The Effects of Suppliers' CSR Reputation on B2B Salesperson Burnout

B2B기업의 CSR명성이 영업사원의 소진(burnout)에 미치는 영향

Abstract

Recently, the importance of B2B CSR is being highlighted. Meanwhile, in B2B marketing, salesperson is widely recognized as a key resource influencing supplier firm performance. Therefore, the author paid attention to the role of supplier CSR reputation in customer-salesperson interaction process. So, this study collected dyadic data from 161 B2B purchasing managers and salespersons interacting with them. For customers, a supplier CSR reputation increased customer citizenship behavior and customer long-term orientation. With salespersons, they experienced less burnout due to interacting with customers having higher customer citizenship behavior and long-term orientation. Moreover, the results confirmed that a supplier CSR reputation lowered salespersons' emotional exhaustion through two serial-multiple mediation paths. This research verified that customers' perception and responses to supplier's CSR significantly influence B2B salesperson burnout.

본 연구는 B2B맥락에서 공급기업의 CSR명성이 영업사원의 소진에 미치는 영향을 밝히고자 했다. 최근 B2B마케팅 연구들은 CSR이 기업성과에 미치는 영향에 주목하고 있다. 동시에 영업사원은 B2B마케팅의 핵심자원으로서 많은 연구들에서 다루어져 왔다. 하지만 B2B 맥락에서 CSR명성이 영업사원에게 주는 영향 메커니즘을 밝히는 연구는 아직 미흡하다. 이에 본 연구는 B2B CSR 효과에 관한 새로운 시각을 제공하는 것을 목적으로 영업사원의 소진을 도입하여 연구모형을 수립하였다. 본 연구에서는 공급기업의 CSR명성이 구매기업의 고객시민행동과 장기지향성을 증가시키고, 이러한 고객에게서 영향을 받는 영업사원은 낮은 수준의 소진을 경험할 것으로 예상하고 실증분석을 위해 양자적 자료(dyadic data)를 수집하였다. 고객기업의 구매담당자 161명은 공급기업의 CSR명성, 고객시민행동, 장기지향성을 평가하였고 이들을 담당하는 영업사원은 소진 경험에 대한 설문에 응답하였다. 분석결과 공급기업의 CSR명성은 2개의 다중매개 경로를 통해서 영업사원의 소진을 낮추는 것을 확인하였다. 연구의 결과는 CSR이 고객에게 주는 영향뿐만 아니라 영업사원의 소진으로까지 연결되는 통합적 메커니즘을 제시했다는 점에서 이론적 이해를 넓혔으며, B2B CSR의 전략적 활용에 대한 실무적 시사점도 제공하였다.

I. Introduction

The CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) has been underlined as an essential means of marketing activities throughout the industry[1]. Moreover, as ESG (Environment, Society, Governance) has become a hot topic in recent years, companies are strongly demanding to fulfill social and non-economic responsibilities throughout their business[2]. This means that B2B firms, which have not paid much attention to CSR activities compared to B2C companies, should put more efforts into CSR[3].

For this reason, researchers in the B2B marketing have emphasized that CSR affects suppliers performance. In an early study on supplier CSR, Homburg, Stierl, and Bornemann [4] showed that the B2B customer perception of supplier CSR reputation (business practice CSR reputation and Philanthropic CSR reputation) had positive effects on trust and customer-company identification. And then, those effects were positively related to the customer loyalty. A recent study by Han and Lee [3] also found that supplier CSR in the B2B context enhanced corporate image, corporate reputation, and social connectedness. Then this positive effects increased trust which is the core of B2B transaction.

On the other hand, in B2B marketing, salesperson is perceived as a critical resource influencing a supplier outcomes[5]. Since salesperson-customer interchange or interaction are important factors in the sales process, salesperson certainly experiences a high level of emotional labor[6]. For this reason, previous researchers have focused on the emotional labor of B2B salesperson. They demonstrated that effective management of a salesperson's emotion influences the performances of sales force and organization[7]. Until recently, many researchers focused on finding determinants of salesperson's emotional exhaustion and burnout [8].

Considering that salesperson is an important resource in B2B marketing, it is necessary to understand the effects of the supplier’s CSR on B2B salesperson. Nevertheless, studies on the effects of supplier’s CSR on salesperson are still insufficient so far. Vlachos et al.[9] found that supplier CSR attributions influence loyalty intention and positive word-of-mouth through salesperson’s organizational trust. As far as the author know, this is the first study on the effects of supplier CSR on a salesperson in B2B context. On the other hand, more researches on the effects of CSR on a salesperson outcomes have been executed in B2C context. Kim et al. [10] showed CSR influences salesperson’s emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction through their perception of dysfunctional customer behavior. Castro-Gonzalez et al.[11] found that CSR perceived by frontline salespersons increases organizational pride and ultimately lowers turnover intention.

