Creative Meta-Skills: Construct, Dimensions and Implications for Marketing Professionals

Creative skills are often regarded as a vital asset for marketing professionals. Unprecedented technology-driven shifts have further accentuated the need for creativity in marketing. However, scholars and practitioners’ understanding of the capabilities required to acquire creative skills is lacking, which is a matter of concern given the importance of these capabilities and creativity in marketing. Our study thus aims to address the following research questions: (1) What are creative meta-skills (i.e. capabilities required to acquire creative skills)? and (2) How is this construct related to other relevant constructs? In addressing these questions, we define the construct of creative meta-skills, anchored in flow theory and delineate its dimensions – that is, creative growth mindset, diligence and openness to feedback. Further, using the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, we relate creative meta-skills to creative performance through creative personal identity (CPI) and creative self-efficacy (CSE) and empirically test this relationship via two studies. Theoretically, this paper contributes to the literature on meta-skills and creativity in marketing (CiM) by refining the construct of creative meta-skills and by providing a conceptual framework. This topic will be a valuable addition to the marketing curriculum. Further, firms can use this study’s insights to enhance their marketing professionals’ creativity quotient. The hiring process for creative industries/roles would benefit by considering creative meta-skills, CPI and CSE in the evaluation criteria. The paper ends with a note on its own limitations and directions for future research.