A Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Perspective on New Product Selling : A Framework for Future Research

Building on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, a comprehensive model of the determinants of salesperson new product selling outcomes is proposed. Existing empirical support for the proposed model is then assessed through a detailed review of published empirical studies. The results of this comparative process reveal research is needed that: (1) explores important causal linkages implied by JD-R theory which have not been considered in previous research (e.g., new product selling demands--> burnout--> outcomes), (2) proceeds from a more robust understanding of the factors relevant to new product selling situations, including an expanded array of selling demands (e.g., balancing of new and old products), selling resources (e.g., customer orientation), and selling outcomes (e.g., customer satisfaction), and (3) employs growth (e.g., new product burnout growth) and multi-source (e.g., customer and salesperson perceptions) data to improve understanding of the determinants of new product selling outcomes. Aside from fully explicating these knowledge needs, this effort contributes to the literature by advancing a JD-R-based integrative framework for research in this domain, recasting new product selling as a multi-faceted job demand, and by presenting one of the first applications of JD-R theory within a sales context