyn. 9 (2),
52–65.
Shahzad, K., Rehman, U., Shad, I., Gul, A., Khan, M.A., 2011. Work-life policies and
job stress as determinants of turnover intentions of customer service
representatives in Pakistan. Eur. J. Soc. Sci. 19 (3), 403–411.
Singh, J., 1998. Striking a balance in boundary-spanning positions: an investigation
of some unconventional influences of role stressors and job characteristics on
job outcomes of salespeople. J. Mark. 62 (3), 69–86.
Sliter, M.T., Jex, S., Wolford, K., McInnerney, J., 2010. How rude! Emotional labor as
a mediator between customer incivility and employee outcomes. J. Occup. Health
Psychol. 15 (4), 468–481.
Sliter, M.T., Pui, S.Y., Sliter, K.A., Jex, S.M., 2011. The differential effects of interpersonal
conflict from customers and coworkers: trait anger as a moderator. J. Occup.
Health Psychol. 16 (4), 424–440.
9
Sonenshein, S., Dholakia, U., 2012. Explaining employee engagement with strategic
change implementation: a meaning-making approach. Organ. Sci. 23 (1), 1–23.
Spector, P.E., 1985. Measurement of human service staff satisfaction: development
of the job satisfaction survey. Am. J. Community Psychol. 13 (6), 693–713.
Spector, P.E., Jex, S.M., 1998. Development of four self-report measures of job stressors
and strain: interpersonal conflict at work scale, organizational constraints scale,
quantitative workload inventory, and physical symptoms inventory. J. Occup.
Health Psychol. 3 (4), 356–367.
Staufenbiel, T., Konig, C.J., 2010. A model for the effects of job insecurity on
performance, turnover intention, and absenteeism. J. Occup. Organ. Psychol. 83
(1), 101–117.
Stauss, B., Folger, R., Ford, R.C., Bardes, M., Dickson, D., 2010. Triangle model of
fairness: investigating spillovers and reciprocal transfers. J. Serv. Manage. 21 (4),
515–530.
Sturman, M.C., Shao, L., Katz, J.H., 2012. The effect of culture on the curvilinear
relationship between performance and turnover. J. Appl. Psychol. 97 (1), 46–62.
Tarafdar, M., Pullins, E.B., Ragu-Nathan, T., 2015. Technostress: negative effect on
performance and possible mitigations. Inf. Syst. J. 25 (2), 103–132.
Wang, P.Z., Waller, D.S., 2006. Measuring consumer vanity: a cross-cultural validation.
Psychol. Mark. 23 (8), 665–687.
Wanous, J.P., Reichers, A.E., Hudy, M.J., 1997. Overall job satisfaction: how good are
single-item measures? J. Appl. Psychol. 82 (2), 247–252.
Weitz, B.A., Bradford, K.D., 1999. Personal selling and sales management: a
relationship marketing perspective. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 27 (2), 241–254.
Wetzels, M., de Ruyter, K., Bloemer, J., 2000. Antecedents and consequences of role
stress of retail sales persons. J. Retailing Consum. Serv. 7 (2), 65–75.
Wolfinbarger, M., Hair, J.J.F., Page, M.J., Samouel, P., Money, A.H., 2011. Essentials of
Business Research Methods. Taylor and Francis, Florence.
Yeun, Y.-R., 2014. Job stress, burnout, nursing organizational culture and turnover
intention among nurses. J. Korea Acad. Ind. Coop. Soc. 15 (8), 4981–4986.
Zimmerman, R.D., Darnold, T.C., 2009. The impact of job performance on employee
turnover intentions and the voluntary turnover process: a meta-analysis and path
model. Pers. Rev. 38 (2), 142–158.
Please cite this article in press as: Jay P. Mulki, John W. Wilkinson, Customer-directed extra-role performance and emotional understanding: Effects on customer conflict, felt stress,
job performance and turnover intentions, Australasian Marketing Journal (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.ausmj.2017.04.002