Turning Employees Into Brand Champions: LEADERSHIP STYLE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Abstract How can managers elicit brand-building behaviors on the part of frontline employees? When comparing brand-specific “transactional” and “transformational” leadership styles, the latter clearly outperforms the former. Transactional leaders influence followers through a process of compliance, leading to increased turnover intentions and a decrease in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. In contrast, brand-specific transformational leaders influence followers through a process of internalization, leading to decreased turnover intentions and an increase in in-role and extra-role brand-building behaviors. When combined, however, a medium level of transactional leadership maximizes the positive effects of transformational leadership.