An investigation of the burnout syndrome among Hungarian salespeople

Abstract

The high level o f work related stress and one of its consequences - burnout, is the most problematic area of the sales profession. Sales management is under-researched in Hungary, which includes no former empirical studies on burnout. In our article we analyze the burnout antecedents and consequences, and use an SEM model to test the hypotheses.
The results emphasize the importance of burnout among Hungarian salespeople. Further we demonstrate how work tension (role conflict and role ambiguity) and other dimensions affect the burnout dimensions (e.g. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a feeling of reduced personal accomplishment) affect the perceived performance and intrinsic motivation. Further, we demonstrate that firms have to go beyond individual level coping and introduce managerial action to solve the problems.