phd of marketing

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PhD Programs in Marketing

The AMA helps potential doctoral students find the right program for them by maintaining a global list of PhD and DBA-granting institutions that offer the opportunity to specialize in marketing. If you would like your institution added to the list below, please email [email protected].

Current doctoral students may find helpful resources via the AMA DocSIG and PhD students who are going on the market should check out the AMA Transitions Guide or learn about Academic Placement at the Summer Academic Conference .

• ​Chinese University of Hong Kong  
• City University of Hong Kong 
• Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 
• Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
• JK Business School
• Lingnan University​​
• Management Development Institute  
• Nanyang Technological University ​
• National University of Singapore  
• Aston Business School
• Athens University of Economics & Business  
• Bilkent University 
• Bocconi University  
• Boğaziçi University
• Cardiff University  
• City, University London  
• Copenhagen Business School
• Cranfield University  
• Erasmus Research Institute of Management  
• ESSEC Business School
• Frankfurt School of Finance & Management  
• Goethe-Universitaet Frankfurt  
• Grenoble Ecole de Management  
• HEC Paris  
• Hanken School of Economics  
• INSEAD 
• ICTE Business School  
• Kingston University  
• Koc University  
• Lancaster University  
• Loughborough University 
• Lausanne University  
• London Busines s School  
• Maastricht University  
• Manchester Business School  
• Nottingham University  
• Tilburg University  
• Umea University  
• University of Bradford
• University College Dublin 
• University of Cologne​
• University of Exeter  
• University of Glasgow  
• University of Grenoble  
• University of Groningen
• University of Guelph  
• University of Liverpool  
• University of Mannheim
• University of Muenster
• University of Navarra, IESE  
• University of St. Gallen 
• University of Southern Denmark  
• University of Stirling​
• University of Strathclyde 
• University of Valencia  
• VU University Amsterdam 
• Wilfrid Laurier University 
• Warwick Business School 
• Yeditepe University
• Carleton University  
• Concordia University 
• HEC Montréal  
• Laval University  
• McGill University
• McMaster University  
• Queen’s University
• Simon Fraser University 
• University of Alberta 
• University of British Columbia 
• University of Calgary
• University of Manitoba​
• University of Toronto  
• Western University  
• York University ​

Australia and New Zealand

• Bond University 
• Deakin University
• Griffith University​ 
• La Trobe University  
• Macquarie Graduate School of Management 
• Melbourne Business School  
• Monash University 
• Queensland University of Technology 
• Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 
• University of Adelaide 
• University of Ballarat 
• University of Canterbury​
• University of Melbourne 
• University of Newcastle 
• University of New South Wales  
• University of Otago 
• University of South Australia  
• University of Sydney 
• University of Technology, Sydney  
• University of Western Australia 
• University of Wollongong

United States of America

• Arizona State University  
• Bentley University  
• Boston University 
• Carnegie Mellon University 
• City University of New York (Baruch College) 
• Cleveland State University 
• Cornell University 
• Columbia University  
• Drexel University  
• Duke University  
• Emory University  
• Florida Atlantic University  
• Florida International University 
• Florida State University
• Fordham University  
• George Washington University 
• Georgia Institute of Technology  
• Georgia State University 
• Grand Canyon University  
• Harvard University  
• Indiana University  
• Iowa State University  
• Kennesaw University 
• Kent State University  
• Louisiana State University
• Louisiana Tech University  
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology  
• Michigan State University  
• Mississippi State University 
• Morgan State University 
• New Mexico State University 
• New York University  
• Northwestern University  
• The Ohio State University 
• Oklahoma State University  
• Old Dominion University
• Pace University  
• Pennsylvania State University  
• Purdue University  
• Rutgers University  
• Saint Louis University 
• Southern Illinois University  
• Stanford University  
• State University of New York, ​Binghamton  
• Syracuse University 
• Temple University  
• Texas A & M University  
• Texas Tech University 
• University of Alabama 
• University of Arizona  
• University of Arkansas 
• University at Buffalo  
• University of California, Berkeley  
• University of California, Irvine  
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, San Diego  
• University of Central Florida 
• University of Chicago 
• University of Cincinnati 
• University of Colorado at Boulder  
• University of Connecticut  
• University of Florida  
• University of Georgia 
• University of Hawaii at Manoa  
• University of Houston  
• University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign 
• University of Illinois at Chicago 
• University of Iowa  
• University of Kansas 
• University of Kentucky 
• University of Maryland  
• University of Massachusetts – Amherst
• University of Massachusetts – Lowell  
• University of Memphis  
• University of Miami 
• University of Michigan  
• University of Minnesota  
• University of Mississippi  
• University of Missouri 
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln  
• University of North Carolina 
• University of North Texas 
• University of Oklahoma 
• University of Oregon  
• University of Pennsylvania  
• University of Pittsburgh 
• University of Rhode Island 
• University of Rochester  
• University of South Carolina  
• University of Southern California  
• University of South Florida  
• University of Tennessee 
• University of Texas – Arlington 
• University of Texas at Austin – Marketing 
• University of Texas – Dallas 
• University of Texas – El Paso​
• University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley  
• University of Texas – San Antonio 
• University of Utah  
• University of Virginia 
• University of Washington  
• University of Wisconsin-Madison 
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 
• University of Wyoming  
• Vanderbilt University 
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University  
• Washington State University  
• Washington University in St. Louis  
• West Virginia University 
• Yale University  
• Wayne State University  ​​​

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MARKETING PH.D.

VIBRANT, SMART, AND CURIOUS

Over the last ten years, 100 percent of marketing Ph.D. students have accepted academic positions upon graduating, thanks in large part to faculty mentors at the top of their game.

Quick Links

• Ph.D. Program
• Why McCombs
• Marketing Department

RESEARCH BREADTH

The world is your laboratory.

ACADEMIC LIFE AT McCOMBS

Mentorship and practice.

CAREER PLACEMENT

The world needs you, application deadline.

The application deadline for the Marketing Doctoral Program is December 15th.

Extraordinary business and economic growth have ushered in exciting times in our Marketing Department, with many graduates starting their careers at the world's leading research institutions. The program's primary goal is to develop students into skilled researchers and future leaders in academia by creating and disseminating marketing knowledge that reshapes the marketplace.

Consumer Behavior

Research focuses on issues related to the acquisition and retention of consumers and consumers' consumption of goods, services, ideas, and experiences. The research both relies on and contributes to theory in marketing, psychology, sociology, and economics and has practical relevance, answering questions that inform and improve marketing and public policy decisions and individual-level consumer well-being.

Marketing Strategy

Research focuses on issues related to firms' strategies and behaviors, including topics such as innovation management, sales force management, distribution channels, market entry strategy, technology strategy, new venture marketing, customer relationship management, and marketing metrics. The research spotlights substantive real-world problems, and generally, the insights from marketing strategy research have direct and actionable implications for marketing practice.

Quantitative Marketing

Research focuses on developing theoretical models and empirical methods for applied marketing problems, drawing from economic theory, statistics, econometrics, and computer science to uncover novel insights, challenge existing theory, and advance marketing practice. The research, combining computational advances, fruitful collaborations with industry, and explosive growth in data availability, along with strong student demand for analytical training, portends a fulfilling academic career for those interested in quantitative marketing.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES

A wide variety of research designs is used, and mastery of quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques is essential.

PREPARATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

The Texas McCombs Marketing doctoral program assumes that students have taken advanced courses to establish a reasonable mathematical, statistics, and economics background. Adequate computer programming skills are necessary for coursework.

Prospective applicants are required to hold a four-year bachelor's degree (does not require a formal degree in the area of study) or equivalent before starting the program. There are no additional prerequisites or requirements for the Marketing department.

See Admissions for further information.

CAREER DESTINATIONS

The primary goal of the Texas McCombs Ph.D. program is to prepare students for exceptional academic careers. Over the last five years, McCombs Marketing Ph.D. alumni have excelled at top institutions globally.

Recent Graduate Placements

Current Students and *Job Market Candidates

Abbott, Paige

Alam, Meher

Basak, Somdatta,

Chavez Montes, Marcelino

Gautam, Aprajita

Ghosh, Robina

Niknejad Moghadam, Mahdi*

Nivsarkar, Anima

Shu, Runyang

Sridhar, Sachin

Urdaneta Romano, Constanza

Winer, Sarah

Wu, Xiaohan Jessica

Yu, Lingzhi

Zhang, Zhengwei (Harrison)

Paige Abbott

Somdatta Basak

Marcelino Chavez

Aprajita Gautam

Robina Ghosh

Mahdi niknejad moghadam*.

Anima Nivsarkar

Runyang Shu

Sachin Sridhar

Constanza Urdaneta Romano

Sarah Wiener

Xiaohan (Jessica) Wu

Zhengwei (Harrison) Zhang

ARE YOU READY TO CHANGE THE WORLD?

The Texas McCombs Doctoral Program is seeking individuals who are interested in transforming the global marketplace. Are you one of these future thought leaders?

About / Departments

Marketing Department | Ph.D. Program in Marketing

Ph.d. program in marketing.

The Marketing Department at New York University's Stern School of Business offers a doctoral program that is widely recognized for the great success of its graduates. It has a large and distinguished faculty working in a diverse set of research areas from both behavioral and quantitative perspectives. Stern's Marketing Ph.D. program is extremely selective and, once accepted, students benefit from the faculty's dedication to ensuring a positive and productive doctoral experience. The department fosters a nurturing environment with close collaboration between doctoral students and faculty members. By the time students graduate, most have published in leading journals such as the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research or Marketing Science. For example, 25% of our faculty publications in the last three years have been with doctoral students, past and present. Although the primary focus of the program is the development of top researchers, Stern doctoral students also receive extensive training for teaching and begin their first academic appointments well prepared for the classroom. The fact that we have one of the top-rated Ph.D. programs in the country is also evidenced by our placements of our doctoral students as faculty at top business schools (e.g., Harvard, Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Florida, Michigan). The tenure, publication, and teaching records of our doctoral students are outstanding. All of these activities give Stern Marketing an important role in mentoring the future leaders of our field.

Faculty Contact for Marketing PhD Program

Recent Dissertations

Explore stern phd.

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Which program is right for you?

Through intellectual rigor and experiential learning, this full-time, two-year MBA program develops leaders who make a difference in the world.

Earn your MBA and SM in engineering with this transformative two-year program.

A rigorous, hands-on program that prepares adaptive problem solvers for premier finance careers.

A 12-month program focused on applying the tools of modern data science, optimization and machine learning to solve real-world business problems.

Combine an international MBA with a deep dive into management science. A special opportunity for partner and affiliate schools only.

A doctoral program that produces outstanding scholars who are leading in their fields of research.

Bring a business perspective to your technical and quantitative expertise with a bachelor’s degree in management, business analytics, or finance.

Apply now and work for two to five years. We'll save you a seat in our MBA class when you're ready to come back to campus for your degree.

Executive Programs

The 20-month program teaches the science of management to mid-career leaders who want to move from success to significance.

A full-time MBA program for mid-career leaders eager to dedicate one year of discovery for a lifetime of impact.

A joint program for mid-career professionals that integrates engineering and systems thinking. Earn your master’s degree in engineering and management.

Non-degree programs for senior executives and high-potential managers.

A non-degree, customizable program for mid-career professionals.

Marketing addresses problems that organizations face in seeking to provide products and services that satisfy customers' demands. Students are expected to acquire a solid grasp of behavior and management science theory and method through their coursework. Relevant disciplines include behavioral science, economics, operations research, and statistics. Through workshops, seminars, and applied and theoretical research with faculty, candidates gain experience that is the prerequisite for independent work.

PhD candidates work alongside MIT Sloan's world-renowned marketing faculty. The pioneering research of MIT Sloan faculty in building and implementing marketing models and decision-support systems has enhanced new product development for decades. Other award-winning research projects focus on customer satisfaction and the psychological underpinnings of economic and consumer behavior.

Marketing Faculty

More Information

Marketing Graduates

Example Thesis Topics

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• MBA Programs
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• PhD in Accounting
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PhD in Marketing

• Joint Program in Financial Economics
• Joint Program in Psychology and Business
• Joint PhD/JD Program

Develop your research skills in consumer behavior or economics/quantitative methods and prepare for a career at a leading research institution.

Our Marketing PhD Program gives you a strong theoretical foundation and builds your empirical skills.

You’ll have the flexibility to explore marketing through Chicago Booth while taking courses across the university in psychology , sociology , economics , computer science , and statistics . You’ll also have access to computer science courses at Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC) .

The doctoral program defines marketing broadly as the study of the interface between firms, competitors, and consumers. This includes but is not limited to consumer preferences, consumer demand and decision-making, strategic interaction of firms, pricing, promotion, targeting, product design/positioning, and channel issues.

Our Distinguished Marketing Faculty

Chicago Booth’s marketing faculty serve as advisors, mentors, and collaborators to doctoral students.

Daniel Bartels

Leon Carroll Marshall Professor of Marketing

Pradeep K. Chintagunta

Joseph T. and Bernice S. Lewis Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing

Giovanni Compiani

Assistant Professor of Marketing

Sanjay K. Dhar

James M. Kilts, Jr. Professor of Marketing

Berkeley J. Dietvorst

Associate Professor of Marketing

Kristin Donnelly

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Stevens Junior Faculty Fellow

Jean-Pierre Dubé

James M. Kilts Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Charles E. Merrill Faculty Scholar

Ayelet Fishbach

Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing

Guenter J. Hitsch

Kilts Family Professor of Marketing

Andreas Kraft

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Asness Faculty Fellow

Ann L. McGill

Sears Roebuck Professor of General Management, Marketing and Behavioral Science

Sanjog Misra

Charles H. Kellstadt Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Applied AI

Bradley Shapiro

Professor of Marketing and True North Faculty Scholar

Stephanie Smith

Avner Strulov-Shlain

Assistant Professor of Marketing and Willard Graham Faculty Scholar

Abigail Sussman

Professor of Marketing and Beatrice Foods Co. Faculty Scholar

Oleg Urminsky

Theodore O. Yntema Professor of Marketing

Alumni Success

PhD alumni in marketing go on to successful careers at top institutions of higher education across the world. 

