University at Buffalo School of Management

Spring 2017 Buffalo Business 21 Published in Leadership Quarterly, the study examined how gender and personal- ity affected who took leadership roles. In both temporary and long-term work teams with more men than women, the research- ers found that as the group became more social, women were more likely than men to seize leadership opportunities. "Groups choose a leader based on who best exemplifies their shared values. For ex- ample, in sports, the captain is often the best athlete," says Jim Lemoine, assistant professor of organization and human re- sources. "Our results indicate that when work teams value communication and in- crease their interactions with one another, women may have a leadership advantage." The researchers randomly assigned nearly 1,000 participants of varying ages to small groups and asked them to rate who emerged as leaders after performing a series of tasks. Interestingly, collaboration did not impact which gender emerged as lead- ers in teams with more women. Lemoine says their findings have im- plications for the masculine C-suites in many corporations, particularly given re- cent studies by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Ernst & Young that found more women in man- agement positions corresponded to higher profits. "Companies need to take a hard look at their processes and culture," he says. "When teams foster a culture of open com- munication and teamwork, it allows new leaders to step forward and diverse perspec- tives to be heard." Lemoine worked on the study with Ishani Aggarwal, assistant professor in the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration, and Laurens Bujold Steed, doctoral candidate at Georgia Institute of Technology. x How social media impacts consumer spending For businesses using social media, posts with high engagement have the greatest impact on customer spending, according to new research from the School of Management. Published in the Jour- nal of Marketing, the study assessed social media posts for sentiment (positive, neutral or negative), popularity (engagement) and customers' likelihood to use social media, and found the popularity of a social media post had the greatest effect on purchases. "A neutral or even negative social me- dia post with high engagement will impact sales more than a positive post that draws no likes, comments or shares," says study co-author Ram Bezawada, associate profes- sor of marketing. "This is true even among customers who say their purchase decisions are not swayed by what they read on social media." The researchers studied data from a large specialty retailer with multiple loca- tions in the northeast United States. They combined data about customer participa- tion on the company's social media page with in-store purchases before and after the retailer's social media engagement efforts. They also conducted a survey to determine customers' attitudes toward technology and social media. In addition, the study found that busi- nesses' social posts significantly strength- en the effect of traditional television and email marketing efforts. When social media is combined with TV marketing, customer spending increased by 1.03 per- cent and cross buying by 0.84 percent. When combined with email marketing, customer spending increased by 2.02 percent and cross buying by 1.22 percent. Cross buying refers to when a customer purchases additional products or services from the same firm. "The clear message here is that social media marketing matters, and managers should embrace it to build relationships with customers," says Bezawada. "Devel- oping a community with a dedicated fan base can lead to a definitive impact on rev- enues and profits." Bezawada collaborated on the project with Ashish Kumar, assistant professor of marketing, Aalto University; Rishika Rishi- ka, clinical assistant professor of marketing, University of South Carolina; Ramkumar Janakiraman, associate professor of market- ing, University of South Carolina; and P.K. Kannan, Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Mar- keting Science, University of Maryland. x Bezawada

• Cover