Understanding How Salesperson Envy and Emotional Exhaustion Lead to Negative Consequences: The Role of Motivation

ABSTRACT Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how salesperson motivations can affect negative states such as envy and emotional exhaustion in the workplace. The study uses Social Comparison Theory and Self-Determination Theory to explain how motivation influences the development of envy and emotional exhaustion, resulting in both turnover intentions and unethical selling practices. This study aims to bridge a gap in the burnout and motivation literature by focusing on envy and emotional exhaustion in the salesforce and answering calls for more research on salesperson well-being, envy, and burnout. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a survey research methodology to address the effects of motivation on negative outcomes, envy, emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. Two hundred and eleven salespeople were surveyed to test the hypotheses. Established scales from prior research were adapted for use in the study and met appropriate levels of composite reliability. The model fit statistics met acceptable thresholds specified in the structural equation model literature. The study used a two-step structural equation modeling approach. First, the measurement model was validated using a CFA to test for reliability, unidimensionality, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Next, the structural model hypotheses were tested using AMOS 27. Next, the serial mediation and moderated serial mediation effects were assessed using the bootstrap method with 5000 bootstraps and a 95% confidence interval. Finally, estimands were created within AMOS 27 to test the indirect and interaction effects in the full structural model. Findings The results show that intrinsic motivation decreases the development of envy, which positively affects emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. The findings show that intrinsic motivation in the salesforce helps to prevent unfavorable comparisons that lead to envy and emotional exhaustion. Thus, sales organizations that nurture intrinsic motivators in the workplace are more likely to prevent salespeople from seeking employment elsewhere and discourage unethical selling behaviors. Additionally, the serial mediation analysis shows that envy and burnout mediate the relationships between intrinsic motivation on both unethical selling and turnover intentions through negative, fully serially mediated relationships. These findings suggest that a sales organization can take action to prevent envy and emotional exhaustion from causing severe problems by implementing intrinsic motivators. Finally, the interaction effects between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation show high levels of extrinsic motivation negate the effects of intrinsic motivation and increase the development of envy, emotional exhaustion, turnover intentions, and unethical selling behaviors. These findings show that sales organizations that invest heavily in extrinsic motivators such as additional pay, bonuses, or commissions should do so with caution to prevent the erosion of the positive effects created by an intrinsically motivated salesforce. Practical implications Sales managers must effectively motivate salespeople to drive performance. When incentive structures are aligned with the motivators of salespeople, good salespeople are happy and are likely to stay in their current roles. Many managers attempt to contribute to their salespeople’s well-being by offering extrinsic motivators such as additional pay, bonuses, commissions, or contests to promote competition amongst sales representatives. However, they must also be careful not to cause unfavorable comparisons to the other salespeople that may cause damage to the organizational culture or salesperson morale. The study provides practitioners with insights into how to reduce envy and emotional exhaustion in their salesforce and provides suggestions for incentivizing intrinsically motivated salespeople when visible competitions, promotions, or campaigns may begin to cause burnout and dark side outcomes in the salesforce. Ultimately, sales managers must be diligent in providing salespeople incentives while preventing unfavorable social comparisons and resentment that can erode a positive sales culture. By cultivating a culture of intrinsic motivation, salespeople can be more focused on personal fulfillment and development, which helps to reduce resentment of other salespeople and ultimately helps to keep a salesforce functioning properly. Originality/value First, the paper’s value stems from its contribution to a better understanding of salesperson motivation and unforeseen issues that arise when the salesperson and the sales organization’s goals are not aligned. We show how sales organizations benefit from matching compensation and incentives with salesperson motivation while minimizing negative effects that emerge through social comparisons that can develop organically. Second, the paper highlights the challenges that sales organizations face when incentivizing their salespeople since sales careers typically attract extrinsically motivated salespeople. Therefore, it becomes even more important to understand the benefits and drawbacks that can afflict a sales team. Third, the paper fills research gaps by examining the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on the development of envy through social comparisons. Understanding how salespeople develop envy and emotional exhaustion is an important yet under-explored topic. The topic is even more relevant today as more sales teams work remotely, and managers may have difficulty communicating expectations and fostering motivation. Finally, this research synthesizes Social Comparison Theory and Self-determination Theory to help address drivers of salesperson emotional exhaustion and examines the role of motivation in driving these effects.