Most of all, salesperson is required to interact with customers in the sales process, so they are critically influenced by the customer interaction[6]. Thus, if CSR reputation influences customer perception and behavior, these influences can be delivered to salesperson through customer interaction. Ananze and Saavedra[5] who noted the characteristics of the interaction on B2B sales activities showed that customer empathy, a positive social emotion, improved the quality of interactions, leading to improve in-role and out-of-role performance of B2B salespersons. It is also well known that factors related to interaction with customer act as determinants of a salesperson burnout[8]. Considering these facts, dyadic analysis for customer and salesperson is necessary to understand the comprehensive effects of supplier’s CSR.

On the other hand, several previous studies have been conducted on the effects of CSR on customers. Scholars found that CSR affects customers' perceptual, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes such as brand perception, satisfaction with suppliers, customer citizenship behavior, and long-term orientation[12]. However, they ignored how these positive effects to customers are associated with salespersons.

To accurately understand the effects of supplier’s CSR on B2B salesperson, it must be considered that salesperson plays a boundary-spanning role as a company's frontline personnel interacting with customers [7]. Therefore, in this study, the dyadic method was adopted to collect data from both customers and B2B salespersons. An integrated research model was suggested based on related theories. The author predicted that a supplier CSR reputation would promote customer citizenship behavior based on attachment theory[13]. Based on social exchange theory, it was hypothesized that supplier CSR also would promote long-term orientation[14].

Next, hypotheses were established to confirm whether the effects of supplier CSR on customers lowered salesperson burnout. This study introduced the salesperson burnout model which is widely used in previous studies[8]. Based on the organizational communication perspective and theory of organizing, the author predicted that customer citizenship behavior would lower salesperson depersonalization, and long-term orientation would increase personal accomplishment.

Moreover, it was anticipated that supplier CSR would promote long-term orientation based on social exchange theory[14]. Finally, the author hypothesized that supplier CSR reputation would lower emotional exhaustion of salesperson through the two serial multiple mediation.

The purpose of the study is to comprehensively confirm how supplier CSR reputation affects B2B salesperson. Since B2B salesperson burnout is directly linked to not only personal but also organizational performance, research findings contributes to understanding the effects of supplier CSR in the B2B context.

II. Literature Review

1. CSR performance and evaluation

CSR provides opportunities for innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. Previous studies classified CSR performance into four categories: growth, return on capital, risk management, and management quality[15] [Table 1].

Table 1. CSR performance categories

Note: ESG is environment, social, and government; Source: Bonini, Koller, and Mirvis [15]

There are several organizations providing CSR evaluation scores. The organizations are divided into two types: the organization that measures the evaluation score or presents the CSR principles[16]. First, institutions that provide CSR evaluation scores and rankings include ‘100 Best corporate citizens’ by CRO Magazine, ‘CSR Rep Track Ranking’ by Reputation Institute, and ‘The world’s top CSR companies’ by Forbes. The index consists of corporate governance, citizenship, working condition, environment, and community development.

Organizations that provide CSR principles include UN Global Compact, OECD, and Ceres. These institutions give CSR guidelines and performance objectives (e.g., UN Global Compact Principles, International Labour Organization), guidelines for performance measurement and assurance (e.g., Global Reporting Initiative, AccountAbility100), and overall management methods (e.g., ISO 14001, Social AccountAbility SA 1000).

The expected effect of CSR can be summarized as building a positive brand image for internal and external stakeholders and increasing performance. However, there are still many companies that do not achieve the expected results through CSR activities. Previous studies suggested a low level of CSR fit as the cause of this CSR failure[17]. It is difficult to form positive associations with consumers if CSR activities are not related to its core product, image, or target customers. In addition, the lack of consistency is a major factor that lowers CSR performance. Inconsistent information on CSR activities causes negative evaluations of consumers, as consumers tend to integrate information for evaluation[18]. In other words, CSR activities can produce results by selecting activities that are well suited to core products and customers and continuously executing them. To this end, a company must establish a strategic CSR area where social demands are high and internal capabilities can be utilized.