Akshina Banerjee, PhD '23

Assistant Professor of Marketing Ross School of Business, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Akshina studies linguistic influence on consumer decision-making, hierarchical choices, and mental accounting. Her interests are, thus, inherently interdisciplinary, with overlaps in marketing, linguistics, economics, and psychology. Her dissertation area is in behavioral marketing.

Olivia Natan, PhD ’21

Assistant Professor of Marketing Haas School of Business, University of California-Berkeley Olivia Natan studies how limited information affects consumer demand and firm behavior. Her empirical work focuses on settings with large product assortments. Her dissertation area is in marketing.

A Network of Support

At Booth, you’ll have access to the resources of several research centers that help to fund marketing PhD research, host innovative conferences and workshops, and serve as focal points for collaboration and innovation.

James M. Kilts Center for Marketing The Kilts Center facilitates faculty research, supports innovations in the marketing curriculum, funds scholarships for MBA students, and creates engaging programs aimed at enhancing the careers of students and alumni.

Center for Decision Research Devoted to the study of how individuals form judgments and make decisions, the CDR supports research that examines the processes by which intuition, reasoning, and social interaction produce beliefs, judgments, and choices.

Scholarly Journals

Chicago Booth is responsible for the creation and leadership of some of the most prestigious academic journals today. Quantitative Marketing and Economics , for example, which focuses on problems important to marketing using a quantitative approach, was founded in 2003 by Peter E. Rossi, MBA ’80, PhD ’84.

See the full list of academic journals at Booth .

Spotlight on Current Research

Our faculty and PhD students continually produce high-level research. The Chicago Booth Review frequently highlights their contributions in marketing.

'Thank You Can Be a Loaded Phrase'

Depending on where you are in the world, this call could be welcomed—or considered strange or even rude, suggests research by Chicago Booth PhD student Jiaqi Yu and Booth’s Shereen Chaudhry.

Your Spending Habits Are All in Your Head

Booth Professor Daniel Bartels and Booth PhD [grad] Lin Fei have been examining how mental representation and the categorization of expenses are crucial to to people’s budgeting approaches.

Walter Zhang's BFI Industrial Organization Initiative Award

The Becker Friedman Institute will fund Zhang's research project, "Targeted Bundling" (coauthor: Olivia Natan, Booth PhD grad). Their project studies the pricing of digital goods and the potential for increased price targeting in differentiated product markets.

Can a Fictional Ad Man Help Sell Real Cigarettes?

How do depictions of tobacco use affect sales off-screen? Chicago Booth’s Pradeep K. Chintagunta and Sanjay K. Dhar, along with their coauthors Ali Goli (Booth PhD grad) and Simha Mummalaneni (UWashington), brought together several datasets to examine this question.

The PhD Experience at Booth

Rima Toure-Tillery, PhD ’13, talks about the Booth faculty’s open-door approach to PhD students.

Video Transcript

Rima Toure-Tillery, ’13: 00:00 I am assistant professor at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. And I am a motivation scholar. I study questions related to factors that influence people's motivation to persist in various types of goals.

Rima Toure-Tillery, ’13: 00:21 I think the PhD's very different from an MBA. You expect to be doing very different things when you're done. With a PhD most of us expect to conduct research, continue to ask deep questions, and just work on finding answers to those questions.

Rima Toure-Tillery, ’13: 00:35 Booth PhD Program is extremely rigorous. You're going to learn from the best. There's a good mix of letting you be in charge of your career and being independent, but also being extremely supportive. Most faculty have an open-door policy so you could just email someone, go to their office and start talking about a research idea. They're really going to help you develop the whole research approach, and thinking about ideas, and taking them from that really half-baked stage to something more advanced. Being able to approach whatever faculty I'm most interested in working with, I think that really permeated my whole time here.

Rima Toure-Tillery, ’13: 01:13 Being in the program really helped me see things in a different light. I really developed some new research interests as I learned more about what I didn't know. You can't solve problems that you don't even know existed. It's been a really amazing experience.

Meet Our Students

PhD students in marketing choose Chicago Booth because our multidisciplinary approach gives them the tools and training for a successful career. Recent dissertations have examined everything from customer retention and consumer purchasing decisions to the economics of retail food waste. Recent graduates have accepted positions at leading research institutions, including UCLA and Columbia University, and have gone on to data science careers in industry.

Current Students

Vanessa Alwan

Salman Arif Andrew Bai

Soaham Bharti

Samuel Borislow Jieyi Chen

Sara Drango

Fatemeh Gheshlaghpour

Nicholas (Nick) Herzog

Stephanie Hong

Quoc Dang Hung (Hung) Ho

Juan Mejalenko

Natalie Moore

Timothy Schwieg

Semyon Tabanakov Jiarui (Sophie) Wang

Ningyin (Ariel) Xu

Zhen Yuan Jiaqi Yu

Shuqiong (Lydia) Zhao Grace Zhang Jingyi Zhang

Program Expectations and Requirements

The Stevens Doctoral Program at Chicago Booth is a full-time program. Students generally complete the majority of coursework and examination requirements within the first two years of studies and begin work on their dissertation during the third year. For details, see General Examination Requirements by Area in the Stevens Program Guidebook below.

Download the 2023-2024 Guidebook!

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Program Requirements

• Program Requirements →

Below please find the program requirements for a students in Marketing . Doctoral students in Marketing generally complete the program in five years.

A minimum of 13 semester courses at doctoral level are required. Each semester students will consult with the Marketing faculty coordinators to receive approval of their course selections.

Students in the Marketing program choose one of the following sequences

Microeconomics

• Microeconomic Theory I (HBS 4010/Economics 2020a)
• Microeconomic Theory II (HBS 4011/Economics 2020b)
• Social Behavior in Organizations: Research Seminar (Psychology 2630)
• Advanced Social Psychology (Psychology 2500)

Students must take four research methods courses, including at least one course in research design.

Research methods courses that meet this requirement include, but are not limited to:

Quantitative Research Methods

Research Methods Courses

• Introduction to Econometrics (Economics 1123)
• Introduction to Applied Econometrics (Economics 2120); (prerequisite Economics 2110; the pre-req will count towards 4 course requirement)
• Econometric Methods II (Economics 2115)
• Advanced Applied Econometrics (Economics 2144)
• Industrial Organization (Economics 2610)
• Statistical Methods for Evaluating Causal Effects (Econ 1127)
• Advanced Quantitative Methods II (KSG API 210i)
• Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics (HKS API 222)
• Statsitical Machine Learning (Statistics 195)
• Probability Theory (Statistics 210)
• Statistical Inference (Statistics 211)
• Bayesian Data Analysis (Statistics 220)
• Incomplete Multivariate Data (Statistics 232)
• Sequential Decision Making (Statistics 234)
• Advanced Demand Modeling (MIT 1.205)
• Advanced Natural Language Processing (MIT 6.864)
• Bayesian Modeling Inference (MIT 6.435)
• Inference Causal Parameters (MIT 14.388)

Quantitative Research Design Courses

• Advanced Quantitative Research Methodology (Gov 2001)
• Program Evaluation: Estimating Program Effectiveness with Empirical Analysis (HKS API-208)

Consumer Behavior

• Intermediate Statistical Analysis in Psychology (Psychology 1950)
• Multivariate Analysis in Psychology (Psychology 1952)

Research Design Courses

• Design of Field Research Methods (HBS 4070)
• Experimental Methods (HBS 4435)
• Field Experiments (HBS 4430)

Marketing students are required to take five additional doctoral courses.

Quantitative-track students are required to complete:

• Consumer Behavior (HBS 4630)
• Marketing Models (HBS 4660)
• Two breadth courses
• Three elective doctoral courses

Consumer Behavior-track students are required to complete:

• Micro Topics in Organizational Behavior (HBS 4882)
• Behavioral Approaches to Decision Making and Negotiation (HBS 4420)
• One elective doctoral course

All students without an MBA degree are required to complete two case-based HBS MBA courses.

Students are strongly encouraged to attend and participate in seminars throughout their program. Students are expected to attend the Marketing Unit Seminars .

Good Academic Standing

To remain in good academic standing, doctoral students are expected to maintain a B grade point average.

Teaching Requirement

Students are required to complete a teaching engagement of one full academic term that includes at least 8 hours, or 3 class sessions, of front-of-class teaching experience and at least 16 hours of teaching preparation time.

Special Field Exam

Students are required to pass the Special Field Exam at the end of the second year or beginning of the third year. This exam has two parts: a written exam and an oral exam based on a research paper a student has written.

Dissertation Proposal

By the end of their third year, all students are required to obtain approval of their dissertation proposal by their Dissertation Chair.

Oral Examination

Students are required to complete a dissertation proposal oral examination. In evaluating the student’s performance at the orals, the Dissertation Committee will take into account the quality of the student’s oral presentation, the quality of the student’s responses to questions from the Dissertation Committee, and the written material prepared prior to the oral date.

Dissertation

Students are required to write a dissertation, which typically takes the form of three publishable papers, to the satisfaction of their Dissertation Committee. The dissertation defense is oral and open to the public.

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PhD Degree Program in Marketing

Marketing is fundamentally concerned with the description and prediction of decision outcomes involving all aspects of the firm that relate to its customers, competitors, distributors, and business regulators. Interest in description and prediction, in turn, is associated with the improvement of marketing decision making.

Marketing is an interdisciplinary field that draws upon theory and methodology from a wide variety of sources, including psychology, sociology, mathematics, statistics, and economics. Recent developments in the field include new methods and theories for understanding buyers’ perceptions and preferences, probabilistic choice models, models for allocating marketing resources,  econometric analysis of large data bases, and micro-economic models for marketing strategy.

The Wharton School’s Marketing Department has had a long tradition in the development of new research methodologies and the successful implementation of new decision models and techniques in the practice of marketing.

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Objectives of the program.

The program’s specific objectives are:

• To provide an interdisciplinary environment for the generation of creative ideas in marketing;
• To provide sufficient analytic skills for evaluation (and implementation) of these ideas, i.e., critical insight;
• To provide training in the communication of these ideas to others; and
• To encourage a type of cumulative contribution to the marketing field by a process of learning how to learn, i.e., the strategy of scholarly inquiry.

These objectives are implemented by means of a varied program of seminars, joint research projects, and colloquia.

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

The Wharton Doctoral Programs consist of two distinct phases: pre-candidacy and candidacy. In general, during the pre-candidacy phase the student completes

• the required coursework
• preliminary examinations
• any requirements imposed by the student’s specific Department or Program such as additional qualifying examinations and research papers.

Upon satisfying all of these requirements, the student applies in writing to their Department Ph.D. Faculty Coordinator for admission to candidacy. The Coordinator will review the student’s record and make a recommendation to the Vice Dean. Upon approval by the Vice Dean, the student is admitted to candidacy.

The candidacy phase comprises

• preparation and defense of the dissertation proposal
• doctoral dissertation
• final defense of the dissertation

CANDIDACY REQUIREMENTS

The following are the specific requirements for the Marketing Department.

Before admission to candidacy , the student is required to:

• Complete the required 15* credit units of graduate level courses as described in detail in the Coursework section below. (*Students entering the program before Fall 2019 need to complete 17 credit units.)
• Take and pass the Marketing Qualifying Examination offered at the end of the first year.
• Complete a faculty-supervised First Year Research Paper due September 1, before the start of the second year.
• Complete a faculty-supervised Second Year Research Pape r due September 1, before the start of the third year, and present it in a faculty seminar in their third year.
• Declare  primary advisor(s) by December 15 of the third year.
• Form and declare a  dissertation committee by May 15 of the third year.
• Prepare and defend a  dissertation proposal  by September 15 at the start of the 4th year.
• The Ph.D. program in marketing is based on the completion of the dissertation as well as a minimum of fifteen graduate level course units.
• These courses assume that the student has a basic knowledge of various business areas, computer programming, calculus, and matrix algebra.
• Of the 15 course units, a maximum of 4 can consist of transfer courses for graduate work at other universities with approval of the Department’s PhD Coordinator.
• In addition, only 2 of the 15 course units can be independent study courses.
• Courses are taken from the following categories:

MAJOR Field Courses - 5.0 CU

The Marketing Department requires that students take five course units (cu) of Ph.D. seminars .

• Students can select the Quantitative Track or the Consumer Behavior Track when choosing which marketing seminars to take, according to their research interests.
• If a required Marketing Seminar is not offered, students may submit a request to the Marketing Department’s Doctoral Committee for a course substitution.
• The required seminars are:

Consumer Behavior Track : 3 credit units as follows

• MKTG 9500 (0.5 cu) and MKTG 9510 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9520 (0.5 cu) and MKTG 9530 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9540 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9560 (0.5 cu)

Quantitative Track: 3 credit units as follows

• MKTG 9540 (0.5 cu) and MKTG 9550 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9560 (0.5 cu) and MKTG 9570 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9500 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9520 (0.5 cu)

Seminars required for all students : 2 credit units

• MKTG 9400 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9410 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9420 (0.5 cu)
• MKTG 9430 (0.5 cu)

Please see the links on the right for Course descriptions and schedules. Students wishing to take any of these courses need permission from the course instructor before they can register for them. Please see  Program Advising and Registration for details about how to enroll in these courses, and how to set up an Independent Study section (MKTG 9990).

