Servant leadership in marketing: A critical review and a model of creativity-effects

Leadership styles have profound effects on marketing outcomes. One style of leadership, which attracts increasing attention in general leadership research as well as in marketing, is servant leadership (SL). We present the first systematic literature review of the effects of SL on marketing outcomes, including publications in marketing-indexed journals over the past 52 years. Four streams of marketing research on SL-effects are identified. Analyses of relevant articles reveal important gaps in the literature and provide directions for future research. A major gap is the lack of studies on the effects of SL on marketing creativity. We suggest that SL is more conducive to creativity in marketing organizations than other common styles of leadership and develop a conceptual model for future research on SL-effects on marketer creativity.