The role of overload on job attitudes, turnover intentions, and salesperson performance

Considerable anecdotal evidence has been amassed in recent years regarding the pervasiveness of role overload — the degree to which persons are overtaxed cognitively as a result of being under time pressure and having too many commitments and responsibilities. Salespeople would be expected to exhibit some degree of role overload, because of the oftentimes high-pressure nature of their jobs. However, it is noteworthy that role overload has displayed inconsistent relationships with many job attitudes, turnover intentions, and performance measures in studies of salespeople. Work experience could explain the inconsistent findings, because experienced salespeople should cope better with feelings of role overload. Drawing from the career stages literature, we examine the direct influence of role overload on traditional job attitudes, turnover intentions, salesperson performance, and the impact of work experience on these relationships. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.