Basic Courses - 3.0 to 4.0 CU

Economics Requirements

• ECON 7100 and ECON 7110 ( Microeconomic Theory I & II) OR
• ECON 6100 (Microeconomic Theory) and ECON 6110 (Game Theory and Applications) OR
• BEPP 9500 (Managerial Economics)

Statistics Requirements

• STAT 5000 and STAT 5010 (or PSYC 6110 and PSYC 6120)
• STAT 5150 and 5160
• STAT 5200 and 5210
• STAT 9700 and 9710
• ECON 7300 and 7310
• SOCI 5351 (Quantitative Methods II) and STAT 5010

*Non-statistics Wharton PhD students may take STAT 9270, 9610 (Statistical Methodology – previously STAT 541), 9620 and STAT 5420  as electives only after fulfilling one of the required course combinations listed above. Students who would like to take these courses are required to ask for an interview with the instructor and receive his/her permission.

Exceptions to these sequences, or the ability to “mix and match” courses from these sequences, is allowed- however, must receive written approval from the current doctoral coordinator of the statistics department program.

Courses in a Related Field - 2.0 to 3.0 cu

Students also complete course units in related fields. A partial list of possible related fields includes:

• Communications Research
• Decision Processes
• Econometrics
• Information Systems
• Operations Research

Electives - 4.0 to 5.0 cu

• Marketing Degree Program
• Joint Doctoral Degree Program in Marketing and Psychology
• FAQ about PhD in Marketing 
• Admissions Information
• Students on the Job Market 
• Recent PhD Placements
• PhD Student Awards
• PhD Alumni Awards
• PhD Student Directory
• Postdoctoral Researchers Directory
• How the Wharton PhD Program Works
• For Current Students

For more information or to request admission application forms:

APPLY TO WHARTON

• Doctoral Programs

Quantitative Marketing

The PhD degree in Marketing is a research degree that is focused on developing cutting-edge skills that are needed to do research on the frontiers of marketing.

Behavioral Marketing

The PhD program in Behavioral Marketing at Yale focuses on how individuals think and behave in consumer-relevant domains. The program of study is inter-disciplinary, drawing from the fields of consumer behavior, social psychology, cognitive psychology, decision research, and behavioral economics.

Yale Marketing Seminar

The Yale Marketing Seminar Series presents recent research papers in marketing. The goal is to bring researchers from other universities to the Yale campus to stimulate exchange of ideas and deepen understanding of marketing trends.

Recommended pages

• Undergraduate open days
• Postgraduate open days
• Accommodation
• Information for teachers
• Maps and directions
• Sport and fitness

PhD/ MPhil/ MSc Marketing (Research)

• Visit an Open Day
• Request a prospectus
• Course details
• Entry Requirements
• Teaching and assessment
• Employability

The PhD/MPhil/MSc (research) in Marketing programme offers a short taught component followed by a longer research phase. Taught modules allow you to broaden, as well as deepen, your knowledge of research methods whilst undertaking your own research and developing a set of transferable professional skills.

Doctoral researchers will be capable of analysing a range of data using a range of qualitative and quantitative techniques. They will be able to explain theories underlying different approaches to social science research. Doctoral researchers are expected to participate to the fullest possible extent in the life of the Department of Marketing and the Business School. This means attending seminars organised by the Department of Marketing and more widely in the Business School thereby helping expose doctoral researchers to new ideas emanating from outside their own area of specialisation. It also requires actively participating in PhD workshops and conferences organised by the Department of Marketing, the Business School and Graduate School as well as institutions outside the University of Birmingham.

Ultimately all doctoral researchers will have the ability to characterise and solve business and marketing problems using advanced research tools. They should be able to derive policy implications from their research and communicate these to policy makers, practitioners and other academics in a manner which is comprehensible. They will also be able to peer review others’ research and offer constructive criticism; and to extend the frontiers of the discipline through their own innovative research.

Doctoral researchers may choose to become academics, work in Government, businesses, supranational organisations or in the research arms of major financial institutions. They are expected to achieve a substantial understanding of contemporaneous marketing and business issues enabling them to take a lead in ongoing debates within society. They will be aware of and understand the function of related institutions at both a national and international level.

Fees 2024 - 2025

• Code 8164 - £4,778 (UK) MPhil Full time
• Code 8164 - £23,520 (International) MPhil Full time
• Code 8170 - £4,778 (UK) PhD Marketing  Full time
• Code 8180 - £2,389 (UK) PhD Marketing  Part time
• Code 8170 - £23,520(International) PhD Full time
• Code 8175 - £4,778 (UK) MSc (Research) Full time
• Code 8178 - £2,389 (UK) MSc (Research) Part time
• Code 8175 - £23,520 (International) MSc (Research) Full time

Learn more about fees and funding

Scholarships and studentships

A limited number of scholarships may be available to outstanding applicants. International students  can often gain funding through overseas research scholarships, Commonwealth scholarships or their home Government.

For further information contact the School directly or visit our helpdesk .

How To Apply

Our supervisory expertise includes a wide range of theoretical interests and methodological approaches. Applicants are urged to study the profiles of individual staff via their university profile pages and contact appropriate supervisors directly before they apply. When considering potential supervisors avoid generic emails to everyone in the department as such approaches seldom attract interest. It is better to email potential supervisors where you see a direct link to your proposed area of study and/or methods. Try to read some of the work written by potential supervisors and when you contact them, explain how your ideas fit with their existing research and/or stated areas of interest. When you submit your proposal, you should also consider how it relates to the broader research undertaken by the department and you might specifically discuss this in your application letter. You should also focus on the following questions in your proposal:

• What are you trying to find out?
• Why does this matter and to who?
• How will your work further or challenge existing thinking?
• What makes your proposed methods suitable to achieve all this?

If you have any questions about applying, please contact the department PhD lead, Dr Mike Molesworth ( [email protected] ). If you cannot find a suitable supervisor, you may still apply and the PGR lead will try to match you with a suitable supervisory team.

• How to apply

To apply for a postgraduate research programme, you will need to submit your application and supporting documents online. We have put together some helpful information on the research programme application process and supporting documents on our how to apply page . Please read this information carefully before completing your application.

Our Standard Requirements

The Business School's entry requirement is a good honours degree (first or upper second class honours) awarded by a recognised University in an appropriate subject, and a merit in a relevant Master’s degree. We usually ask students for an average of 65 in the taught component of their Masters. All international students also need to show that they have adequate knowledge of written and spoken English.

Learn more about our entry requirements.

Writing your research proposal

Along with your academic record, your references and your curriculum vitae your research proposal plays a critical role in the evaluation of your application.

Your research proposal should illustrate your ability to plan an independent research study and the relevance of your topic to the research interests and expertise of Birmingham Business School.You need to demonstrate that you understand the field that you plan to research, identify an interesting and original research question, and develop a tentative plan of study. It is highly desirable that your research proposal is written to the guidelines specified below.

Guidelines for the Research Proposal

When clicking on the Apply Now button you will be directed to an application specifically designed for the programme you wish to apply for where you will create an account with the University application system and submit your application and supporting documents online. Further information regarding how to apply online can be found on the  how to apply  pages.

International Requirements

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 14/20 from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of the Licenciado or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Argentinian university, with a promedio of at least 7.5, may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Applicants for PhD degrees will normally have a Maestria or equivalent

Applicants who hold a Masters degree will be considered for admission to PhD study.

Holders of a good four-year Diplomstudium/Magister or a Masters degree from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 2.5 will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students with a good 5-year Specialist Diploma or 4-year Bachelor degree from a recognised higher education institution in Azerbaijan, with a minimum GPA of 4/5 or 80% will be considered for entry to postgraduate taught programmes at the University of Birmingham.

For postgraduate research programmes applicants should have a good 5-year Specialist Diploma (completed after 1991), with a minimum grade point average of 4/5 or 80%, from a recognised higher education institution or a Masters or “Magistr Diplomu” or “Kandidat Nauk” from a recognised higher education institution in Azerbaijan.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 75% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a CGPA of 3.0-3.3/4.0 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Students who hold a Masters degree from the University of Botswana with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 (70%/B/'very good') will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.

Please note 4-year bachelor degrees from the University of Botswana are considered equivalent to a Diploma of Higher Education. 5-year bachelor degrees from the University of Botswana are considered equivalent to a British Bachelor (Ordinary) degree.

Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

A Licenciatura or Bacharelado degree from a recognised Brazilian university:

• A grade of 7.5/10 for entry to programmes with a 2:1 requirement
• A grade of 6.5/10for entry to programmes with a 2:2 requirement

Holders of a good Bachelors degree with honours (4 to 6 years) from a recognised university with a upper second class grade or higher will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes.  Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good post-2001 Masters degree from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students with a minimum average of 14 out of 20 (or 70%) on a 4-year Licence, Bachelor degree or Diplôme d'Etudes Superieures de Commerce (DESC) or Diplôme d'Ingénieur or a Maîtrise will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.

Holders of a bachelor degree with honours from a recognised Canadian university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. A GPA of 3.0/4, 7.0/9 or 75% is usually equivalent to a UK 2.1.

Holders of the Licenciado or equivalent Professional Title from a recognised Chilean university will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Applicants for PhD study will preferably hold a Magister degree or equivalent.

Students with a bachelor’s degree (4 years minimum) may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. However please note that we will only consider students who meet the entry guidance below.  Please note: for the subject areas below we use the Shanghai Ranking 2022 (full table)  ,  Shanghai Ranking 2023 (full table) , and Shanghai Ranking of Chinese Art Universities 2023 .

需要具备学士学位（4年制）的申请人可申请研究生课程。请根据所申请的课程查看相应的入学要求。 请注意，中国院校名单参考 软科中国大学排名2022（总榜） ，  软科中国大学排名2023（总榜） ，以及 软科中国艺术类高校名单2023 。  

Business School    - MSc programmes (excluding MBA)  

商学院硕士课程（MBA除外）入学要求

School of Computer Science – all MSc programmes 计算机学院硕士课程入学要求

College of Social Sciences – courses listed below 社会科学 学院部分硕士课程入学要求 MA Education  (including all pathways) MSc TESOL Education MSc Public Management MA Global Public Policy MA Social Policy MA Sociology Department of Political Science and International Studies  全部硕士课程 International Development Department  全部硕士课程

  All other programmes (including MBA)   所有其他 硕士课程（包括 MBA）入学要求

Please note:

• Borderline cases: We may consider students with lower average score (within 5%) on a case-by-case basis if you have a relevant degree and very excellent grades in relevant subjects and/or relevant work experience. 如申请人均分低于相应录取要求（5%以内），但具有出色学术背景，优异的专业成绩，以及（或）相关的工作经验，部分课程将有可能单独酌情考虑。
• Please contact the China Recruitment Team for any questions on the above entry requirements. 如果您对录取要求有疑问，请联系伯明翰大学中国办公室   [email protected]

Holders of the Licenciado/Professional Title from a recognised Colombian university will be considered for our Postgraduate Diploma and Masters degrees. Applicants for PhD degrees will normally have a Maestria or equivalent.

Holders of a good bachelor degree with honours (4 to 6 years) from a recognised university with a upper second class grade or higher will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes.  Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Bacclaureus (Bachelors) from a recognised Croatian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 4.0 out of 5.0, vrlo dobar ‘very good’, or a Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a Bachelors degree(from the University of the West Indies or the University of Technology) may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. A Class II Upper Division degree is usually equivalent to a UK 2.1. For further details on particular institutions please refer to the list below.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Masters degree or Mphil from the University of the West Indies.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum overall grade of 6.5 out of 10, or a GPA of 3 out of 4, and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Bakalár from a recognised Czech Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 1.5, B, velmi dobre ‘very good’ (post-2004) or 2, velmi dobre ‘good’ (pre-2004), or a good post-2002 Magistr (Masters), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum overall grade of 7-10 out of 12 (or 8 out of 13) or higher for 2:1 equivalence and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters/ Magisterkonfereus/Magister Artium degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of the Licenciado or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Ecuadorian university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Grades of 70% or higher can be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Magister/Masterado or equivalent qualification, but holders of the Licenciado with excellent grades can be considered.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 75% from a recognised institution. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Bakalaurusekraad from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 4/5 or B, or a good one- or two-year Magistrikraad from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Masters degree with very good grades (grade B, 3.5/4 GPA or 85%) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. 

Holders of a good Kandidaatti / Kandidat (old system), a professional title such as Ekonomi, Diplomi-insinööri, Arkkitehti, Lisensiaatti (in Medicine, Dentistry and Vetinary Medicine), or a Maisteri / Magister (new system), Lisensiaatti / Licenciat, Oikeustieteen Kandidaatti / Juris Kandidat (new system) or Proviisori / Provisor from a recognised Finnish Higher Education institution, with a minimum overall grade of 2/3 or 4/5, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters/Maîtrise with a minimum overall grade of 13 out of 20, or a Magistère / Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies / Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures Specialisées / Mastère Specialis, from a recognised French university or Grande École to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a Magister Artium, a Diplom or an Erstes Staatsexamen from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 2.5, or a good two-year Lizentiat / Aufbaustudium / Zweites Staatsexamen or a Masters degree from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good four-year Ptychio (Bachelor degree) with a minimum overall grade of 6.5 out of 10, from a recognised Greek university (AEI), and will usually be required to have completed a good Metaptychiako Diploma Eidikefsis (Masters degree) from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

4-year Licenciado is deemed equivalent to a UK bachelors degree. A score of 75 or higher from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) can be considered comparable to a UK 2.1, 60 is comparable to a UK 2.2.  Private universities have a higher pass mark, so 80 or higher should be considered comparable to a UK 2.1, 70 is comparable to a UK 2.2

The Hong Kong Bachelor degree is considered comparable to British Bachelor degree standard. Students with bachelor degrees awarded by universities in Hong Kong may be considered for entry to one of our postgraduate degree programmes.

Students with Masters degrees may be considered for PhD study.

Holders of a good Alapfokozat / Alapképzés or Egyetemi Oklevel from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 3.5, or a good Mesterfokozat (Masters degree) or Egyetemi Doktor (university doctorate), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a 60% or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of the 4 year Sarjana (S1) from a recognised Indonesian institution will be considered for postgraduate study. Entry requirements vary with a minimum requirement of a GPA of 2.8.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a score of 14/20 or 70% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution, with 100 out of 110 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Students who hold the Maitrise, Diplome d'Etude Approfondies, Diplome d'Etude Superieures or Diplome d'Etude Superieures Specialisees will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees (14-15/20 or Bien from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 12-13/20 or Assez Bien is considered comparable to a UK 2.2).