To achieve CSR goals, companies need to have a monitoring and tracking process. According to Maruffi[19], CSR activity evaluation consists of six steps. First, the scanning step. Companies must start by identifying trends and changes in their internal and external environments. The second is the monitoring step, which detects the changes in social, operational, and performance indicators. The third is the forecasting step in which anticipates outcomes of significant changes found in the monitoring step. Fourth is the assessing step. This step is the core of CSR activity evaluation, and it is to specify the impact of the changes expected in the third stage on the relevant CSR performance indicators. As CSR performance indicators, ISO 26000, GRI standards, and OECD guidelines are commonly used. The fifth step is targeting. Prioritize improvement and calculate gaps with goals for CSR activities identified as requiring significant progress through the accessing step. The final step is remediation. By synthesizing the analysis results of the previous steps, establish and execute corrective action plans to achieve the goals and evaluate the improved performance. As a result, companies can continuously improve their CSR activities and get a higher CSR reputation[18].

2. CSR Reputation (CSRR), Customer Citizenship

Behavior (CCB), and Long- Term Orientation Reputation is the distribution of opinions about an entity and it forms a collective image [20]. Fombrun and Shanley[21] defined corporate reputation as ‘the perceived stakeholders’ opinion of a firm which depends on the extent to which the expectation of those stakeholders is met.’ Subsequent studies explained that a company's reputation is distinct from cognition and evaluation at a specific time in that it comprehensively represents a company's past behavior and future prospects[22].

Soppe et al.[23] extended the concept of corporate reputation to a CSR context. They defined that corporate social responsibility reputation (CSRR) equals the perceived capability to meet raised expectations on the corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, perceived capability in CSRR is determined by the firm's past CSRR, the capacity to meet the current expectation, value of CSR expectation, and performance. Lang and Lee[24] defined CSRR as the set of stakeholders’ evaluation that a company has developed for a long time on CSR activities. CSRR is determined by whether a firm is continuously engaged in corporate social activities which go beyond and above government regulations. In this sense, CSRR is an index that comprehensively reflects stakeholders' perceptions of past CSR and expectations for the future. Accordingly, this study introduced the CSRR to grasp the comprehensive perception of customer firms on supplier’s CSR.

Most of all, CSRR influences corporate performance[25]. Previous studies argued CSRR positively correlated with sustain superior profit outcomes, strong support from consumers, employees, and investors, better earnings forecasts, and increased information disclosure [26]. In addition, marketing scholars confirmed that CSRR enhances customer loyalty, brand loyalty, willingness to pay, brand attitudes, and customer retention[27].

In similar vein, customers' positive perception of supplier CSR leads to extra-role behavior of customers[28]. Customer extra-role behaviors refer to voluntary and discretionary behaviors such as making recommendations to other customers, providing feedback to suppliers, helping other customers, and so on. Scholars conceptualized customer extra-role behaviors as customer citizenship behavior (CCB)[29]. CCB is defined as ‘voluntary and discretionary behaviors that are not required for the successful production and/or delivery of values but that, in the aggregate, help an organization overall’[30]. CCB can be understood as providing help, assistant, or support for the benefits of a supplier beyond the role the customer is expected to perform. CCB encompasses various supporting behaviors to improve the experience of existing and/or future customers and give feedback to improve product/service quality[29]. Positive word of mouth, displays of relationship affiliation, participation in a firm’s activities, benevolent acts of service facilitation, flexibility, feedback, and suggestions for service improvement are typical types of CCB[31]. CCB contributes to the improvement of corporate competitiveness by strengthening the relationship between employees and customers[32].

Previous studies described CCB in the framework of attachment theory[33]. According to attachment theory, individuals are attached to objects they feel supportive of to protect themselves from psychological and physical distress. In this, those who feel attachment show the will and action to be persistent and willing to sacrifice for the supportive object. Consumer behavior studies revealed that consumers form attachment to the brand they support[34]. Hur et al.[12] suggested that customer CSR perception enhances CCB through emotional brand attachment. Therefore, in this study, the author anticipated that a supplier’s CSRR would positively affect CCB.

H1: Supplier’s CSRR has positive effect on CCB.

Customer orientation is defined as ‘the degree to which salespeople practice marketing concepts so that customers can make a satisfactory purchase decision’[35]. Because of the characteristics of B2B transaction[3], customer long-term orientation significantly impacts the supplier performance. Therefore, the ability of B2B supplier to develop and manage long-term relationship with customer is recognized as a crucial factor for maintaining sustainable business growth. According to social exchange theory and institutional theory, CSR is perceived as the benefits provided indirectly by the firm to its customers[36]. For this reason, customers can offer reciprocity of maintaining long-term relationship with suppliers in return for the benefits provided by the supplier. Previous studies observed that fulfillment of CSR promotes customer reciprocity[37].

