Marketing instructor, program champion's research wins award at national conference

Emory Serviss, Marketing Department Program Champion and instructor in the Harbert College of Business, was a big winner at the 2020 Society for Marketing Advances. or SMA, Conference.

Serviss’ co-authored paper, “Communication Alignment in Sales: The Role of Emotional Intelligence,” not only won Best Paper in the conference’s Business-to-Business Track competition, it also won the prestigious Steven J. Shaw & Joe Hair Best Paper Award.

“These are awards that many scholars strive to receive throughout the duration of their careers,” said Chris Hopkins, Chair of Marketing at the Harbert College. “Thus, it is an unprecedented accomplishment for one who is still in their doctoral program. We are both proud and honored to have Emory as part of the Marketing Department and the Harbert College of Business.”

Working with co-authors Amanda Ledet and Jennifer Henderson, both instructors at LSU, the study revealed that the success of a sales encounter is dependent upon a salesperson’s ability to effectively choose the appropriate communication platform toward a customer. Failing to use a customer’s preferred communication platform can lead to customer displeasure and alienation–ultimately causing a decrease in customer loyalty.

“This research topic is important because business people want trusted advisors to help them sort out specific problems and determine specific solutions that can be implemented quickly and efficiently,” said Serviss, who is pursuing a doctorate in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the University of South Alabama. “This is only possible when the salesperson and the customer are communicating effectively which can be challenging when technology is involved.

“We were honored that the manuscript we submitted, through a double-blind review process, won Best Paper in the Business-to-Business track and was selected as the Steven J. Shaw & Joe Hair Best Paper conference winner. Since we are PhD students, and there were submissions from seasoned faculty members and researchers from around the world, we were quite shocked when hearing the news.”

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