Students with a Bachelor degree from a recognised university in Japan will be considered for entry to a postgraduate Masters degree provided they achieve a sufficiently high overall score in their first (Bachelor) degree. A GPA of 3.0/4.0 or a B average from a good Japanese university is usually considered equivalent to a UK 2:1.

Students with a Masters degree from a recognised university in Japan will be considered for PhD study. A high overall grade will be necessary to be considered.

Students who have completed their Specialist Diploma Мамаң дипломы/Диплом специалиста) or "Magistr" (Магистр дипломы/Диплом магистра) degree (completed after 1991) from a recognised higher education institution, with a minimum GPA of 2.67/4.00 for courses requiring a UK lower second and 3.00/4.00 for courses requiring a UK upper second class degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate Masters degrees and, occasionally, directly for PhD degrees.  Holders of a Bachelor "Bakalavr" degree (Бакалавр дипломы/Диплом бакалавра) from a recognised higher education institution, with a minimum GPA of  2.67/4.00 for courses requiring a UK lower second and 3.00/4.00 for courses requiring a UK upper second class degree, may also be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/50

Holders of a good Postgraduate Diploma (professional programme) from a recognised university or institution of Higher Education, with a minimum overall grade of 7.5 out of 10, or a post-2000 Magistrs, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a score of 16/20 or 80% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised university in Libya will be considered for postgraduate study. Holders of a Bachelors degree will normally be expected to have achieved score of 70% for 2:1 equivalency or 65% for 2:2 equivalency. Alternatively students will require a minimum of 3.0/4.0 or BB to be considered.

Holders of a good pre-2001 Magistras from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 8 out of 10, or a good post-2001 Magistras, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes

Holders of a good Bachelors degree from a recognised Luxembourgish Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 16 out of 20, or a Diplôme d'Études Supérieures Spécialisées (comparable to a UK PGDip) or Masters degree from a recognised Luxembourgish Higher Education institution will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Masters degree will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees (70-74% or A or Marginal Distinction from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 60-69% or B or Bare Distinction/Credit is considered comparable to a UK 2.2).

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised Malaysian institution (usually achieved with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average minimum of 3.0) will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.

Holders of a good Bachelors degree from the University of Malta with a minimum grade of 2:1 (Hons), and/or a Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree (Honours) from a recognised institution (including the University of Mauritius) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.  Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2:1).

Students who hold the Licenciado/Professional Titulo from a recognised Mexican university with a promedio of at least 8 will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.

Students who have completed a Maestria from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree, licence or Maîtrise and a Masters degree, with a score of 14/20 or 70% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Students with a good four year honours degree from a recognised university will be considered for postgraduate study at the University of Birmingham. PhD applications will be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 60-74% or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Doctoraal from a recognised Dutch university with a minimum overall grade of 7 out of 10, and/or a good Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree (minimum 4 years and/or level 400) from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.  Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum GPA of B/Very Good or 1.6-2.5 for a 2.1 equivalency, and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters, Mastergrad, Magister. Artium, Sivilingeniør, Candidatus realium or Candidatus philologiae degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a CGPA of 3.0/4 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised university in the Palestinian Territories will be considered for postgraduate study. Holders of Bachelors degree will normally be expected to have achieved a GPA of 3/4 or 80% for 2:1 equivalency or a GPA of 2.5/4 or 70% for 2:2 equivalency.    

Holders of the Título de Licenciado /Título de (4-6 years) or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Paraguayan university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Grades of 4/5 or higher can be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent.  The Título Intermedio is a 2-3 year degree and is equivalent to a HNC, it is not suitable for postgraduate entry but holders of this award could be considered for second year undergraduate entry or pre-Masters.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Título de Maestría / Magister or equivalent qualification, but holders of the Título/Grado de Licenciado/a with excellent grades can be considered.

Holders of the Bachiller, Licenciado, or Título Profesional with at least 13/20 may be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Título de Maestría or equivalent qualification.

Holders of a good pre-2001 Magister from a recognised Polish university with a minimum overall grade of 4 out of 5, dobry ‘good’, and/or a good Swiadectwo Ukonczenia Studiów Podyplomowych (Certificate of Postgraduate Study) or post-2001 Magister from a recognised Polish university with a minimum overall grade of 4.5/4+ out of 5, dobry plus 'better than good', will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Licenciado from a recognised university, or a Diploma de Estudos Superiores Especializados (DESE) from a recognised Polytechnic Institution, with a minimum overall grade of 16 out of 20, and/or a good Mestrado / Mestre (Masters) from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised Romanian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 8 out of 10, and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree/Diploma de Master/Diploma de Studii Academice Postuniversitare (Postgraduate Diploma - Academic Studies) or Diploma de Studii Postuniversitare de Specializare (Postgraduate Diploma - Specialised Studies) to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Диплом Специалиста (Specialist Diploma) or Диплом Магистра (Magistr) degree from recognised universities in Russia (minimum GPA of 4.0) will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes/PhD study.

Students who hold a 4-year Bachelor degree with at least 16/20 or 70% will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.   

Students who hold a Maitrise, Diplome d'Etude Approfondies,Diplome d'Etude Superieures or Diplome d'Etude Superieures Specialisees will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. A score of 14-15/20 or Bien from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 12-13/20 or Assez Bien is considered comparable to a UK 2.2

Students who hold a Bachelor (Honours) degree from a recognised institution with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 (or a score of 60-69% or B+) from a well ranked institution will be considered for most our Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees with a 2:1 requirement.

Students holding a good Bachelors Honours degree will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.

Holders of a good three-year Bakalár or pre-2002 Magister from a recognised Slovakian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 1.5, B, Vel’mi dobrý ‘very good’, and/or a good Inžinier or a post-2002 Magister from a recognised Slovakian Higher Education institution will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Diploma o pridobljeni univerzitetni izobrazbi (Bachelors degree), Diplomant (Professionally oriented first degree), Univerzitetni diplomant (Academically oriented first degree) or Visoko Obrazovanja (until 1999) from a recognised Slovenian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 8.0 out of 10, and/or a good Diploma specializacija (Postgraduate Diploma) or Magister (Masters) will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students who hold a Bachelor Honours degree (also known as Baccalaureus Honores / Baccalaureus Cum Honoribus) from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most Masters programmes will require a second class upper (70%) or a distinction (75%).

Holders of a Masters degree will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a Bachelor degree from a recognised South Korean institution (usually with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average 3.0/4.0 or 3.2/4.5) will be considered for Masters programmes.

Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 7 out of 10 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 60-74% or a CGPA 3.30/4.0 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Kandidatexamen (Bachelors degree) or Yrkesexamen (Professional Bachelors degree) from a recognised Swedish Higher Education institution with the majority of subjects with a grade of VG (Val godkänd), and/or a good Magisterexamen (Masters degree), International Masters degree or Licentiatexamen (comparable to a UK Mphil), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good "PostGraduate Certificate" or "PostGraduate Diploma" or a Masters degree from a recognised Swiss higher education institution (with a minimum GPA of 5/6 or 8/10 or 2/5 (gut-bien-bene/good) for a 2.1 equivalence) may be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0, 3.5/5 or 75% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

Holders of a good Bachelor degree (from 75% to 85% depending upon the university in Taiwan) from a recognised institution will be considered for postgraduate Masters study. Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.  Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.

Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for entry to our postgraduate research programmes.

Holders of a good Masters degree or Mphil from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.

Students with a Bachelors degree from the following universities may be considered for entry to postgraduate programmes:

• Ateneo de Manila University - Quezon City
• De La Salle University - Manila
• University of Santo Tomas
• University of the Philippines - Diliman

Students from all other institutions with a Bachelors and a Masters degree or relevant work experience may be considered for postgraduate programmes.

Grading Schemes

1-5 where 1 is the highest 2.1 = 1.75 2.2 = 2.25 

Out of 4.0 where 4 is the highest 2.1 = 3.0 2.2 = 2.5

Letter grades and percentages 2.1 = B / 3.00 / 83% 2.2 = C+ / 2.5 / 77%

Holders of a postdoctoral qualification from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.  Students may be considered for PhD study if they have a Masters from one of the above listed universities.

Holders of a Lisans Diplomasi with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0/4.0 from a recognised university will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.

Holders of a Yuksek Diplomasi from a recognised university will be considered for PhD study.

Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most Masters programmes will require a second class upper (2.1) or GPA of 3.5/5.0

Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree / Диплом бакалавра (Dyplom Bakalavra), Диплом спеціаліста (Specialist Diploma) or a Dyplom Magistra from a recognised Ukrainian higher education institution with a minimum GPA of 4.0/5.0, 3.5/4, 8/12 or 80% or higher for 2:1 equivalence and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.

The University will consider students who hold an Honours degree from a recognised institution in the USA with a GPA of:

• 2.8 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) for entry to programmes with a 2:2 requirement 
• 3.2 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) for entry to programmes with a 2:1 requirement 

Please note that some subjects which are studied at postgraduate level in the USA, eg. Medicine and Law, are traditionally studied at undergraduate level in the UK.

Holders of the Magistr Diplomi (Master's degree) or Diplomi (Specialist Diploma), awarded by prestigious universities, who have attained high grades in their studies will be considered for postgraduate study.  Holders of the Fanlari Nomzodi (Candidate of Science), where appropriate, will be considered for PhD study.

Holders of the Licenciatura/Título or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Venezuelan university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Scales of 1-5, 1-10 and 1-20 are used, an overall score of 70% or equivalent can be considered equivalent to a UK 2.1.  Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Maestria or equivalent qualification

Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised Vietnamese institution (usually achieved with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average minimum GPA of 7.0 and above) will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.  Holders of a Masters degree (thac si) will be considered for entry to PhD programmes.

Students who hold a Masters degree with a minimum GPA of 3.5/5.0 or a mark of 2.0/2.5 (A) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.   

Students who hold a good Bachelor Honours degree will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. 

International Students

English requirements are IELTS 7.0 with no less than 6.5 in any band or equivalent.

The marketing department encourages PhD applications that align with one of the three research groups below.

Culture Research Group

Marketing innovations and consumer science research group, responsible and critical marketing research group.

Members of the Culture Research Group are interested in a range of topics drawing from the diverse field of the arts. Specific research areas include heritage, issues of culture and authenticity, art and artists as brands, the production and consumption of art, film production and reception, film distribution and exhibition, social responsibility in arts marketing, television, dark tourism, embodiment, visual arts and the market, the production and consumption of place, space and time, myth and marketplace, festivals, the intersection of arts and technology, how emerging artists use new technology, and sub-cultural and non-mainstream consumption.

• Alessandro Gerosa is happy to consider projects about taste, sociology of consumption, consumer cultures, and digital cultures, using qualitative or digital methods.
• Christina Goulding is interested in supervising qualitative project in cultural consumption, place, space and consumption, non-conformist or transgressive consumption, the arts meets technology, consumer identity projects, consumption and loss, the dark side of consumption, and consumption and resilience. 
• Chelsea Harfield’s research is into consumer behaviour, tourism, heritage, authenticity and narrative transportation. Her focus is qualitative methodologies.
• Scott Jones does research into marketplace cultures and consumer collectives, celebrity studies, fandom, responsible and ethical marketing, and alternative methods in qualitative research.
• Finola Kerrigan’s work is on the entertainment industries, cultural branding, and digital identity, and uses qualitative and visual approaches [not taking students for 2024 entry].
• Rohan Venkatraman is looking to support projects related to the intersection of marketplace hierarchies, especially gender and sexuality, and consumer culture, using qualitative and ethnographic methodologies.
• Julie Whiteman’s interests are in representation and consumption of gender, race, sexuality and class, using qualitative, intersectional research methods.

The marketing innovations and consumer science research group brings together researchers across the marketing field who are interested in innovative marketing practice, innovation itself, digital and technological innovations, as well as methodological innovations in marketing research. The group also has a focus on psychological theories as a means to understand consumers and their behaviour. Researchers in the group use a range of research methods but with some concentration on quantitative approaches to research problems.

• Raphaël Akamavi researches new product development processes, service innovation, consumption experiences, and social capital & organisational /industry performance using positivist approaches.
• Achilleas Boukis works on technology integration in physical interactions with customers, digital assets including NFTs, demanding consumers, branding cryptocurrencies and technology products, and brand equity using quantitative approaches.
• Fahad Ibrahim considers big data and technology in marketing, social networks and relationship marketing, using quantitative methods (specialised in structural equation modelling).
• Doga Istanbulluoglu’s areas of interest include online consumer behaviour, especially complaining, service recovery, and anti-consumption. She uses qualitative methods.  
• Grigorios Lamprinakos researches consumer psychology, cognitive and metacognitive processes, persuasion, sustainable consumption and socially responsible behaviour using experimental designs.
• Miriam McGowen’s research draws on consumer psychology perspectives to understand how social and situation factors impact consumer behaviour. She uses quantitative methods. 
• Amin Nazifi’s  research focuses on service failure and recovery, customer complaint management, customer satisfaction and loyalty, gamification, artificial intelligence, and consumer well-being using quantitative research methods and in particular experiments.
•   Eric Shiu  works on innovation in all aspects, as well as trust, agri-food and retailing, using experimental design, survey, interview, focus group, or a mix of these.
• Weiyue Wang is interested in employee – organisation relationships, employee cognition, ethics and ethical behaviour, services marketing and service performance using quantitative methods.