On the other hand, some researchers explain that supplier CSR induces customer relationship commitment from the responsible leadership perspective[38]. Responsible leadership is demonstrated through ethical decision-making, value-based leadership, and securing the quality of relationships. Therefore, supplier CSR acts as a signal expressing long-term trust that the firm will fulfill its obligations and efforts in its relationships with customers[39]. This is because there is a belief that a supplier with a high reputation will not engage in opportunistic behaviors threatening its reputation. Accordingly, supplier CSRR increases customers’ relationship engagement[40]. CSRR will enhance customer long-term orientation in that relationship commitment is characterized by the willingness to maintain a long-term relationship, which is a desire to maintain the relationship and a promise to continue the relationship. Previous studies proved that supplier CSR reinforces customer long-term orientation[41]. Thus, this study predicted that supplier CSRR would strengthen customer long-term orientation.

H2: Supplier’s CSRR has positive effect on customer long-term orientation.

3. Salesperson Burnout

Burnout is the syndrome resulting from chronic work-related stress, with symptoms characterize by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion - increased mental distance from one’s job, feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job, reduced professional efficacy[42]. Salesperson is particularly prone to burnout in that frontline interaction with customers is essential for the job role and there are many pressures on the performance[43].

Researchers confirmed that work burnout is consisted of three dimensions - emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low on personal accomplishment[44]. First, emotional exhaustion is a decrease in emotional and physical resources. It is increased due to stress triggered by job demands such as work overload or tension. Typical symptoms of emotional exhaustion include dread at the prospect of returning to work, increased absenteeism, and withdrawal from the profession. Depersonalization is interpersonal dimension of burnout[8]. Depersonalization is employees’ cynical and negative attitude toward clients, coworkers or managers. It is increased by aspects such as a general feeling of helplessness and lack of control. Low on personal accomplishment is that employees feel their competence, emotion, and achievement have declined at work. So, employees experience low on personal accomplishment when performance expectations are not met or when self-efficacy drops. That way, they could have high levels of stress and negative self-evaluation.

Previous scholars explained that three burnout dimensions form a sequential process [8]. They showed that the sequential process applies differently depending on professions [45].

Lewin and Sager[8] suggested salesperson burnout model in which depersonalization and personal accomplishments influence emotional exhaustion. Lewin and Sager[8]'s salesperson burnout model has a different process from the Maslach model[46] and Golembiewski model[47] in that emotional exhaustion is determinant of depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Maslach model[46] and Golembiewski model [47] mostly applied to helping professions such as police officers, teachers, nurses. According to Lewin and Sager[8], unlike helping professions prioritize intrinsic rewards, salesperson's extrinsic rewards from personal accomplishment directly affect emotional exhaustion. Accordingly, the author established the research model by adopting the salesperson burnout model of Lewin and Sager[8].

4. Effects of CCB and Long-term Orientation on Burnout

According to relationship marketing research, relational partners with interdependence form an group. And, the group pursues mutual benefits and converging goals through constant communication and interaction[48]. Also, communication messages exchanged between the participants in group make up meaning through interpretation.

The theory of organizing[49] explained that participants actively collect and interpret information to minimize ambiguity and uncertainty of the message in an interactive situation. In the context of B2B sales communication, McFarland et al.[50] found that, based on the theory of organizing, customer behavior in the B2B sales process acts as an vital buyer cue that lowers the uncertainty and ambiguity perceived by the salesperson.

As mentioned above, CCB is characterized by voluntary customer help, product improvement feedback, and relationship affiliation[51]. For this reason, CCB actively supports the perception and interpretation process of a salesperson because CCB can reduce uncertainty and ambiguity about the customer. CCB is also interpreted as a gesture of reciprocation for the salesperson, thereby enhancing the psychological stability of a salesperson[52]. Consequently, CCB can be expected to reduce the salesperson depersonalization because it could minimize a feeling of helplessness and lack of control. Previous researchers verified that salesperson depersonalization increases when salesperson perceives a lack of humanity in customer interaction[53]. Therefore, the author predicted that CCB would lower depersonalization.

H3: CCB has positive effect on salesperson depersonalization.

Meanwhile, in B2B transactions, the customer long-term orientation has been recognized as an essential predictor of supplier performance. Similarly, relationship marketing researchers found that customer orientation has a significant impact on salesperson performance [54]. Customer long-term orientation has a positive effect on satisfaction, trust, and relationship with the salesperson, which in turn increases sales performance[55]. Based on the organizational communication perspective, Shannahan et al.[52] argued customer long-term orientation enhances salesperson’s perception, interpretation, and proper response, in which in turn improves sales performance.

