Rajita Varma

My dissertation focusses on gender representation in top management teams and its impact on firms’ marketing decisions. In the first essay, I explore how female CMOs’ marketing decisions differ from their male counterparts. Here, I examine the impact of gender differences on risky marketing decisions such as new product introductions, myopic marketing practices and advertising intensity. Further, I examine moderating conditions under which female CMOs’ may undertake more/less risky marketing decisions as well as try to uncover the underlying mechanisms which may drive these gender differences. In the second essay, I look at the role of gender in top management teams and their impact on a firm’s communication strategy across advertising, owned social media, print and press releases.