Creativity is a major success factor for marketing organizations, but little is known about the relative impact of different styles of leadership on marketing creativity. The purpose of this study was to study experimentally the distinctive effects of four contemporary leadership styles (servant-, transformational-, transactional- and laissez-faire leadership) on two dimensions of marketing creativity (i.e. originality and relevancy of brand slogans).
In this experimental study, the authors use a sample of 526 marketing professionals to test hypotheses on the comparative effects of four leadership styles on the originality and relevancy of 1.733 generated slogans for a new brand, scored by a panel of marketing professionals. To test the hypotheses, the authors use a multi-categorical structural equation modeling technique. Robustness checks suggest that the findings are not sensitive to age, gender, education or culture.
The results show that leadership-effects on marketing creativity can be meaningfully tested using an experimental design. Specifically, the findings show that active leadership styles (servant, transformational and transactional) stimulate more creativity than passive leadership (laissez-faire). Among the active leadership styles, the authors find that servant leadership is a stronger predictor of marketing creativity than transformational and transactional leadership styles.
Randomized experiments make it possible to draw causal conclusions about the relative effect of leadership styles (Podsakoff and Podsakoff, 2019). However, there are also limitations with experimental studies. Inspired by Van Dierendonck et al. (2014) the authors used “imaginative scenarios” to manipulate leadership style. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in the role of an employee reporting to a leader described in the scenario. Compared to real experience of leadership, this is a relatively weak (but precise) manipulation of leadership style.
Marketing organizations looking for new managers to supervise creative marketing activities should look for candidates with a servant leadership style and avoid laissez-faire leaders. Internal leader programs for marketing managers should enhance servant leadership skills and the ability to stimulate psychological safety. Marketing programs at business schools should develop the same skill sets in students. Theoretical knowledge is not sufficient. Educators need to assist students in developing a serving identity and form personal goals to be a servant leader.
Servant leadership has a positive effect on marketing creativity and this effect is mediated by psychological safety. This means that marketing employees feel more free to use their creative talents when their leader practice servant leadership. This effect of servant leadership is likely correlated with commitment and job satisfaction. Thus, servant leadership contributes to social sustainability of marketing organizations.
To the best of the authors knowledge, this study is the first to compare the effects of several major leadership styles on marketing creativity using experimental design and experts to rate the originality and relevance of real marketing ideas. For the first time it is shown empirically that servant leadership has a stronger effect on marketing creativity than other major styles of leadership, including transformational leadership.
