Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Coping with sales call anxiety: The role of sale perseverance and task concentration strategies

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

Abstract

The authors study how salespeople cope with social anxiety during customer contacts and find that two tactics, sale perseverance and task concentration, ultimately reduce dysfunctional protective actions. Both coping tactics, however, are differentially moderated by strength of felt physiological sensations and strength of negative expectations and thoughts. Salespeople experiencing anxiety cognitions should distract themselves by concentrating on their task to free up their thinking in relation to the task at hand. Engaging in behaviors to modify the situation by persevering on the sale, on the other hand, occupies action space and should be the coping strategy of choice for those salespeople confronting physiological sensations in relation to felt anxiety. Hypotheses are tested on a sample of 171 salespersons.

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

  • Aiken, Leona S. and Stephen G. West. 1991.Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagozzi, Richard P., Mahesh Gopinath, and Prashanth U. Nyer. 1999. “The Role of Emotions in Marketing.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 27 (Spring): 184–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, Albert. 1997.Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, Roy F., Todd F. Heatherton, and Dianne M. Tice. 1994.Losing Control: How and Why People Fail at Self-Regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, Aaron T. 1988. “Cognitive Approaches to Panic Disorder: Theory and Therapy.” InPanic: Psychological Perspectives. Eds. Stanley Rachman and Jack D. Maser. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 91–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bickart, Barbara A. 1993. “Carryover and Backfire Effects in Marketing Research.”Journal of Marketing Research 30 (February): 52–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonanno, George A. 2001. “Emotion Self-Regulation.” InEmotions: Current Issues and Future Directions. Eds. Tracy J. Mayne and George A. Bonanno. New York: Guilford, 251–285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourne, Edmund J. 2000.The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, Gillian. 1985. “Exposure as a Treatment for Social Phobia: Some Instructive Difficulties.”Behaviour Research and Therapy 23 (June): 651–657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carver, Charles S. and Michael F. Scheier. 1986. “Analyzing Shyness: A Specific Application of Broader Self-Regulatory Principles.” InShyness: Perspectives on Research and Treatment. Eds. W. H. Jones, J. M Cheek, and S. R. Biggs. New York: Plenum, 173–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • —,—, and Jagdish K. Weintraub 1989. “Assessing Coping Strategies: A Theoretically Based Approach.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56 (February): 267–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cioffi, Delia. 1991. “Beyond Attentional Strategies: A Cognitive-Perceptual Model of Somatic Interpretation.”Psychological Bulletin 109 (January): 25–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, David M. and Adrian Wells. 1995. “A Cognitive Model of Social Phobia.” InSocial Phobia: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment. Eds. Richard G. Heimberg, Michael R. Liebowitz, Debra A. Hope, and Franklin R. Schneier. New York: Guilford, 69–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, Joanne V. and Hal Arkowitz. 1975. “Social Anxiety and Self-Evaluation of Interpersonal Performance.”Psychological Reports 36 (February): 211–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeVellis, Robert F. 1991.Scale Development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, Michael W. 1992.Anxiety: The Cognitive Perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenigstein, Allan, Michael F. Scheier, and Arnold H. Buss. 1975. “Public and Private Self-Consciousness: Assessment and Theory.”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 43 (August): 522–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, Edna B. and Michael J. Kozak. 1986. “Emotional Processing of Fear: Exposure to Corrective Information.”Psychological Bulletin 99 (January): 20–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, James J. 1999. “Emotion and Emotion Regulation.” InHandbook of Personality, 2nd ed. Eds. Lawrence A. Pervin and Oliver P. John. New York and London: Guilford, 525–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, Vernon. 