The PhD program in Marketing is based on a minimum of sixteen* graduate level courses: seven marketing seminars, two statistics courses, an economics course, two to three courses in a related field, and three to four electives - as well as the dissertation. These courses assume that the student has a basic knowledge of various business areas, computer programming, calculus, and matrix algebra. Of the sixteen courses, a maximum of four* can consist of transfer courses for graduate work at other universities with approval of the Department's PhD Coordinator. In addition, only two of the sixteen courses can be independent study courses. (*For students entering Fall 2006 and later.)
These courses assume that the student has a basic knowledge of various business areas, computer programming, calculus, and matrix algebra.
The program's specific objectives are:
- To provide an interdisciplinary environment for the generation of creative ideas and
hypotheses 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.
- 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).
The program implements these objectives by means of a varied program of seminars, joint research projects, and colloquia.
List of Courses
Basic Courses
Economics Requirement: Students are required to take one of the following three Economics sequences: 701 and 703, OR ECON 681 and 682, OR BPUB 250 (which students register to take as BPUB 999)
Statistics Requirement: A one-year graduate level sequence in statistics or in probability and statistics is required. Any of the following sample sequences can be used. Students may substitute other graduate level courses upon approval of the graduate director of the Statistics Department.
- STAT 520 and 521
- STAT 520 and 512
- STAT 510 and 520
- STAT 550 and 551
- STAT 500 and 501
- STAT 705 and 706
The Marketing Department requires seven PhD seminars (MKTG 960, 961, 963, 964, 966, 967 and 970). These seminars cover those areas of marketing in which all PhD Marketing students should have basic competence, not only to understand the contemporary literature, but to contribute to the future of the discipline. All Marketing students are expected to take these seminars.
The seminars involve in-depth consideration of various aspects of marketing. Ordinarily, a student taking these seminars will have already completed some work in quantitative methods and perhaps also in behavioral sciences. The general objectives of these seminars are to discuss contemporary research problems and relevant literature and to describe concepts and techniques for handling the research questions, current and future, in each of the following fields:
- MKTG 960 - Judgment and Decision Making Perspective on Consumer Behavior
- MKTG 961 - Economic/OR Models in Marketing
- MKTG 963 - Information Processing Perspectives on Consumer Behavior
- MKTG 964 - Empirical Models in Marketing
- MKTG 966 - Measurement and Data Analysis in Marketing
- MKTG 967 - Research Methods in Marketing
- MKTG 968 - Advanced Topics in Consumer Behavior
- MKTG 969 - Advanced Topics in Marketing Research
- MKTG 970 - PhD Seminar in Marketing Strategy
Students also complete two to three course units of work in a related field. A partial list of possible related fields includes:
- Communication Research
- Decision Processes
- Economics
- Econometrics
- Information Systems
- Operations Research
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Statistics
Sample Program Sequence
- Year 1 Fall
MKTG 967; STAT 500 or 510 or 520 or 550 or ECON 705; MKTG 960; ECON 681 or 701 or BPUB 250 (which students register to take as BPUB 999) - Year 1 Spring
MKTG 961; STAT 501 or 512 or 520 or 521 or 551 or ECON 706; MKTG 966; ECON 682 or 703 - Year 1 Summer
Marketing Preliminary Exam - Year 2 Fall
MKTG 963, MKTG 968, Electives, Research Paper - Year 2 Spring
MKTG 964, MKTG 969, Electives, Research - Year 3 Fall, Spring
Electives, Dissertation proposal defense - Year 4 Fall, Spring
Electives, Final dissertation defense