My research examines how firm communication, data practices, and regulatory environments shape stakeholder perceptions and market outcomes. I focus on settings where information is incomplete or ambiguous, and where firm actions and language serve as signals of strategic intent, risk, or responsibility.
Across projects, I study how privacy regulation and strategic managerial communication influence consumer trust, investor attention, and firm behavior. My work combines theory from marketing strategy, information economics, and psychology to address questions that are substantively important to managers and policymakers.
Research Overview
Published Research
1. Can words speak louder than actions? Using top management teams’ language to predict myopic marketing spending
Martin, A., & Kushwaha, T. (2024)
Journal of Marketing, 88(6), 140–161
🔗 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222429241244804
Uses linguistic analysis of nearly 25,000 earnings call transcripts to predict myopic marketing spending up to one year in advance, reducing information asymmetry for investors and boards.
Finalist for the 2024 Shelby D. Hunt and Harold H. Maynard Award
Finalist for the 2024 AMA and Marketing Science Institute H. Paul Root Award
2. Speaking your language, the psychological impact of dialect integration in artificial intelligence systems
Martin, A., & Jenkins, K. (2024)
Current Opinion in Psychology, 58, 101840
🔗 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2024.101840
Proposes that personalized AI dialects enhance user perceptions of warmth, competence, and authenticity, strengthening trust and loyalty across text, voice, and video AI modalities.
3. How Managers Can Benefit from Multi-Modal AI Business Companions
Finkenstadt DJ, Govindarajan V, Martin A, Eapen TT. (2024)
California Management Review Insights
🔗 https://cmr.berkeley.edu/2024/06/how-managers-can-benefit-from-multi-modal-ai-business-companions/
Provides a practical framework for building AI-powered business companions that help managers apply publication insights to real-world decision-making.
Papers Under Review
6. Rethinking Signaling Credibility: A Theory of Organizational Signaling on Racial Equity Following Racial Mega-Events.
Creary, S., Seegars, L., Bilgin, B., & Martin, A.
Revise and Resubmit at the Academy of Management Journal
Develops a process theory of organizational allyship claims, using text analysis of four years of Fortune 100 public disclosures.
8.Multichannel Brand Management in the Age of AI: Fact, Fiction, and Future Directions
Bei, Z., Martin, A., Rajavi, K., & Kushwaha, T.
Invited thought-leader paper, Revise and Resubmit at the Journal of Retailing
Develops a framework showing how generative, analytical, and autonomous AI reshape brand management across direct, indirect, and shared channel environments.
Working Papers
4. Privacy Protection or Privacy Priming? The Effects of U.S. State Data Privacy Regulations on Brand Perceptions
Martin, A., Gielens, K., & Kushwaha, T.
Targeting Journal of Marketing
Finds that state data privacy regulations, despite their consumer-protective intent, deteriorate brand perceptions across all funnel stages using a quasi-experimental design across five states.
5. Impact of Privacy Data Breaches on Brand Funnel Metrics: Mitigation Role of Firm Recovery Strategies
Martin, A., Gielens, K., & Kushwaha, T.
Targeting Journal of Marketing
Analyzes how six crisis response communication strategies in data breach notification letters affect brand impression, consideration, and satisfaction over time..
7. What Gets Noticed? Investor Attention and Stock Market Reactions to Financial vs. Marketing Disclosures.
Martin, A., Song, R., Park, E., & Kushwaha, T.
Targeting Journal of Marketing
Examines how investor attention shapes stock market reactions to marketing versus financial disclosures, finding that unexpected marketing disclosures generate stronger and less efficient price discovery.
Research in Progress
9. Learning effects of Multiple Data Breaches on Focal and Industry Peers
Martin, A., Bhattacharya, A., Soltaninejad, A, Bauer, C., & Forkmann, S.
This project examines what and how focal and industry peers learn after experiencing multiple data breaches.
10. Funnel Talk: Bridging Industry Anecdotes, Academic Theory, and the Language of B2B Success with Data,
Siri C., Martin, A., Brau B.
This project examines thousands of CRM email sales communications to empirically determine successful strategies for traversing the sales funnel.
11. Martin, A, Dan, D., & Schweidel, D, User Experiences with AI Chat Systems
This project investigates user experience when interacting with a Voice vs. Text Chatbot in high pressure scenarios, via a custom created chatbot and field study
12. Whitler, K, Martin, A, & Germann, F. Responsible Retailing from a CMO and firm-strategy perspective.
This project investigates an executive perspective on Responsible Retailing via interviews and text analysis of firm communication and reports.
13. CHEN Yifeng, N., Meng, J, Martin, A., Qi, C., & Crant, M., Proactivity and ESG from Executive Conversations
This project investigates the proactivity and their impact on ESG based on audio analysis of quarterly earnings calls.