1975. “Socialization Anxiety and Information Processing: A Capacity Model of Anxiety-Induced Performance Deficits.” InStress and Anxiety. Eds. Irwin G. Sarason and Charles D. Spielberger. New York: John Wiley, 45–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaccard, James and Robert Turrisi. 2003.Interaction Effects in Multiple Regression. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jerremalm, Anita, Lars Jansson, and Lars-Goeran Oest. 1986. “Cognitive and Physiological Reactivity and the Effects of Different Behavioral Methods in the Treatment of Social Phobia.”Behaviour Research and Therapy 24 (2): 171–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahnemann, Daniel. 1973.Attention and Effort. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, Philip C. 1982.Advances in Cognitive-Behavioral Research and Therapy. Vol. 1. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, David J. and John T. Cacioppo. 1993. “The Facial Expressiveness Scale and the Autonomic Reactivity Scale.” Unpublished manuscript, Ohio State University, Columbus. Cited from Hatfield, Elaine, John T. Cacioppo, and Richard L. Rapson. 1994. Emotional Contagion. Paris: Cambridge University, 161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, Donald F. 1993. “Panic May Be a Misfiring Suffocation Alarm.” In InPsychopharmacology of Panic. British Association for Psychopharmacology Monograph, No. 12. Ed. S. A. Montgomery. London: Oxford University, 67–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lang, Peter J., Daniel N. Levin, Gregory A. Miller, and Michael J. Kozak. 1983. “Fear Behaviour, Fear Imagery, and the Psychophysiology of Emotion: The Problem of Affective Response Integration.”Journal of Abnormal Psychology 92 (August): 276–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Leary, Mark R. and Robin M. Kowalski. 1995.Social Anxiety. New York and London: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • LeDoux, Joseph E. 1995. “Emotion: Clues From the Brain.”Annual Review of Psychology 46:209–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, Kenneth R. and Robert E. Burnkrant. 1993. “Attention Versus Distraction: The Interactive Effect of Program Involvement and Attentional Devices on Commercial Processing.”Journal of Advertising 22 (March): 47–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maclnnis, Deborah J., Christine Moorman, and Bernard J. Jaworski. 1991. “Enhancing and Measuring Consumers’ Motivation, Opportunity, and Ability to Process Brand Information From Ads.”Journal of Marketing 55 (October): 32–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Main, Chris J. 1983. “The Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire (MSPQ).”Journal of Psychosomatic Research 27 (6): 503–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, Gerald and Adrian Wells. 2000. “Attention, Automaticity, and Affective Disorders.”Behavior Modification 24 (January): 69–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCaul, Kevin D. and James M. Malott. 1984. “Distraction and Coping With Pain.”Psychological Bulletin 95 (May): 516–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McEwan, Kimberley L. and Gerald M. Devins. 1983. “Is Increased Arousal in Social Anxiety Noticed by Others?”Journal of Abnormal Psychology 92 (November): 417–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, Suzanne M. 1979. “Controllability and Human Stress: Method, Evidence, and Theory.”Behaviour Research and Therapy 17 (4): 287–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motley, Michael T. 1991. “Public Speaking Anxiety qua Performance Anxiety: A Revised Model and an Alternative Therapy.” InCommunication, Cognition, and Anxiety. Ed. Melanie Booth-Butterfield. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 85–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, Jum C. 1978 (2nd ed.).Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oest, Lars-Goeran, Anita Jerremalm, and Jan Johansson. 1981. “Individual Response Patterns and the Effects of Different Behavioral Methods in the Treatment of Social Phobia.”Behaviour Research and Therapy 19 (1): 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohman, Arne, Alfons Hamm, and Kenneth Hugdahl. 1998. “Cognition and the Autonomic Nervous System: Orienting, Anticipation, and Conditioning.” InThe Handbook of Psychophysiology. Eds. John T. Cacioppo, Louis G. Tassinary, and Gray G. Berntson. New York: Cambridge University Press, 533–575.

    Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff, Philip M., Scott B. MacKenzie, Jeong-Yeon Lee, and Nathan P. Podsakoff. 2003. “Common Method Bias in Behavioral Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies.”Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (October): 879–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • — and Denis W. Organ. 1986. “Self-Reports in Organizational Research: Problems and Prospects.”Journal of Management 12 (Winter): 531–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rachman, Stanley. 1998.Anxiety. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ray, Dana. 1995. “Confront Call Reluctance.”Personal Selling Power, September, pp. 46–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, Michael D. and Gerald L. Clore. 2001. “Simulation, Scenarios, and Emotional Appraisal: Testing the Convergence of Real and Imagined Reactions to Emotional Stimuli.”Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 27 (November): 1520–1532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roseman, Ira J. 1991. “Appraisal Determinants of Discrete Emotions.”Cognition and Emotion 5 (May): 161–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum, Michael. 1983. “Learned Resourcefulness as a Behavioral Repertoire for the Self-Regulation of Internal Events: Issues and Speculations.” InPerspectives on Behavior Therapy in the Eighties. Eds. Michael Rosenbaum, Cyril M. Franks, and Yoram Jaffe. New York: Springer, 54–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1988. “Learned Resourcefulness, Stress, and Self-Regulation.” InHandbook of Life Stress, Cognition and Health. Eds. S. Fisher and J. Reason. Chichester, UK: John Wiley, 483–496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, Julian M. 1966. “Generalized Expectancies for Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement.”Psychological Monographs 80(1): 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarason, Irwin G., Barbara R. Sarason, and Gregory R. Pierce. 1995. “Cognitive Interference: At the Intelligence-Personality Crossroads.” InInternational Handbook of Personality and Intelligence. Eds. Donald H. Saklofske and Moshe Zeidner. New York: Plenum, 285–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, Martin E. P. 1975.Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death. San Francisco: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepperd, James A. and Robert M. Arkin. 1990. “Shyness and Self-Presentation.” InShyness and Embarrassment: Perspectives From Social Psychology. Ed. W. Ray Crozier. New York: Cambridge University, 286–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shields, Stephanie A. and Robert M. Stern. 1979. “Emotion: The Perception of Bodily Change.” InPerception of Emotion in Self and Others. Eds. Patricia Pliner, Kirk R. Blankstein, and Irwin M. Spigel. New York: Plenum, 85–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanton, Annette L. and Robert Franz. 1999. “Focusing on Emotions: An Adaptive Coping Strategy?” InCoping: The Psychology of What Works. Ed. C. Rick Snyder. New York: Oxford University, 90–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sujan, Harish, Barton A. Weitz, and Mita Sujan. 1988. “Increasing Sales Productivity by Getting Salespeople to Work Smarter.”Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 8 (August): 9–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szymanski, David M. 1988. “Determinants of Selling Effectiveness: The Importance of Declarative Knowledge to the Personal Selling Concept.”Journal of Marketing 52 (January): 64–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Knippenberg, Barbara and Daan van Knippenberg. 2005. “Leader Self-Sacrifice and Leadership Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Leader Prototypicality.”Journal of Applied Psychology 90 (February): 25–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verbeke, Willem and Richard P. Bagozzi. 2000. “Sales Call Anxiety: Exploring What It Means When Fear Rules a Sales Encounter.”Journal of Marketing 64 (July): 88–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —,— and-—. 2003. “Exploring the Role of Self- and Customer Provoked Embarrassment in Personal Selling.”International Journal of Research in Marketing 20 (September): 233–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —, Frank Belschak, and Richard P. Bagozzi. 2004. “The Adaptive Consequences of Pride in Personal Selling.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 32 (Fall): 386–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts, Eraser N. 1979. “Habituation Model of Systematic Desensitization.”Psychological Bulletin 86 (May): 627–637.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitz, Barton A., Harish Sujan, and Mita Sujan. 1986. “Knowledge, Motivation, and Adaptive Behavior: A Framework for Improving Selling Effectiveness.”Journal of Marketing 50 (October): 174–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, Adrian. 1994. “A Multidimensional Measure of Worry: Development and Preliminary Validation of the Anxious Thoughts Inventory.”Anxiety, Stress, and Coping 6:289–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1997.Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 2000.Emotional Disorders and Metacognition: Innovative Cognitive Therapy. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • —, David M. Clark, Paul M. Salkovskis, John Ludgate, Ann Hackmann, and Michael G. Gelder. 1995. “Social Phobia: The Role of In-Situation Safety-Behaviors in Maintaining Anxiety and Negative Beliefs.”Behavior Therapy 26 (Winter): 153–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • — and Gillian Matthews. 1994.Attention and Emotion. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wine, Jeri. 1971. “Test Anxiety and Direction of Attention.”Psychological Bulletin 76 (August): 92–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zinbarg, Richard E., David H. Barlow, Timothy A. Brown, and Robert M. Hertz. 1992. “Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches to the Nature and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders.”Annual Review of Psychology 43:235–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Frank Belschak

  2. Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands

    Willem Verbeke

  3. University of Michigan, Michigan, USA

    Richard P. Bagozzi

Authors
  1. Frank Belschak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Willem Verbeke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Richard P. Bagozzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Frank Belschak (f.d.belschak@uva.nl) is an assistant professor of marketing and organizational behavior in the Business School at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He received his PhD from the University of Cologne in Germany. His current research interests include personal selling, emotions, and emotion regulation in organizations and across cultures.

Willem Verbeke (verbeke@few.eur.nl) is a chaired professor of sales and account management at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. His area of research interests includes personal selling, sales management, emotions and emotion regulation, and knowledge management.

Richard P. Bagozzi (bagozzi@umich.edu) is a professor of marketing in the Ross School of Business and a professor of social and administrative sciences in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan. He received his PhD from Northwestern University. He conducts research on human emotions, the theory of action, goal setting and goal striving, and structural equation methods.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Belschak, F., Verbeke, W. & Bagozzi, R.P. Coping with sales call anxiety: The role of sale perseverance and task concentration strategies. JAMS 34, 403–418 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070306286535

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070306286535

Keywords

Search

Navigation