The Responsible and Critical Marketing Research Group aims to lead the academic development of knowledge of the subject, to contribute to the learning curriculum and reach out to those interested in improving marketing practices and standards. Research by members of the team covers areas of employee attitudes to responsibility, managerial and B2B ethics, responsible marketing and technology, consumer responsibility, marketing sustainability, base of the pyramid (BoP) marketing, market access and diversity, corporate social responsibility (CSR), marketing’s contribution to social and environmental elements of the ‘triple bottom line’ and responsible marketing education. The group are also interested in explicitly critical perspectives in marketing and consumer research.

• Robert Cluley researches contemporary marketing practice, how marketers work and think, and the role of technology in marketing. His methods include ethnography, action research, psychoanalytic interviews, content analysis and semiotics, and psychometrics.  
• Louise Hassan is interested in sustainability and health issues, including consumer decision-making or information processing from a consumer/social psychology perspective. Her methods focus on experimental approaches, but a wide range of methods acceptable.
• Sheena Leek is interested in information technology within business relationships, social capital and branding, consumer confusion in high tech areas, and convenience and healthy eating. She uses a range of qualitative approaches.
• Solon Magrizos  is interested in consumer happiness and wellbeing, responsible marketing, sustainable tourism, corporate social responsibility, ethical consumer behaviour, and responsible and irresponsible employees/employers. His research employs a wide range of qualitative/quantitative methods.
• Scott McCabe works on responsible and ethical tourism, including negative and positive emotions associated with responsible behaviour, social tourism, tourism as an experience, and new methods of assessing ethical, green sustainable tourist consumption.
• Mike Molesworth ’s research takes a critical approach to consumption and marketing, especially aspects of new technologies. He uses interpretivist techniques, including netnography.
• Fatos Ozkan Erciyas is interested in marketplace accessibility, inclusion and exclusion in marketing, and spaces and places of consumption, experiences of vulnerable/marginalized consumer groups.
• Mike Saren is interested in supervising projects in heritage and identity, consumer culture and relationships and marketing technology using qualitative approaches. 
• Emma Surman ‘s research is in the areas of ethics and sustainability of consumption, sociology of consumption, and decolonisation using qualitative and creative methodologies.
• Rohit Varman uses interpretive methodologies. His current inter-disciplinary research focuses on corporate violence, exploitation, modern slavery, and resistance to corporatization and marketization.

Doctoral researchers in Marketing are registered for a full time 3-year PhD or a part-time 6-year PhD. In the first year of the programme (first two years for those registered part-time) students are required to take 60 credits of core Research Methods modules from the MA Social Research programme. They are also recommended to take Advanced Training Modules from the MA Social Research Programme as appropriate to their research and training needs. Depending on their needs and accredited prior learning and subject to supervisory approval doctoral researchers can substitute 20 credits of the introductory MA Social research modules for Advanced Training Modules. By the end of their first year doctoral students will have completed an 8,000 word research proposal that they will present at the first annual review.  This forms the basis for supervised research over the remaining two years of the programme and the production of an 80,000 word thesis.

Applicants are urged to study the up-to-date profiles of individual staff members' research via their personal web pages. Each student will have two academic supervisors who will work with the students in their areas of expertise.  It is essential that students applying to the department recognise the expertise of their potential supervisor. It is possible to contact a potential supervisor to discuss the possibility of working with them and this communication would involve identifying the proposed research area and methods and identifying the link with the proposed supervisor’s work.  Current priority areas include:

Support and training

Birmingham Business School provides dedicated facilities, resources and support to postgraduate students and early career researchers which includes The Midlands Graduate School and Doctoral Training Centres and Programmes.  Find out more .

• Research at the Department of Marketing

Career prospects

The University of Birmingham has recently been ranked 9th in the UK and 55th in the world for post-qualification employability in a global survey of universities commissioned by the International Herald Tribune .

Recent PhD graduates from Birmingham Business School are working in central banks, Government departments, a variety of financial institutions, accountancy firms, supranational organisations and multinational corporations. Many of our PhD graduates also go on to forge successful academic careers in other top Universities.

Doctoral Research career assistance

The University of Birmingham has invested heavily in careers and employability support. The Careers Team have been praised for enhanced developments within their team and for adopting a model of integrated employability and internship support; something that has been rolled out and implemented across all Schools and Colleges at the University.

Doctoral researchers at Birmingham Business School benefit from its own well qualified dedicated Careers Team to support students with employment opportunities, work placements, internships and how to succeed at interview. In addition, a range of career management, personal development and employer events are run each year by the Careers in Business Team to help you make the most of the opportunities available.

The University also has dedicated careers advisors for international students  who run workshops and networking opportunities with potential employers. These are especially popular with international postgraduate researchers.

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About the Program

The Wisconsin PhD Program in marketing is designed to prepare students for academic careers at top universities. A career as a marketing faculty member offers a high degree of intellectual stimulation, creative freedom, and the opportunity to develop and disseminate new knowledge via research and teaching.

Core Areas of Research

Student research is supported by faculty in three core areas:

Quantitative modeling

Consumer behavior

Marketing strategy

Our faculty members contribute to significant advancements in the theory and practice of marketing, as evidenced by our recently published journal articles .

Academic Requirements

All students must meet the general PhD requirements of both the UW–Madison Graduate School and the Wisconsin School of Business. Prospective students should possess:

• A bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, management, economics, or operations and information management OR
• A minimum of four courses from two or more of the following areas: accounting, finance, management, economics, and operations and information management
• Competency at an intermediate level of statistics

Program Coursework

Students complete four PhD seminar courses in marketing from the core areas of research: quantitative modeling, consumer behavior, and marketing strategy. These seminar offerings vary from year to year.

Students complete four courses at the graduate level, either inside or outside the Wisconsin School of Business, including at least one course in the methods of data collection and at least one in the methods of data analysis.

See Guide for all course requirements

Faculty Research Interests

Neeraj Arora Research interests: Choice models Experimental design Big data analytics Machine learning Bayesian statistics View full profile Ishita Chakraborty Research interests: Digital Marketing Unstructured Data – Text, Video Analytics Machine Learning/Deep Learning Fairness and Bias Salesforce Recruitment and Training View full profile Kevin YC Chung Research interests: Quantitative marketing Empirical industrial organization Choice models Endorsement marketing Emerging markets Credence goods View full profile Remi Daviet Research interests: Deep Learning & AI Bayesian & Computational Statistics Consumer Decision Making Advertising Neuro-Genomics View full profile Amber Epp Research interests: Understanding collective phenomena, including the interplay of relational identities, collective goals, and network agency Group decision-making View full profile Cheng He Research interests: Causal inference Policy evaluation Modern retailing Consumer search Financial decision-making View full profile Jan Heide Research interests: Channels of distribution Strategic partnerships Interorganizational relationships Marketing strategy View full profile Aziza Jones Research interests: Status and Identity Signaling Social-Signaling Donation Behavior Parental Spending View full profile Tarun Kushwaha Research interests: Marketing – finance interface Marketing channels Impact of crisis Global marketing View full profile Qing Liu Research interests: Quantitative modeling of marketing data Bayesian methods Experimental design Conjoint analysis Consumer choice Big data analytics View full profile Yi Liu Research interests Technology and platforms Economics of AI Theoretical models in marketing   View full profile C. Page Moreau Research interests: Consumer learning and knowledge transfer New product development and acceptance Creativity and design View full profile Neil Morgan Research interests: Marketing capabilities Brand Strategy Marketing strategy Marketing performance assessment View full profile Joann Peck Research interests: Haptics Interpersonal touch Non-verbal behaviors more broadly Psychological ownership Individual difference measures View full profile Evan Polman Research interests: Consumer and managerial decision-making Creativity Ethics Emotions Psychology experiments View full profile J. Craig Thompson Research interests: Philosophy of science Postmodern culture Consumer lifestyles and motivations Gender issues and consumption View full profile Connect With Current Students

We encourage you to contact our doctoral students in marketing to hear their perspectives on the Wisconsin PhD Program.

View current student profiles

See Our Placement Results

Graduates of our PhD specialization in marketing have accepted tenure-track positions at top research universities.

View recent placements

Evan Polman

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Marketing, PhD

The Wharton doctoral program offers students an unmatched interdisciplinary environment within which to generate creative ideas and hypotheses and to develop the analytic skills to evaluate them.

Faculty members are active in diverse research areas that connect to initiatives and centers both within Wharton more broadly, and other departments within the university.

For more information: https://marketing.wharton.upenn.edu/program-requirements/

For more information about the Joint Doctoral Degree in Marketing and Psychology :  https://marketing.wharton.upenn.edu/joint-doctoral-degree-in-marketing-and-psychology/

View the University’s Academic Rules for PhD Programs .

Required Courses 

The Ph.D. program in Marketing is based on the completion of the dissertation as well as a minimum of 15 graduate level course units.

The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2024 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.

Sample Sequence Quantitative Track*

The exact sequence can vary from student to student. For example, students may select different economics and statistics sequences to best meet their personal needs. 

MKTG 9550 and MKTG 9570 are offered every other year. Students should take them when offered.

Sample Sequence Consumer Behavior Track*

The exact sequence can vary from student to student. For example, students may select different economics and statistics sequences to best meet their personal needs.

MKTG 9510 and MKTG 9530 are offered every other year. Students should take them when offered.  

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PhD in Marketing

Faculty in the Department of Marketing are considered some of the foremost scholars in consumer behavior, specializing in information processing, and judgment and decision making. Their research spans a wide range of theoretical sub-areas, including emotions and affect, self-regulation, imagery, branding, numerical cognition, morality and ethics, contextual / environmental effects, and more.

The faculty are well published in the top marketing and psychology journals, such as Journal of Consumer Research , Journal of Marketing , Journal of Consumer Psychology , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , and Psychological Science . Several faculty members also serve on the editorial boards of top journals. In addition, they have extensive consulting experience with such companies as Procter & Gamble, A.C. Nielsen Corporation, Kraft USA, and the Kroger Company.

We are interested in students who are motivated to become scholars in consumer behavior, and aspire to a career as marketing faculty members in leading business schools. We boast a collaborative and supportive research environment to develop your ideas, and an active behavioral laboratory to test them.

Recent graduates of Lindner's PhD Marketing program have accepted positions at:

• Baylor University
• University of Alabama
• University of Calgary
• University of Missouri-St. Louis
• Vanderbilt University

Names of Lindner College of Business faculty appear in bold . Names of Lindner PhD candidates are underlined .

• Grossman, Daniel and Ryan Rahinel (2022) “Achievement‐Based Sentimental Value as a Catalyst for Heirloom Gift‐Giving” Journal of Consumer Psychology , 32(1), 41 – 56.
• Rahinel, Ryan, Ashley Otto , Daniel Grossman , and Joshua Clarkson (2021) “Exposure to Brands Makes Preferential Decisions Easier” Journal of Consumer Research , 48(4), 541 – 561. (Lead research article for special issue on The Future of Brands in a Changing Consumer Marketplace)
• Eroglu, S. A., Machleit, K. A., & Neybert, E. G. (2022). Crowding in the time of COVID: Effects on rapport and shopping satisfaction. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services , 64, 102760.
• Otto, Ashley S., Clarkson, J.J., and Martin, N. S. (forthcoming), “Working Hard to Take the Easy Way Out: How the Need for Cognitive Closure Shapes Strategic Effort Investment to Ease Future Decision Making,” Journal of Consumer Psychology .
• Adaval, Rashmi, Buechner, B.M., and Martin, N.S. (2019), “Weaving Multiple Methodologies From Different Philosophical Approaches Into a Single Consumption Story,” in Handbook of Research Methods in Consumer Psychology , eds. Frank R. Kardes, Paul M. Herr, and Norbert Schwarz, London: Routledge.
• Pena-Marin, Jorge, Rashmi Adaval, and Liang Shen . (in press). Fear in the Stock Market: How COVID-19 Affects Preference for High-and Low-Priced Stocks. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research .
• Kardes, Frank R. , Brianna Escoe , and Ruomeng Wu (forthcoming), “Response Latency Methodology in Consumer Psychology,” in Handbook of Research Methods in Consumer Psychology, eds. Frank R. Kardes, Paul M. Herr, and Norbert Schwarz, London:  Routledge.
• Wu, Ruomeng , Esta Denton Shah, and Frank R. Kardes (forthcoming), “‘The Struggle Isn’t Real’:  How Need for Cognitive Closure Moderates Inferences from Disfluency,” Journal of Business Research .
• Sundar, Aparna, Ruomeng Wu , and Frank R. Kardes (forthcoming), “Faded Fonts:  Difficulty in Information Processing Promotes Sensitivity to Missing Information,” Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding .
• Adaval, Rashmi , Bryan M. Buechner , and Nathanael S. Martin (2019), “Weaving Multiple Methodologies From Different Philosophical Approaches Into a Single Consumption Story,” in Handbook of Research Methods in Consumer Psychology, eds. Frank R. Kardes, Paul M. Herr, and Norbert Schwarz, London: Routledge.
• Kardes, Frank,   Brianna Escoe , and  Ruomeng Wu  (2018), Response Latency Methodology in Consumer Psychology. Handbook of Consumer Psychology.
• Kardes, Frank R ., Ruth Pogacar , Roseann V. Hassey, and Ruomeng Wu (2018), “Brand Attitude Structure,” in The Routledge Companion to Consumer Behavior, eds. Tina M. Lowrey and Michael R. Solomon, London:  Routledge, 243-256.
• Pogacar, Ruth, L. J. Shrum, and Tina M. Lowrey (2018). The Effects of Linguistic Devices on Consumer Information Processing and Persuasion: A Language Complexity × Processing Mode Framework. Journal of Consumer Psychology , 28(4), 689-711.
• Pogacar, Ruth , Michal Kouril, Thomas P. Carpenter, and James Kellaris (2018). Implicit and Explicit Preferences for Brand Name Sounds. Marketing Letters , 29(2), 241-259.
• Pogacar, Ruth, Agnes Pisanski Peterlin, Nike K. Pokorn, and Timothy Pogacar (2017). Sound Symbolism in Translation: A Case Study of Character Names in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist. Translation and Interpreting Studies, 12(1), 137-161.
• Otto, Ashley S ., Joshua J. Clarkson , and Frank R. Kardes (2016)“Decision Sidestepping: How the Motivation for Closure Prompts Individuals to Bypass Decision Making,“ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 111, 1-16.
• Steffel, Mary, Elanor F. Williams, and Ruth Pogacar (2016). Ethically Deployed Defaults: Transparency and Consumer Protection via Disclosure and Preference Articulation. Journal of Marketing Research , 53(5), 865–880.
• Otto, Ashley S ., Joshua J. Clarkson , and Frank R. Kardes (2016), “Decision Sidestepping:  How the Motivation for Closure Prompts Individuals to Bypass Decision Making,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 111 (1), 1-16
• Pogacar, Ruth, Emily Plant, Laura F. Rosulek, and Michal Kouril (2015). Sounds Good: Phonetic Sound Patterns in Top Brand Names. Marketing Letters , 26(4), 549–563 .
• Sundar, Aparna , and Frank R. Kardes (2015), “The Role of Perceived Variability and the Health Halo Effect in Nutritional Inferences and Consumption,” Psychology & Marketing, 32 (5), 512-521.  
• Sundar, Aparna, Frank R. Kardes , and Scott A. Wright (2015), “The Influence of Repetitive Health Messages and Sensitivity to Fluency on the Truth Effect in Advertising,” Journal of Advertising , 44 (4), 375-387.
• Clarkson, Joshua J ., John R. Chambers, Edward R. Hirt, Ashley S. Otto , Frank R. Kardes , and Christopher Leone (2015), “The Self-Control Consequences of Political Ideology,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 112 (27), 8250-8253.
• Clarkson, Joshua J., John R. Chambers, Edward R. Hirt, Ashley S. Otto , Frank R. Kardes , and Christopher  Leonoe (2014) “The Self-Control Consequences of Political Ideology (forthcoming),” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• X Wang, F Mai, RHL Chiang (2014), “Database Submission—Market Dynamics and User-Generated Content About Tablet Computers”, Marketing Science 33 (3), 449-458.

