The Antecedent Role of Leadership Styles on IMC and Business Performance: Empirical Evidence from Japanese Firms

Objectives: In today’s competitive business environment, understanding the role of leadership in marketing is critical. This paper examines how managers’ leadership styles influence integrated marketing communication (IMC) activities and their impact on business performance. It aims to identify how different leadership styles affect the effectiveness of IMC and to explore the mechanisms through which IMC drives financial and operational success. Methods: Data for this study were collected through an online survey conducted by Rakuten Insight from February 15 to 18, 2022. We empirically analyzed the effects of managerial leadership and IMC activities on business performance using the PLS model, targeting marketing managers responsible for IMC at companies listed in the 1st Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. A two-stage approach was used for direct path and mediation effect analysis with high-dimensional latent variables. Results: The analysis revealed that both transactional and transformational leadership styles of managers were statistically significant in relation to IMC activities. Furthermore, IMC activities were found to be statistically significant for campaign effectiveness (CE) and brand market performance (BMP). However, IMC and CE did not directly influence financial performance (FP). Instead, they significantly influenced FP through BMP. Conclusions: In light of these findings, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications, limitations of the study, and potential avenues for future research. This study underscores the importance of leadership in shaping effective marketing strategies and highlights the indirect pathways through which IMC activities contribute to financial success. Effective leadership is critical for leveraging IMC activities to improve overall Business performance.