On the basis of these findings, it can be predictable that customers long-term orientation would promote positive perception, interpretation, and response of salespersons. Moreover, long-term orientation eventually improves salesperson's performance by making them more responsive to customer behaviors [56]. Frank and Park[57] demonstrated that long-term orientation promotes rapport between customer-salespersons and lowers customer purchasing resistance, resulting in better sales performance. Thus, long-term orientation, which positively affects sales performance, could enhance personal accomplishment.

H4: Long-term orientation has positive effect on personal accomplishment.

5. Serial Multiple Mediation

This study goes one step further from examining the direct effects of customer citizenship behavior and long-term orientation on each facet of salesperson burnout. With a dyadic perspective, the author suggested serial-multiple mediation model. Firtst, with the theory of organizing[49], salesperson who collects and interprets positive messages from customers are less likely to experience depersonalization. Hong and Park[40] also showed that supplier CSR reduced conflict with customers and improved relational performance. In turn, lowered depersonalization would be lead to low emotional exhaustion.

Ahmed et al.[13] found that customers view CSRR as a surrogate of the company's reliability and quality of product/service. They explained that supplier CSRR makes customers perceive higher values and have positive effects on purchasing choices. Customers with long-term orientation send positive messages to salespersons such as trust, satisfaction, high value, and repurchase intention[18]. Since these messages are closely related to sales performance, as the theory of organizing explains, a salesperson interacting with customers with long-term orientation would expect high personal accomplishment. In addition, the salesperson can generate higher accomplishment by providing proper responses to customer needs[50]. Consequently, the salesperson is less likely to experience emotional exhaustion due to the high personal achievement.

Meanwhile, Lewis and Sager[8] presented salesperson burnout model. It proved that the casual relationships exist among the burnout dimensions - depersonalization, personal accomplishment, and emotional exhaustion. The salesperson burnout model showed that depersonalization increases emotional exhaustion, but personal accomplishment decreases emotional exhaustion.

Overall, CCB triggered by supplier CSRR will lower depersonalization, and this effect will lead to lesser emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, long-term orientation activated by supplier CSRR will increase personal accomplishment, which will be linked to the lower emotional exhaustion. Based on the theory of organizing and salespersons burnout model, this study hypothesized that serial-multiple mediation exist between supplier CSRR and emotional exhaustion of salesperson.

H5-1: Supplier CSRR decreases salesperson emotional exhaustion through serial-multiple mediation of CCB and depersonalization.

H5-2: Supplier CSRR decreases salesperson emotional exhaustion through serial-multiple mediation of customer long-term orientation and personal accomplishment.

Figure 1. Research Model

III. Research Method

1. Data Collection

This study collected data by the dyadic method and the survey was conducted with the ESG office in the Korean conglomerates. ESG office provided e-mail contacts of salespersons and online survey systems. First, the author surveyed B2B salespeople in four major Korean manufacturing companies. And then, the survey was directed for purchasing managers having business relations with these manufacturing companies in April 2021. The dyadic data structure introduced in this study lowers the occurrence of single-source bias and reinforces the study's argument. However, the dyadic method inherently has a low response rate concern. To overcome it, the author used snowball sampling recommended in previous studies using the dyadic method[58].

Through e-mail, the author explained the research to salespersons belonging to four suppliers and asked them to answer the questionnaire. In addition, to get the dyadic samples, the salespersons were asked to submit the contact of purchasing managers in their accounts. Each salesperson was required to provide five or more purchasing manager contacts. Salespersons responded to questions about three burnout dimensions. Excluding 27 incomplete responses, 249 salesperson samples were selected.

For customer sample, the author selected one purchasing manager for each salesperson by simple random sampling to prevent distortion due to the closeness between a specific purchasing manager and the salesperson Next, the e-mail was sent to the 249 selected purchasing managers in 10 customer firms. The author explained the goal of the research and requested them to answer the questions for CSRR, CCB, and long-term orientation. Additionally, 12 items of the unidimensional relationship closeness scale (URCS)[59] were answered to confirm whether the closeness with a salesperson affects purchasing managers' evaluation. URCS was measured on a 7-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree). Excluding 10 incomplete responses, 161 customer data were collected. Finally, 161 dyadic data were used for the analysis. All survey was coded to match a salesperson and a purchasing manager.