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PhD in Marketing

Preferred deadline: January 20

• Terry Dean’s Advisory Council Distinguished Professor , Department of Marketing

Program Overview

The PhD in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing provides students with both strong empirical skills in econometrics, psychometrics and statistics and strong theory development in consumer behavior, psychology and strategy.

The department and its faculty consistently rank high in terms of research productivity. The department is ranked 15th worldwide based on publications in the premier American Marketing Association (AMA) journals in 2010 – 2019. The department is also ranked 11th among all U.S. public schools in the UT-Dallas Business School Research Rankings 2019-2022. Faculty have won multiple research awards and serve on the editorial boards of prestigious academic journals.

Doctoral students work with faculty at all phases of the research process—from research question formulation, research design and data analysis to writing up the study. The culture is collegial and informal, with students viewed as colleagues and coauthors. Moreover, students are encouraged to work with multiple faculty, not just their chosen advisor or dissertation chair.

Student Profile

What kind of students are we looking for.

Consequently, the department looks for the following traits in PhD students:

• Motivated, excited and intellectually curious about problems and issues
• Disciplined and committed to think deeply about research problems and solutions
• A willingness to learn econometric, psychometric and statistical skills
• A willingness to learn about theoretical and conceptual issues in the field
• Creative problem solvers
• Business experience useful, but not a requirement.

Concentrations

Consumer behavior.

Consumer behavior research focuses on how consumers decide what and how much to consume and how consumers integrate different pieces of information (both consciously and unconsciously) to make predictions and judgments about their environment and target stimuli to inform their consumption decisions. Consumer behavior students take additional courses in psychology and sociology.

Consumer behavior students typically work with:

• Marcus Cunha
• Tari Dagogo-Jack
• John Hulland
• Charlotte Mason
• Julio Sevilla
• Jinjie Chen
• Sarah Whitley

Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy research focuses on the components of marketing capabilities and resources such as brands, consumer relationships, innovation, sales force management and their impact on brand, business unit, customer, firm and sales force and salesperson performance. Marketing strategy students typically take additional courses in economics, econometrics and statistical methods as well courses in corporate finance, management strategy, sociology and social psychology.

Marketing strategy students typically work with:

• Neil Bendle
• Sundar Bharadwaj
• Anindita Chakravarty
• Tatiana Dyachenko
• Pengyuan Wang
• Elham Yazdani

Typical Course Sequence

• Consumer Behavior Track
• Marketing Strategy Track
• MARK 9550 : Consumer Behavior I, or
• MARK 9450 : Marketing Strategy I
• PSYC 6100 : Cognitive Psychology
• PSYC 6200 : Advanced Social Psychology
• POLS 7012 : Introduction to Political Methodology
• PSYC 6420 : Advanced Experimental Psychology
• MARK 9650 : Multivariate Methods
• PSYC 6160 : Sensory Psychology
• PSYC 6430 : Applied Regression Methods in Psychology
• First Year Paper
• MARK 9560 : Consumer Behavior II, or
• MARK 9480 : Marketing Strategy II
• PSYC 6250 : Psychometrics
• PSYC 8240 : Judgment and Decision Making
• POLS 8501 : Advanced Quantitative Methods I – Discrete Choice
• MARK 9700 : Marketing Models
• SOCI 6220 : Development of Sociological Theory
• PSYC 8000 : Advanced Topics in Psychology
• Comprehensive Examination
• Second Year Paper
• Oral Marketing Candidacy Exam
• Assuming the passing of comprehensive exams, students in Year 3 focus on making progress on existing research projects, beginning lead-authored work, and framing their dissertations.
• Dissertation Research
• Individual Research Interest
• Prepare for AMA job interviews (AMA Summer Educators’ Conference)
• Final Dissertation Defense
• MARK 9450 : Marketing Strategy I, or
• MARK 9550 : Consumer Behavior I
• ECON 8010 : Microeconomics
• ECON 8110 : Econometrics I
• POLS 7014 : Intermediate Political Methodology
• ECON 8120 : Econometrics II
• POLS 8501 : Advanced Quantitative Methods, or ECON 8020 : Microeconomics II
• MARK 9480 : Marketing Strategy II, or
• MARK 9560 : Consumer Behavior II
• ECON 8130 : Econometrics III

All the marketing departmental courses are required courses. Electives chosen will need the approval of the Graduate Coordinator. 

PhD Student Academic Placements

Our PhD students have been successfully placed at research active universities. Some illustrative placements are as follows.

• Ashish Sharma , University of North Carolina (Charlotte) (graduated 2018)
• Kevin Sample , University of Rhode Island (graduated 2019)
• Jessica Babin , Ohio University (graduated 2019)
• Vincent Zhang , University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) (graduated 2020)
• Youngtak Kim , University of Tennessee (Knoxville) (graduated 2022)
• Lana Waschka , Elon University (graduated 2022)
• Seoyoung Kim , Fordham University (graduated 2022)
• Lan Anh Ton , Texas Christian University (graduated 2023)
• Rachel Ramey , Colorado State University (graduated 2023)
• Nicole Davis , University of Kentucky (graduated 2024)
• Molly Ahearne , San Diego State University (graduated 2023)

Departments and Program Offices

• PhD Program Office
• Department of Marketing

UGA Resources

• Graduate School
• Financial Aid

Additional Information

• Current PhDs
• Faculty Research
• Marketing Department PhD Handbook

Marketing PhD Program

Marketing is an interdisciplinary field that examines the interactions of consumers and businesses in the marketplace. Academic research in marketing draws upon theories and methodology from a wide variety of fields, including psychology, sociology, mathematics, statistics, and economics. Faculty members in Marshall’s marketing department represent numerous theoretical backgrounds and substantive interests. As mentors, they encourage students to identify their own interests and develop the analytic and methodological skills to pursue their own research questions.

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CONCENTRATIONS

Quantitative marketing.

This area of marketing shares theories and methodologies with economics, mathematics, and statistics. Faculty advising students in this area are experts in a variety of topics such as

• Applications of artificial intelligence in marketing
• Understanding how businesses manage social interactions
• The impact of digital platforms on different industries
• Social networks and network structures in markets
• Strategic pricing decisions
• Distribution-channel strategies
• Innovation and product growth
• Global markets

Consumer Psychology

This area of marketing shares theories and methodologies with social and cognitive psychology and behavioral economics. Faculty advising students in this area are experts in a variety of topics such as

• Status and luxury goods
• Branding and consumers’ attachments to brands
• Consumers’ strategies to maintain a positive self-evaluations
• Emotions and their effects on consumers’ valuations of products
• How the use of technology affects consumers’ enjoyment and memories of experiences
• Consumers' responses to service and product failure
• Budgeting and saving decisions
• Consumer Creativity

Developing Marketing Scholars

The aim of the PhD program in marketing at USC is to develop outstanding researchers and prepare them for productive careers in academia. During their studies, students will transition from consumers of knowledge to producers and disseminators of knowledge.

Marshall’s PhD program in marketing is highly selective. The small size of the program allows for close collaborations between students and faculty and for students to tailor their program of study to fit their background and research interests.

From the beginning of the program, students have the opportunity to engage in different research projects and receive guidance and mentorship from faculty experts. Students are strongly encouraged to develop their own research program and have the freedom to pursue their own ideas.

Faculty members are experts in their areas and are highly committed to the training and guidance of PhD students.

Faculty Coordinator: Gülden Ülkümen, Professor of Marketing

REQUIREMENTS

During their first two years in the program, students are required to complete a series of classes in marketing as well as in other departments in Marshall and USC at large.

Within marketing, PhD students complete four marketing seminars (two in quantitative marketing and strategy, two in consumer behavior). These seminars cover the key areas of academic marketing research and provide students a broad perspective of the field of marketing.

Fall Semester — Even Years

MKT 613: Marketing Models in Consumer and Business-to-Business Markets

Spring Semester - Odd Years

MKT 616: Consumer Behavior Theory and Research

Fall Semester - Odd Years

MKT 615 Strategic and Marketing Mix Models

Spring Semester - Even Years

MKT 618: Consumer Behavior and Decision Making

In addition, students take classes in other departments in the business school (e.g., Management and Organizational Behavior, Data Science), as well as in departments across campus (e.g., economics, psychology, statistics, computer science).

First Year Summer Research Paper

The first year paper allows students to develop their own research interest and to demonstrate their research potential. Students develop an original research question and provide initial tests of their predictions. A faculty mentor and other marketing faculty form the first year research paper committee that guides the student’s process.

Qualifying Exam

Following the spring semester of their second year, students will take part in a qualifying exam that leads to the assessment of whether the student is ready for ascension to candidacy. The topics pursued in the qualifying exam often evolve into a substantial portion of the student’s dissertation. A faculty mentor and other faculty members from marketing and from outside the department form the qualifying exam committee that guides the student’s process.

After passing the qualifying exam, students are admitted to PhD candidacy and pursue their research, culminating in their dissertation.

Research Mentorship

Students work with different research mentors over the course of the program. In the first two years, students work with different faculty member each semester, in order to expose students to different researchers and research approaches. By the end of year two, students should have identified a primary research mentor who will guide them until completion of the dissertation, i.e., their faculty advisor.

Year 1: In year 1, the research mentor aims to advise the student with their courses, studies, and overall strategies in the program. Students may assist with a faculty research project if it offers a good learning experience and does not interfere with classes and other program requirements. In some cases, the relationship may involve the student working on their own research project, in which case the research mentor serves as an advisor. Further, the research mentor may be involved in guiding the development of the first-year paper.

Year 2: In year 2, the student should gain further research skills by assisting the faculty mentor with a research project that offers a good learning experience. Activities may include data collection, data cleaning, data organizing, coding, and estimation for empirical projects, and checking models and proofs for theoretical projects. In some cases, the relationship may involve the student working on their own research project, in which case the research mentor serves as an advisor. Further, the research mentor advises the student in developing the second-year paper.

Year 3: In year 3, the student will continue to gain research skills by working on research projects from previous years that should involve different faculty. If not yet done, the student will start developing their own research projects and agenda. The research mentor will primarily serve as an advisor.

Year 4: In year 4, the student will continue to improve their research skills, advancing research projects from previous years, and start new ones. The research mentor will continue to serve as an advisor.

Year 5: In year 5, the research mentor serves to advise the student on completion of the dissertation. In most cases, the advisor will serve as the student’s dissertation chair.

You will work hands-on in a thriving research culture with constant exposure to new and important ideas. Marshall is ranked 5th in the world in research for the years 2018–2022 by the UT-Dallas Research Rankings.

Our faculty regularly publish in the field’s top journals, such as:

• Journal of Marketing
• Journal of Marketing Research
• Journal of Consumer Research
• Marketing Science
• Management Science

Our faculty also continuously publish in the premiere journals of related disciplines

• American Economic Review
• Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
• Journal of experimental Psychology: General
• Psychological Science
• The Rand Journal of Economics

Selective List of Journal Publications With Students

From the very beginning of the program, students collaborate with faculty on research projects with the goal of producing research that will be published in the top journals. Below, please find a selection of recent articles that resulted from these collaborations. * denote current or former PhD students.

Ceylan*, Gizem, Kristin Diehl, and Wendy Wood (forthcoming), “To Imagine or Not to Imagine: A Meta-Analysis Investigating the Effectiveness of Mental Simulation of Positive Experiences on Behavior,” Journal of Marketing .

Ceylan*, Gizem, Kristin Diehl, and Davide Proserpio (forthcoming), “Words Meet Photos: When and Why Visual Content Increases Review Helpfulness,” Journal of Marketing Research .

Chandrasekaran*, Deepa, Gerard J. Tellis and Gareth James (2022), “Leapfrogging, Cannibalization, and Survival during Disruptive Technological Change: The Critical Role of Rate of Disengagement,” Journal of Marketing.

