Individual differences in emotional contagion of salespersons: Its effect on performance and burnout

Abstract

This article explores the emotional contagion hypothesis, proposed by Hatfield, Cacioppo, and Rapson (1994), in a sales context. Specifically, the emotional contagion hypothesis explains how the emotions of two people (e.g., salesperson and customer) during a conversation are transmitted from one to the other via facial cues, and that these emotions affect the outcome of that interaction. The emotional contagion hypothesis implies that there are definitive individual differences concerning whether someone is either sensitive to emotions from others or able to transmit his or her emotions onto others. This study explores whether these individual differences are assets or liabilities over the long term for salespersons in a sales organization. The data in this study show that a salesperson's ability to infect others with his or her emotions is an asset (because it can lead to higher performance). In addition, being sensitive to the emotions of others is an asset (it can also lead to better performance); at the same time it is a liability (because of the higher risk of burnout). This study further explores how emotionally sensitive salespersons develop burnout as a consequence of role stress, which then affects their performance. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. "He'd come down, but it would always come back. It was force. That's what selling was. He didn't have to be smart. But he had to have that 617

I can see that you’re happy but you’re not my friend

“…The identification of such factors would help us understand why in some interactions people are susceptible to catching the feelings of others, whereas in others, they are not. This might prove particularly helpful for people who make use of affect contagion on a daily basis, for instance, teachers, managers, or salespeople (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2002; Mottet & Beebe, 2000; Pugh, 2001; Verbeke, 1997). Based on the results of this study, they will have a greater chance to become effective senders if they make their students, subordinates, or clients feel closely related to them.…”

A model and simulation of the emotional contagion of netizens in the process of rumor refutation

“…Relevant research shows that emotions with strong emotional polarity, such as anger, easily spread 4,5 . The emotional contagion hypothesis explains how emotions are transmitted and diffused during the dialogue between communicators and receivers and eventually become large-scale group emotions 6,7 .…”

“…Anti-rumor credibility 20–22 and speed of response 23,24 can weaken the threat of rumors, ease people’s panic and anxiety, and effectively control the deterioration process of rumor emergencies. Ordinary netizens, as the main group promoting the dissemination of information and emotion, the self-judgment ability of individual nodes 16 , the subjective willingness to spread 7,25 and the intimacy of adjacent nodes 26 , are the personal factors that affect the acceptance and dissemination of emotions. Therefore, regarding the factors of emotional contagion during rumor refutation, this study will consider the credibility of subject a s , the speed of clarifying rumors v s , the ability to judge d r , the ability to express emotions w r , and the willingness to spread a rumor b r (Table 1).…”

Collective emotional dynamics: Perspectives for marketing

“…Few studies explicitly refer to the collective dimension of emotions and, in any such cases, they focus on dyadic relationships solely in the context of the seller–buyer relationship (e.g. Hennig-Thurau et al, 2006; Howard and Gengler, 2001; Pugh, 2001; Verbeke, 1997). Other studies take into account the collective dynamics of emotions but rely on ad hoc concepts that are not explicitly defined and, in some cases, that are close to those developed in social psychology and sociology literature (e.g.…”