According to the salesperson sample characteristics, those in their 30s (40.9%) accounted for the most age groups, followed by 40s (39.1%) and 20s (14.9%). By gender, there were 130 (80.7%) males, more than females. As for sales work experience, 87 persons (54.0%) with 10 years or more had the highest number, 47 persons with 15 years or more (29.1%), and 12 persons with 5 years or more (13.0%). So, it was confirmed that samples consist of salespersons with appropriate work experience for the research.

In the case of the purchasing manager sample, the highest age group was in their 40s (56.5%), followed by 30s (29.2%) and 50s (0.7%). By gender, 109 (67.7%) were male. As for purchasing experience, 70 persons (43.5%) with 15 years or more, 61 persons (37.9%) with 10 years or more, and 13 persons (8.1%) with 5 years or more. Among the 10 firms to which purchasing managers belonged, manufacturing accounted for the majority with 6, followed by wholesale trade with 2, transportation and warehousing with 1, and public administration with 1.

Before testing the hypothesis, the author checked whether the perceived closeness affects the purchasing managers’ evaluation of CSRR, CCB, and long-term orientation. Based on the URCS, purchasing managers were divided into a high closeness group (+1SD, 5.799) and a low closeness group (-1SD, 2.475). And then, differences in evaluations between the groups were analyzed. With the independent sample t-test, there was no significant difference between groups (low closeness vs. high closeness); supplier CSRR (t=0.487, p>0.1), CCB (t=0.318, p>0.1), and long-term orientation (t=0.500, p>0.1). As a result, it was confirmed that the purchasing managers' perceived closeness with salespersons did not affect their evaluations.

2. Measurement

The survey was conducted as self-administered questionnaires, and all questionnaires were measured on a 5-point Liker-type scale (1=“strongly disagree, ” 5=“strongly agree”). The original measurement items in English were translated into Korean and back-translated, and bilingual management scholars verified the validity. All measurement items are summarized in appendix (see [Table A1]).

First, measurement items for the customers are as follows. The author introduced 9 measurement items for CSRR used in Kim and Woo [60] and Sanchez-Torne et al. [61]’s studies. These measurement items consist of governance, citizenship and the workplace, which are key pillars of CSRR (α=0.967). CCB was measured by 5 measurement items of Yi and Gong [62], who studied CCB of representative managers of buying centers in the B2B context (α=0.921). And customer's long-term orientation used the 7 items of Ganesa [63], which has been broadly presented in previous researches (α=0.926). Next is measurement items for salespersons. The three dimensions of salesperson burnout were measured with items of Maslach and Jackson's research [44]. Depersonalization has 5 items (α =0.929), personal accomplishment has 8 items (α=0.936), and emotional exhaustion has 9 items (α=0.937) (see Appendix [Table A1]).

Finally, this study examined gender, age, and work experience as control variables: gender (0=male, 1=female), age (1=20s, 2=30s, 4=40s, 5=50s or older), work experience (1=5 years or less, 2=10 years or less, 3=15 years or less, 4 =20 years or less, 5=20 years or more).

3. Validity and Reliability

Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test validity and reliability. The fit of the measurement model was x²(980) = 1148.2, CFI=0.964, TLI=0.960, IFI=.967, RMSEA=0.04, confirming that the overall level of fit was satisfied.

First, convergent validity was measured to confirm the average variance extracted (AVE) of the constructs. The results showed that AVEs of all constructs were from 0.607 to 0.729, which were higher than the reference value of 0.5. And all measurement items were statistically significant (p<0.001). CR (construct reliability) also ranged from 0.919 to 0.968 that are over the reference value of 0.7. Thus, convergent validity of the variables was confirmed [64] (see Appendix [Table A2]).

For discriminant validity, the author compared the cross-loading of the latent variable measurement items. As a result, the factor loadings of the measurement items of each latent variable were significantly higher than the factor loadings of the measurement items belonging to other latent variables (see Appendix [Table A1]). And, the square root of the AVE of each latent variable was higher than the correlation coefficient between other latent variables [64] (see Appendix [Table A2]). Accordingly, it was confirmed that the discriminant validity was secured.

Next, the author tested the reliability through the internal consistency and factor loadings of variables. Cronbach's α coefficient of all constructs was found to exceed 0.7 (range from 0.921 to 0.967) and CR was 0.7 or more in all constructs (rage from 0.919 to 0.968). It was confirmed that the internal consistency criterion was satisfied[78]. Also, reliability was secured as the factor loadings were also higher than 0.7 in all measurement items (range from 0.701 to 0.951)[65].