D’Angelo*, Jennifer K., Kristin Diehl, and Lisa A. Cavanaugh. "Lead by Example? Custom-Made Examples Created by Close Others Lead Consumers to Make Dissimilar Choices." Journal of Consumer Research 46, no. 4 (2019): 750-773.

Donovan*, Leigh Anne and Priester, Joseph (2020). Exploring the psychological processes that underlie interpersonal forgiveness: Replication and extension of the model of motivated interpersonal forgiveness. Frontiers in Psychology.

Donovan*, Leigh Anne Novak, and Joseph R. Priester. "Exploring the psychological processes underlying interpersonal forgiveness: The superiority of motivated reasoning over empathy." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 71 (2017): 16-30.

Dukes, Anthony and Yi Zhu* (2019) “Why Customer Service Frustrates Consumers: Exploiting Hassel Costs by a Tiered Customer Service Organization,” Marketing Science, 38(3): 500-515.

Hong*, Jihoon, Max Wei and Gerard J. Tellis (2022), “Machine Learning for Creativity: How Similarity Networks Can Identify Successful Projects in Crowdfunding,” Journal of Marketing .

Jayarajan*, Dinakar, S. Siddarth, and Jorge Silva-Risso. "Cannibalization vs. competition: An empirical study of the impact of product durability on automobile demand." International Journal of Research in Marketing 35, no. 4 (2018): 641-660.

Paulson*, Courtney, Lan Luo, and Gareth M. James. "Efficient large-scale internet media selection optimization for online display advertising." Journal of Marketing Research 55, no. 4 (2018): 489-506.

Pei*, Amy, and Dina Mayzlin (2021), "Influencing the Influencers." Marketing Science, forthcoming.

Proserpio, Davide, Isamar Troncoso*, and Francesca Valsesia* (2021) "Does gender matter? The effect of management responses on reviewing behavior." Marketing Science, Forthcoming.

Gerard J. Tellis, Ashish Sood, Nitish Sood, Sajeev Nair* (2023), “Lockdown Without Loss? A Natural Experiment of Net Payoffs from to Covid COVID-19,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing .

Troncoso*, Isamar and Lan Luo (2023), “Look the Part? The Role of Profile Pictures in Online Labor Marketplace,” Marketing Science .

Valsesia*, Francesca and Kristin Diehl (2022), “Let Me Show You What I Did Versus What I Have: Sharing Experiential Versus Material Purchases Alters Authenticity and Liking of Social Media Users,” Journal of Consumer Research¸ Volume 49, October, p. 430-449.

Tellis, Gerard J., Deborah J. MacInnis, Seshadri Tirunillai*, and Yanwei Zhang*. "What drives virality (sharing) of online digital content? The critical role of information, emotion, and brand prominence." Journal of Marketing 83, no. 4 (2019): 1-20.

Valsesia*, Francesca, Kristin Diehl, and Joseph C. Nunes (2017), “Based on a True Story: Making People Believe the Unbelievable,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 71, 105-110

Valsesia*, Francesca, Joseph C. Nunes, and Andrea Ordanini (2021), “I Am Not Talking to You: Partitioning an Audience in an Attempt to Solve the Self-Promotion Dilemma,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 165, 76-89.

Valsesia*, Francesca, Davide Proserpio, and Joseph C. Nunes. "The Positive Effect of Not Following Others on Social Media." Journal of Marketing Research (2020): 0022243720915467.

Xu*, Zibin, Yi Zhu and Shantanu Dutta (Forthcoming), “Platform Screening Strategies And The Role of Niche Sellers on Service Provision”, International Journal of Research in Marketing

Xu*, Zibin and Anthony Dukes, (2021) “Personalization, Customer Data Aggregation, and the Role of List Price,” Management Science, forthcoming.

Xu*, Zibin, and Anthony Dukes. "Product line design under preference uncertainty using aggregate consumer data." Marketing Science 38, no. 4 (2019): 669-689.

Zhang*, Mengxia and Lan Luo (2023), “Can Consumer Posted Photos Serve as a Leading Indicator of Restaurant Survival? Evidence from Yelp,” Management Science , Vol. 69, No. 1, 25–50

Zhu*, Yi and Anthony Dukes (2017), “Prominent Attributes under Limited Attention,” Marketing Science, 36(5): 683-698.

Faculty Honors

The research of our faculty has been recognized repeatedly as innovative and highly impactful. Faculty members have been named fellows in the field’s leading professional organizations.

• American Marketing Association IO Lifetime Achievement Award
• Vijay Mahajan Lifetime Contribution to Marketing Strategy Award
• Alpha Kappa Psi Award
• Harold H. Maynard Award
• William F. O’Dell Award
• Donald R. Lehmann Award
• John D.C. Little Award
• INFORMS Society for Marketing Science Long-term Impact Award
• Fellow of INFORMS Society for Marketing Science
• Fellow of American Marketing Association
• Fellow of Association of Consumer Research
• Fellow of Society of Consumer Psychology

Proven Thought Leaders

Our faculty have a substantial role in shaping the discipline through their positions as editors, associate editors and editorial board members of:

• Journal of Consumer Psychology

Our faculty also include former presidents of major professional organizations, such as the Association for Consumer Research, the Association for Consumer Psychology, and INFORMS Society of Marketing Science (ISMS).

Program Culture

The culture of the program is research focused, collegial, supportive, and highly interactive. PhD students are “junior colleagues” encouraged to participate in academic research with faculty from the very beginning. The low PhD student/faculty ratio coupled with the marketing faculty’s “open door” policy promotes frequent and meaningful interactions between faculty and students about research, careers and teaching. Students also serve as colleagues and mentors to each other and often develop papers together.

Research Environment Faculty and students attend weekly scholarly presentations from invited faculty from around the world. In addition internal brown bag seminars and reading groups allow students and faculty to exchange ideas and receive feedback on research topics.

Student Background Our students come from all of over the world. They have strong academic backgrounds and bring with them a variety of experiences prior to joining the program.

Awards Marketing Ph.D. students have contributed to the field by publishing in leading journals and winning numerous prestigious research awards, including the SCP Sheth Award and the William O’Dell Award for long term contributions to marketing for articles published in the Journal of Marketing Research. Students have been recipients of INFORMS Society for Marketing Science (ISMS) Doctoral Dissertation Competition Award, finalists for the John D. Little Award for best paper in Marketing Science, and early career achievement award in marketing. Student research proposals have been funded by the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) and the Institute for The Study of Business Markets (ISBM).

PHD STUDENTS

Stephan (steve) carney.

• PhD Student in Marketing

Maansi Dalmia

Aparna jayaram, soohyun kim.

Our PhD graduates contribute to marketing research and practice throughout the world. We have a long history of mentoring PhD students who are on the faculty of top universities around the world.

Recent Placements (2023-2019)

Elisa Solinas (2023) Assistant Professor, IE, Spain

Wensi Zhang (2023) Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Gizem Ceylan (2022) Postdoctoral Researcher, Yale University

Ilya Lukibanov (2022) Data Scientist, AXS, USA

Sajeev Nair (2022) Assistant Professor, University of Kansas, USA

Isamar Troncoso (2022) Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School, USA

Chaumanix Dutton (2021) Assistant Professor, Arizona State University, USA

Jihoon Hong (2021) Assistant Professor, Arizona State University, USA

Mengxia Zhang (2021) Assistant Professor, Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada

Jennifer D'Angelo (2020) Assistant Professor, TCU, USA

Amy Pei (2020) Assistant Professor, Northeastern University, USA

Yao Yao (2019) Assistant Professor, San Diego State University, USA

APPLYING TO THE PhD PROGRAM

Dates + deadlines.

December 15, 2023: Application Deadline - Accounting, Data Sciences & Operations, and Management & Organization* 

January 15, 2024: Application Deadline - Finance & Business Economics and Marketing 

The link to the PhD Program application is available on the Admissions page and the next opportunity to apply is for Fall 2024 admission. Late applications may or may not be considered at the discretion of the admissions committee. 

Admissions decisions are made from mid-February to mid-April. You will be notified by email when a decision has been made.

ADMISSIONS CONTACT

Ph.D. Program USC Marshall School of Business 3670 Trousdale Parkway, BRI 306 Los Angeles, California 90089-0809 EMAIL

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Ph.D. in Marketing

Program information.

The University of Kansas doctoral program in marketing aims to prepare students for academic careers at tier 1 research universities. Faculty members closely supervise doctoral students pursuing their doctorate in one of the two tracks offered: consumer behavior or quantitative.

Each student is assigned an academic advisor, who guides the student in course selection and other general academic requirements. Students will begin to collaborate with faculty members on research projects early in the doctoral program, enabling them to have more than one paper under advanced review at premier marketing journals as they begin the job search in their penultimate year in the program.

Application deadlines

Priority: December 15

Final: January 10

• Application requirements

The marketing department has young and dynamic faculty, dedicated to producing high-quality research that is published in top-tier marketing and interdisciplinary journals. Students will begin to collaborate with faculty members on research projects early in the doctoral program.

Part of our mission is to develop effective teachers. To that end, all doctoral students are required to teach at least two sections as independent instructors. The school and university prepare and reward doctoral students for excellence in teaching through various programs and awards.

Program details

View degree requirements and a detailed list of courses in the KU Academic Catalog .

Requirements

Area of concentration.

Each aspirant, with the assistance of his or her faculty advisor and the area faculty, selects an area of concentration.

The area of concentration is selected from the traditional business disciplines of accounting, analytics, information, and operations, finance, human resource management, marketing, organizational behavior, and strategic management. An aspirant may also propose an interdisciplinary area of concentration that is a combination of these disciplines or include emphasis such as international business, law, and economics.

The aspirant must take at least five advanced courses in the area of concentration. These courses may include those offered outside the School of Business.

Supporting areas

Coursework in the area of concentration is supplemented and strengthened by study in one or two supporting areas. A supporting area is one that supplements and complements the area of concentration.

The aspirant will satisfy the supporting area requirement by taking at least four advanced courses in the supporting areas (at least two courses in each of two supporting areas, or at least four courses in one supporting area). Courses recommended for preparation for the qualifiers may not be included in satisfying the supporting area requirement.

Research methodology

For successful qualifier assessment, the student’s program of study should include adequate preparation in research methodology.

Sound research is always grounded on sound methodology. A doctoral student in marketing has the opportunity to develop methodological skill in probability and statistics, optimization, uncertain reasoning, game theory, and econometrics. A typical doctoral dissertation often utilizes one or more of the following research methodology: empirical, analytical, behavioral, and computational.

• Comprehensive exams
• Dissertation proposal
• Dissertation defense

Some students can complete the program in four years.

Program faculty

• Assistant Professor
• Marketing and Business Law academic area

• Area Director, Marketing and Business Law
• Crown/Sherr Professor

• Dean's/Frank S. Pinet Professor

• Associate Professor

• Ned N. Fleming Professor

• AT&T Foundation Professor

Marketing doctoral students

• Ph.D. Student

• Ph.D. Candidate

Tepper School of Business

Ph.D. Program

Doctoral graduates and faculty at the tepper school share an impressive legacy of path-breaking research and global recognition that includes nine nobel laureates. .

As a small, serious-minded program, our Ph.D. students benefit from close working relationships (both academic and social) with faculty, advisors, and classmates. 

There are eight focused fields of study in our doctoral program and we also offer joint Ph.D. degrees in conjunction with other world-class colleges across the university campus.

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The Tepper Doctoral Program

Areas of study, nobel laureates, current students on the job market >, research for the intelligent future, how do you anticipate and address tomorrow's business needs, today you think boldly. you challenge what you know. and you do the work. tepper's doctoral program hosts the next-generation researchers who will transform society's collective intelligence as we arrive at the intelligent future of business..

Neda Mirzaeian Ph.D. Candidate, Operations Management

"I chose to pursue my Ph.D. at the Tepper School of Business because of the diversity of opportunities it offers. At Tepper, I have been fortunate to work with some of the most prominent professors in my field, and develop the proper skill set for my future career."

Mik Zlatin Ph.D. Candidate, Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization

"At Tepper, I work with amazing people who help me reach my full potential both as a researcher and as a world citizen."

Sae-Seul Park Ph.D. Candidate, Organizational Behavior and Theory

"I chose the Tepper School because its interdisciplinary focus and great access to faculty enable doctoral students to pursue ideas and empirical methods that push the boundaries of research."

Program Fields of Study

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University of Bristol Business School

Postgraduate research

The University of Bristol Business School has an enthusiastic research community, a welcoming atmosphere and excellent research facilities.

Find out more about our PhD programme details, such as entry requirement, duration, supervisors and tuition fees.

PhD Management     PhD Accounting & Finance

Students may enroll in two interdisciplinary pathways offered by the South West Doctoral Training Partnership: Global Political Economy and Sustainable Futures .

We refer to your research proposal to assess your suitability for PhD studies. If you are considering applying for a PhD programme, explore our concise guideline below. It offers insights to help you craft a compelling research proposal for a successful application.

PhD Research Proposal Guideline

Research is central to the University of Bristol Business School. We are large enough to have expertise in many fields, but small enough to be friendly and allow regular contact between students and staff members.

Why choose the University of Bristol Business School for your PhD?

• Work with the brightest minds in academia. The 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) rated 88 per cent of the research in Business and Management as 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent' (3*/4*).
• Be part of an active research culture working to make a difference by critically addressing the significant challenges that face individuals, communities, organisations and economies.
• Gain access to our broad portfolio of research and impact partnerships, which include advisory roles to international and national government, non-government organisations (NGOs), professional bodies and regulators, and private and social enterprise.
• Fulfil your career aspirations with our customised personal development strategy.
• Receive excellent support within a vibrant PhD community.

Find out more about areas of research by exploring our Academic Groups and Research Groups.

How to apply

Read the application page and admissions statement for full details.

Apply for PhD Management

Apply for PhD Accounting and Finance

Our research focuses on driving change towards a more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous world.

