Is More Always Better? An Investigation into the Relationship between Marketing Influence and Managers' Market Intelligence Dissemination

How does the influence of the marketing department within an organization affect marketing managers' dissemination of market intelligence (i.e., knowledge about customer needs and competitor activities) to managers of other departments? Three studies with 711 executive managers and integrated survey and experimental data offer insights. Rather than the positive relationship indicated by conventional wisdom, the study results indicate a curvilinear, inverted U-shaped effect of marketing's influence on marketing managers' dissemination of market intelligence. Managers in a marketing department with moderate influence within the organization are significantly more likely to disseminate market intelligence than are those in low and, interestingly, those in high influence departments. This finding adds nuance to the existing body of knowledge showing countervailing effects of a strong marketing department and implies that executives need to carefully manage the organization's culture to ensure well-balanced influences of the marketing department in relation to other corporate functions.