AMTP Proceedings 2026

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Abstract

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, firms rely on customer delight for success. The physical and emotional toll on “Road Warrior” salespeople often acts as a barrier to this goal. This research proposes a model connecting antecedents (burnout) and outcomes (sales performance) via the salesperson's ability to create customer delight.

Employing a quantitative design with B2B salespeople traveling over 50% of the time, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to test hypothesized relationships. It is hypothesized that emotional exhaustion negatively impacts the capacity to create delight, subsequently lowering sales performance. Crucially, sales manager support is expected to moderate this relationship, acting as a buffer against resource depletion. Practically, this highlights the need to manage the “hidden costs” of travel friction to protect revenue. This study offers originality by evaluating the capacity to create delight as a finite resource depleted by road warrior burnout.

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