Bristol Doctoral College

Our Bristol Doctoral College supports the community of postgraduate researchers across our research degree programmes.

Bristol University has a great and active research community. I had the opportunity to attend top-notch international conferences and seminars led by distinguished researchers. This exposure to different research topics and approaches proved to be extremely helpful for my own work.

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Susan Athey

Computers were one of Susan Athey’s first loves. As a child, she had a Radio Shack TRS-80 model at her house and taught herself to code; her earliest publication, as a preteen, was an article for Color Computer Magazine describing how she programmed a sound simulator.

At Duke University, she studied computer science and took a job administering the Unix workstation of an economics professor who soon encouraged her to pursue a PhD in his field. Athey was skeptical at first. But the professor was called to testify before Congress about procurement practices they were studying together, and Athey was impressed by the impact economics could have on policy and industry. She added economics and mathematics to her course of study.

But, in a move that proved prescient, she didn’t drop computer science (she earned degrees in all three disciplines in 1991). Years later — after Athey earned her PhD from Stanford GSB and had entered the academic job market, after she had proven herself as one of the foremost economists studying, among other things, markets, and auctions, and after winning the American Economic Association’s prestigious John Bates Clark Medal for leading economists under the age of 40 — she did a stint as chief economist at Microsoft, where she helped the company develop the advertising platform for its search engine Bing. In so doing, she became one of the first economists to recognize that her field and computer science could be more powerful working hand in hand. Her early experiences in the co-application of both disciplines made her another kind of expert altogether — what has since become known as a tech economist.

Today, Athey, the Economics of Technology Professor at Stanford GSB, is using her expertise to promote the public good. In 2019, she founded the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab , which uses digital technology and social science research to improve the effectiveness of social sector organizations.

The lab’s projects use economic principles and digital technologies — including artificial intelligence and machine learning — to assist social-impact organizations working in education, financial health, government, healthcare, charitable giving, and career transitions.

In 2022, Athey took her work with the social sector a step further, accepting a two-year position as the chief economist for the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division . Among other efforts there, she led the DOJ’s team that, together with the Federal Trade Commission, drafted new Merger Guidelines, which are issued periodically to describe the factors and frameworks government agencies use to review the legality of mergers and acquisitions. She also helped create a new technology policy team by hiring data scientists and bringing in the antitrust division’s first chief technologist.

Motivated by Impact

For more than a decade, Athey’s professional passions have been linked to their potential for impact. She chose to return to Stanford — after six years teaching at Harvard — because of the opportunity for cross-disciplinary collaboration. And she has helped make such collaboration possible. In 2019, she was a founding associate director of the Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute . She is also a leader of the B usiness and Beneficial Technology pillar within Stanford GSB’s newly launched Business, Government, & Society Initiative , which brings together academics, practitioners, and policymakers to address issues such as technology, free markets, and sustainability.

Athey’s Golub Capital Social Impact Lab epitomizes interdisciplinary work, putting students from computer science, engineering, education, and economics backgrounds to work helping partner organizations leverage digital tools and expertise that are generally only available to — or affordable for — large technology companies.

“I like building things that demonstrate how a class of problems can be solved,” Athey says. “If there is a problem worth solving, and I can solve it myself in a particular case, I know there are other people like me who are going to encounter the same problem. Part of the motivation and theory of change of the lab is that we will solve particular problems for particular social-impact organizations but also create the research that will guide others in solving similar problems.”

Quote “I’m very motivated by the need to serve, to help other people be productive.“

Some of the lab’s projects include working with PayPal and ImpactMatters (now Charity Navigator) to identify ways to increase contributions to charitable organizations during checkout experiences; helping the creators of a learn-to-read English educational app in India improve student interest and engagement, including through personalized recommendations and a contest that offered free books for students who read the most; making a digital tablet application to help nurses counsel patients about contraception options in Cameroon in partnership with the World Bank; and developing an online program that helps women create portfolios that can increase their chances of being hired by technology companies in Poland.

The lab has also developed CAREER , a generative artificial intelligence model based on 24 million resumes that can predict what type of job will follow a previously held job. Such a model is important for questions in labor economics, including estimating gender or racial differences in unemployment. Previous such predictions were based on much smaller survey data sets.

The model “is a way to study the future of work but also study” foundation models themselves — including how to reduce bias in such models, Athey said at a Brookings event last year.

Athey says each project demonstrates a potential benefit of technology but not all the potential benefits of technology. That’s by design. Progress, she says, should be incremental, and one of the benefits of digital and data-driven work is that it can be: Researchers can test the effects of small tweaks and adjust as they go rather than committing to bet-the-company changes that may not end up solving the original problem.

She described that approach in an interview for Microsoft Research in 2018.

“What we’ve learned from tech companies is that you shouldn’t think about coming up with one grand idea and then go out and spend a year testing that one idea,” she says. “Rather, you iteratively improve… Digital programs are amenable to incremental innovation.”

Athey says some parts of economics are evolving to include a healthy dose of engineering. In the Microsoft Research interview, she described stereotypical economics research as evaluating existing programs and often finding that “stuff doesn’t work.”

“There’s a lot of negativity,” she says. With help from data and machine learning techniques, “my prediction is that economists are going to become more [like] engineers. Instead of complaining that nothing works, we’re going to start building things that do work to achieve economic outcomes…. We’re going to realize that nothing works if it’s one size fits all, but that a lot of things work if they are actually personalized and appropriately delivered.”

Through the lab, Athey also taught a course called Data-Driven Impact . In the class, which is part of the GSB’s Action Learning Program , students designed experiments and data analysis techniques to estimate the impacts of product features for partner organizations.

“Across my experience in the business world, I learned how valuable it is to understand techniques and how they should be applied,” she adds. “There is a shortage of people in the world who both understand technology and how to guide and measure its development to truly benefit its users.”

Athey says she enjoys helping students achieve those skills; her passion for teaching and mentorship is one reason she didn’t accept a permanent, full-time position at Microsoft.

“I’m very motivated by the need to serve, to help other people be productive,” she says. “It’s exhilarating and intoxicating when people have questions they need to know the answers to, and you have the ability to answer them.”

Athey’s lab isn’t the only one that offers students and researchers the chance to partner with the private sector. But Emil Palikot, a postdoctoral researcher who has worked with Athey since 2020, says it is groundbreaking.

“What is unique here is that Susan identifies organizations that have a strong social impact and integrates with them very closely,” he says. “This level of close integration almost never happens because generally, academics don’t have the know-how of how the technology operates.”

Optimizing Government Efficiency

Athey’s Department of Justice gig is another attempt to use what she knows to make a difference. “If you connect it back to the lab,” she says, “by going there, I’m trying to make the social sector — in this case, the government — more effective by, for example, building better capabilities for analyzing large datasets and understanding algorithms.”

For the updated merger guidelines, Athey helped incorporate new economic analysis — including from academic writing she had done with Fiona Scott Morton, a Yale economist who previously held the chief economist role — that describes some of the behavior unique to digital platforms.

“The agencies are incorporating — more explicitly and to a greater extent — the applied theory and strategy literature developed over the last fifty years,” Scott Morton wrote in a blog post about the guidelines.

The final guidelines were released in December following an extensive public comment period (more than 5,000 comments were submitted), four listening sessions, many panel discussions, and an additional 30,000 comments received after an initial draft was released last summer.

“Synthesizing all of that — listening to and understanding and evaluating it — was a huge intellectual challenge,” Athey says.

The division’s new technology policy team enhances the department’s capabilities to work with large datasets and broadens the type of cases and conduct the antitrust division can analyze.

“Bringing that expertise on board changes the kind of cases we even have the capability to investigate,” says Laura Edelson, who served as the first chief technologist before returning to academia last year. “There were cases that we couldn’t even start without having that expertise available.”

The name of the group the antitrust division’s chief economist oversaw used to be the Economic Analysis Group, but during Athey’s tenure, it was changed to the Expert Analysis Group to acknowledge the inherently interdisciplinary nature of the work.

“It’s a recognition that economics is not the only domain of expertise the division needs in order to investigate its cases,” Edelson says. “That’s exactly the kind of insight that Susan is your person for. She really does think about problems in a complex way.”

A Large Footprint

Impact is one of the threads connecting the diverse strands of Athey’s career: She pursued economics because of its potential to influence policy and business; she returned to computer science and technology because of its potential to help society; and she has combined those disciplines in her lab and government work to maximize the effects of interventions designed to improve people’s lives.

Nevertheless, Scott Morton says it’s nearly impossible to judge Athey’s impact in economics, the field that made her famous in the first place.

“If you restrict the inquiry to theory, she’s easily one of the top theorists; if you restrict the inquiry to machine learning, she would be one of the most impactful economists in the world; if you confine yourself to economists who have impacted policy, she is one of the most important economists in the world; and if you restrict yourself to economists who have dealt with business strategy, she would be one of the top economists in the world,” Morton says. “I have no idea how to rank one of those areas over another. We won’t know her true impact for 50 years.”

Photos by Elena Zhukova

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Business Ph.D. Students Attend International Workshops

KENNESAW, Ga. | Sep 3, 2024

Two students in the Ph.D. in Business Administration have distinguished themselves on the world stage by participating in separate international workshops. Supported financially by Kennesaw State’s Ph.D. in Business Administration program, these experiences helped both students enhance their understanding of their research topics, while helping them develop international perspectives on culture, business, and education.

Chunxia Zhang

Chunxia Zhang spent 20+ years running her own company before retiring and pursuing her Ph.D. in Management. She attended the 2024 Ph.D. Summer School at the University of Liverpool Management School, where she explored research methodologies in Operations and Supply Chain Management and presented her research proposal. Zhang found the experience valuable, especially connecting with Ph.D. students from around the world. She also appreciates the strong support she’s received from the Ph.D. program.

“The Ph.D. program is really supportive,” said Zhang. “I really enjoyed this learning experience. PhD students come from all over the world to meet and network with each other to explore future research collaborations. ”

Mac Cunningham-Sereque

Mac Cunningham-Sereque is a Doctoral Candidate in Information Systems and the President & Workforce Advisor of an international career coaching company. He attended a week-long Executive Education course at the London School of Economics, focused on Behavioral Economics and the Modern Economy. This experience not only contributed to his dissertation research but also gave him a credential that could be useful in the private sector. Mac feels especially grateful for this opportunity because it broadened his educational experience.

“This was an amazing experience, made even more special because I was unable to study abroad during my bachelor and master's programs,” said Cunningham-Sereque.

Zhang’s and Cunningham-Sereque’s experiences highlight the opportunities for personal and professional growth that the Coles College of Business offers to its Ph.D. students.

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Access Canberra team guide PhD student in local business venture

Savannah McGuirk is using her PhD learnings to solve real-word problems through her start-up.

02 September 2024

• Savannah McGuirk takes PhD learnings to solve real word problems with a start-up.
• She seeks advice to make sure her business is compliant.
• Advice from the Access Canberra Business Assist Team confirms she’s on track.

While completing her PhD, Savannah McGuirk discovered an industry problem that was yet to be solved.

With her research pointing the way, Savannah launched her business, Remote Water Analytics.

From research to start-up

“Research is funny like that,” Savannah said. “You never know where you going to end up.”

“I started out my PhD looking at carbon levels in soil, but soon discovered that soil moisture was impacting remote sensing satellite and drone data for carbon monitoring. What I also found, was there is no consistency in methods for monitoring soil moisture levels with optical satellite data.”

That’s when things shifted for Savanah. She saw the application of her scientific research for the purpose of solving real world industry problems.

Remote Water Analytics is in its infancy as Savannah finalises her PhD, but she’s already working with some clients. She’s using state-of-the-art remote sensing technologies, like satellites and drones alongside advanced data science, AI and machine learning to pull comprehensive insights into soil and water conditions.

“We can do soil moisture mapping as well as long and short-term soil monitoring. We can also provide geospatial data visualisation. Satellite data gives us near real-time access to accurate and actionable information,” she said.

Savannah said they can help small scale farmers or large agricultural operations to adopt more sustainable practices.

“To be honest, I was surprised there wasn’t already a product in market that could affordably, reliably and efficiently test soil moisture remotely.

“Soil sampling and testing is an expensive and labour-intensive endeavour, particularly over large areas when we’re dealing with large agricultural holdings.”

But it’s not just agricultural applications that Remote Water Analytics can deal with. Savannah is currently working with a local Canberra civil construction company who are developing a new Canberra suburb.

“Construction companies can’t work when it’s wet without damaging the surfaces which they have already carefully prepared. By accurately monitoring soil moisture levels, we can get them back on site as quickly and safely as possible after rain, ultimately helping them get their job done faster and realise real financial savings.”

ACT Government business support

Earlier this year, Savannah attended the ACT Government’s first CBR Small Business Expo. Curious to see what was on offer, she came across the Access Canberra Business Assist Team.

“I overheard them speaking to someone else, and they sounded helpful,” she said.

“It got me thinking about whether there were any permits or licences I need to operate a soil and water management business.”

Like a true Canberran, and scientist, Savannah was keen to know that she was following all the correct processes and had all the right licences and permits.

After hearing Savannah’s story, the Business Assist Team got to work on her behalf, seeking advice across government, including from the ACT Environmental Protection Authority.

Kim from the Access Canberra Business Assist Team said they were glad to provide advice to Savannah.

“Savannah’s business is a bit niche, and we were able to give her peace of mind that she was compliant with necessary regulations,” said Kim.

Savannah agreed.

“It was reassuring to be able to access the team by email and get confirmation that I had done the right things and was compliant in running my business,” she said.

As for what’s next for Savannah, her business is one of 24 across Australia participating in a business accelerator program run by the Commonwealth Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

“It’s a three-month accelerator program to support drought-resilience in Australian agriculture.

“I’m a scientist, so I’m looking forward to learning many of the skill sets I need to run and operate a successful start-up,” she said.

To find out more about the Access Canberra Business Assist Team that helped Savannah, contact the team.

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