Expertise

Research Interests

  • Marketing strategy topics at the firm, employee, and consumer levels with a focus on the following substantive areas:
    • Customer Loyalty and Relationship Marketing – Understanding the nature of the bonds between customers and firms and the strategic marketing actions firms can employ to increase these bonds, advocacy, and spending. 
    • Customer Experience Management - Understanding the dynamics of the entire customer experience including the impact of employees, other customers, and the retail environment on customer evaluations of the experience and loyalty.
    • Digital Marketing - Assessing the impact of consumer generated content on product performance, digital advertising effectiveness, and the digital consumer journey.
    • Personal Selling and Sales Management: Understanding the role of salesperson traits on sales performance, customer success management, ambidextrous sales behaviors, and the role of technology in the sales funnel. 

Clay's research focuses on the explanation and management of the dynamics of social exchange and social influence. Within this theoretical umbrella, he focuses on projects related to customer experience management and relationship marketing, often in service contexts.

Affiliations

Assistant Professor, Global Marketing Group

Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University

Professor, Department of Marketing, Culverhouse College of Business, University of Alabama

Ph.D. Program in Marketing, Department of Marketing, Culverhouse College of Business, University of Alabama

Center for Services Leadership, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University Polytechnic Campus, Arizona State University

Past Affiliations

Research Assistant, Marketing

Communities
Marketing, Marketing, Management
Degrees
PhD, Florida State University, Business Administration, 2006
BS, Ithaca College, Business Administration and Marketing, 2001
Keywords
business administration marketing
Honors

College of Business' TA Teaching Award (Teaching Award), College of Business (Florida State University), 2006-2006

Electronic Media Officer, American Marketing Association's SERVSIG, 2005-2006

Liam Glynn Scholarship (Most Promising Young Scholar in Services), American Marketing Association's Services Special Interest Group, 2005-2005

AMA Doctoral Consortium Fellow (Doctoral Fellow), American Marketing Association (University of Connecticut), 2005-2005

Communications Officer, American Marketing Association's SERVSIG, 2004-2005

Chair of New Member Development Committee, American Marketing Association's DOCSIG, 2003-2004

Webmaster, American Marketing Association's SERVSIG, 2002-2006

Associations
Academy of Marketing Science
American Marketing Association