Finally, the author checked whether CMB (common method bias) exists. Result of Harman's single factor test showed that dominant factor did not exist. Depersonalization had the highest explanatory power (34.5%), followed by personal accomplishment (26.4%), CCB (11.1%), and long-term orientation (9.5%). Moreover, largest correlation coefficient between latent variables was 0.626, which was smaller than the standard 0.9 [66]. Hence, it was confirmed that there was no CMB.

IV. Results

This study confirmed the significance of direct and indirect effects between/among variables for hypothesis testing. Hayes’ Process macro 82 model was adopted for the analysis [67]. And the bootstrapping technique (N=1, 000) was performed to estimate the standard deviation of the model from the sample. For the analysis, the author used open-source statistical analysis programs R and its packages such as lavvan, semTools, stargazer, and installr.

The hypothesis test results are summarized in [Figure 2] and [Table 2] Supplier’s CSRR was found to have a positive effect on CCB (b=0.477, 95% CI = [0.303, 0.632]) and long-term orientation (b=0.135, 95% CI = [0.004, 0.266]), respectively. So, hypothesis 1 and hy-pothesis 2 were supported. Next, the effect of CCB on depersonalization was checked.

Figure 2. Illustration of the direct effects for serial multiple mediation

Note: The figure shows the non-standardized regression coefficients. The dashed line represents non-significant coefficients.

^*p < 0.05, ^** p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001

Table 2. Result Summary of Path Coefficients and Serial Multiple Mediation

Note: *p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, b: unstandardized regression coefficient, SE: standard error, CI: confidence interval. CSRR: corporate social responsibility reputation, CCB: customer citizenship behavior, LTO: long-term orientation.

As expected from hypothesis 3, CCB significantly lowered depersonalization (b = -0.391, 95% CI = [-0.667, -0.183]), so hypothesis 3 was adopted.

Long-term orientation also significantly increased personal accomplishment (b = 0.458, 95% CI = [0.219, 0.701]). Thus, hypothesis 4 was supported.

Hypothesis 5 suggested that a supplier CSRR affects emotional exhaustion through the serial-multiple mediation paths. Hypothesis 5-1 predicted that CCB and depersonalization would act as serial-multiple mediators between supplier CSRR and emotional exhaustion. As expected, supplier CSRR significantly lowered emotional exhaustion through serial-mediation of customer citizenship and depersonalization (b=-0.59, 95% CI =[-0.137, -0.018]), and hypothesis 5-1 was confirmed. Also, as a result of confirming hypothesis 5-2, it was significant that the supplier CSRR influenced emotional exhaustion through serial-mediation of long-term orientation and personal accomplishment. (b=-0.029, 95% CI =[-0.084, -0.004]).

V. Discussion

Previous scholars proved that B2B supplier CSR positively affects on CCB and customer's long-term orientation[12]. Such positive effects of supplier CSR were the same in this study. Likewise, as the salesperson burnout model proposed by Lewin and Sager[8], this study also confirmed that salesperson's depersonalization increased emotional exhaustion, and personal accomplishment significantly lowered emotional exhaustion.

This study went one step further from the findings of previous studies by adopting the dyadic method. By doing this, the author tried to comprehensively demonstrate how customers' perception of supplier CSRR and responses to it affected B2B salesperson burnout. As researchers emphasized, supplier CSR directly or indirectly influences corporate performance. Therefore, researches on supplier CSR are steadily increasing in B2B context. However, until recently, researchers focus on limited CSR outcomes such as customer perception of a supplier, behavioral intention, and company performance.

It should be noted that, in B2B marketing, salespersons are recognized as an essential resource having strong influence on supplier's performance[68]. In particular, since salesperson emotion management improves the overall performance of the sales force[69], this study focused how customers' perception of supplier CSR effect on salesperson burnout.

The author proposed a serial multiple mediation model to prove the effect of supplier CSRR on salesperson burnout in B2B context. Moreover, the dyadic method was introduced to collect data from salespersons and purchasing managers. As results showed, the supplier CSRR significantly lower the emotional exhaustion of salesperson through two serial-multiple me-diation paths: 1) Supplier CSRR → CCB → salesperson depersonalization → salesperson emotional exhaustion, 2) Supplier CSRR → long-term orientation → salesperson personal accomplishment → salesperson emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the direct effect of supplier CSRR on salesperson emotional exhaustion was not significant. To the best of the author's knowledge, these findings are the first to demonstrate the underlying mechanism by which B2B supplier CSR lowers emotional exhaustion of B2B salesperson. This study provided theoretical and practical implications for supplier CSR in the B2B context by considering not only the customer's positive perception and responses but also the salesperson burnout at the same time.

