Changes of Work Environments and Adaptations of Japanese Sales and Marketing Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how sales and marketing professionals (SMPs) experienced changes in their work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they tried to adapt to these changes. We analyzed data from two questionnaire surveys conducted for 3,073 workers from mid-April to late July 2020. The results show several differences between SMPs and other workers. First, from a psychological perspective, there was no difference in the levels of anxiety between SMPs and other workers in the April survey, but there was a significant difference in the July survey, as anxiety among SMPs decreased in the interval. Second, in terms of job characteristics, the dependence of the jobs of SMPs on others (proximity) decreased significantly from April to July. Third, regarding adaptive behavior, SMPs engaged more in exploratory behavior at both time points. Furthermore, the results revealed that job characteristics such as role clarity, job discretion, and dependence on others for job performance, as well as changes in these characteristics and the implementation of remote work, had impacts on the adaptive behavior of SMPs. Finally, implications for the continuous transformation of the jobs of SMPs in the pandemic age are suggested.