1. Theoretical Implications

B2B salespersons are frontline personnel who perform boundary-spanning roles, and the interaction process with customers acts as a significant influence on emotion and job performance[8]. Therefore, by understanding the effects of CSR on the interactions between customers and salespersons, we can ultimately analyze more precisely the effects of supplier CSRR on salespersons. As far as the author knows, this study is the first to present a conceptual model for the supplier CSR from the perspective of B2B salesperson burnout. Moreover, the dyadic process by which the supplier CSRR affects the B2B salesperson was empirically confirmed. Therefore, this study contributes to broadening theoretical understanding by suggesting dyadic model.

Next, results of the study reinforced the theoretical understanding of how supplier CSR positively affects customer attitudes and behavioral intentions. As attachment theory explained, supplier CSRR increased CCB, which is a voluntary and discretionary friendly behavior of customers. Based on exchange theory, this study showed that supplier CSR enhances customers long-term orientation by being recognized as the reciprocity a supplier provides to society as a whole. Also, as explained in the theory of organizing, the author revealed that CCB and long-term orientation affect salesperson depersonalization and personal accomplishment by being used as a vital cue to help them interpret customer situations. In sum, this study provided a theoretical basis for strengthening our understanding of how a supplier CSRR reduces salesperson burnout in the interaction between a customer and a salesperson.

Finally, the author developed the conceptual model in which depersonalization and personal accomplishment affect emotional exhaustion, respectively. These effect paths are the same as the salesperson burnout model suggested by Lewin and Sagar[8]. The burnout of B2B salespersons followed the salesperson burnout model of Lewin and Sagar[8]. Accordingly, the results reinforced the theoretical basis for follow-up studies on salesperson burnout in the B2B context.

2. Practical Implications

Recently, the importance of ESG has been emphasized more than ever in the overall business management. Considering this change, the significant practical contribution of this study is that it proved that the B2B supplier CSR positively affects the company's performance. Therefore, the results of this study strongly suggested reasons why B2B suppliers should adopt CSR more actively and strategically. As the commonly accepted the fact that customer long-term orientation directly affects supplier performance in B2B transactions, suppliers should manage CSRR as a key factor in their sales and marketing performance.

Second, it provided implications for managing salesperson burnout. The results of this study more specifically revealed how to manage a salesperson's emotions by using CSR. High supplier CSRR could minimize emotional exhaustion of salesperson. Thus, suppliers can support the B2B salesperson by strategic CSR communication.

In a similar vein, the B2B brand management strategy also needs to change. It needs to pay attention to non-economic factors that emphasize corporate social responsibility to build a socially pro-social brand image.

3. Limitations and Further Research

This study has several limitations as follows. Above all, the characteristics of B2B products were not taken into consideration. The four suppliers in this sample are Korean mobility manufacturing companies. They share typical characteristics of B2B products in that they sell products with high purchase volumes, price, and complexity. Even in B2B markets, the product characteristics could be different. Thus there is a possibility that the impact of supplier CSR on salespersons could be different according to product characteristics. Therefore, in follow-up studies, it is necessary to generalize the results of this study by expanding the industry group or product group.

Second, it is also necessary to check whether economic factors control the effects of supplier CSR. Since this study is almost the first study to analyze the effects of supplier CSR on salespersons using dyadic methods, the author focused on elucidating the process of generating the CSR effects. Nevertheless, economic factors such as price and quality are recognized as essential in B2B purchase decision-making[3]. Therefore, if future researches expand the research model to include economic factors, it will provide richer theoretical and practical implications.

Third, it is possible to use CSRR scores provided by objective third-party professional institutions. CSRR could be subjectively evaluated due to individual factors such as the degree of CSR involvement of purchasing managers. Published superior CSR scores affect the stakeholders' evaluation of CSRR. Therefore, from a strategic point of view, if we understand the impact of external organizations' CSR scores on CSRR, perceptual, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes of customers and salespersons, it can provide meaningful implications for CSR investment and marketing communication utilization in B2B context.

Finally, it is worth considering implementing a longitudinal study design to find the effects of customer-salesperson interaction change. Previous scholars suggest that it is meaningful to measure CSRR as a change in one firm's reputation. Recently, many B2B suppliers have recognized the effects of CSR and then they are actively increasing the investments. However, suppliers should realize that CSR may have a carryover effect over a long period. If not, there is a risk of falling into a short-sighted point of view. Therefore, shedding light on the change in CSR effect over time through a longitudinal study will be a meaningful research topic in the field of B2B CSR.

Appendix