Peter S. Fader Faculty Profile

Peter S. Fader
Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor; Professor of Marketing

PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1987; SM, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985; SB, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1983

Research Areas
Using behavioral data to understand and forecast customer shopping/purchasing activities across a wide range of industries such as consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, financial services, and music (online and offline). Managerial applications focus on topics such as customer relationship management, lifetime value of the customer, and sales forecasting for new products. Much of his research highlights the common behavioral patterns that exist across these and other seemingly different domains.

Current Projects
Modeling and forecasting the complete portfolio of products/services obtained (and dropped) by a customer over time; Understanding the relationship between customer retention patterns and the overall value of an entire customer base; Modeling the relationship between in-store movements and actual purchases by shoppers in a retail store; Trying to tease apart the intertwined influences of radio airplay, digital downloads, Billboard chart patterns, and album sales.

Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 1987-present (named Frances and Pei-Yuan Chia Professor, 2003) 

Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards
Robert B. Clarke Outstanding Educator Award, given by the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation to honor an academic’s overall achievement in direct/interactive marketing, 2007; David K. Hardin Award, for the best article of the year published in Marketing Research, 2007; Excellence in Teaching Award, awarded by Wharton MBA students, 2006-07; Paul E. Green Award for most significant contribution to the practice of marketing research, Journal of Marketing Research, 2006; Best paper award, Advanced Research Techniques Forum, 2006

Professional Leadership 2003-2007
Area Editor, Marketing Science, 2005-present; Editorial Board Memberships: Marketing Science, 1992-present, Journal of Marketing Research, 1994-present, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2001-present; Journal of Marketing, 2005-present; Member of American Marketing Association Research Council, 2004-2007

Representative Publications
(with D. Schweidel and E. Bradlow)
“Modeling the Evolution of Customers’ Service Portfolios.” working paper.

(with B. Hardie)
“Customer-Base Valuation in a Contractual Setting: The Perils of Ignoring Heterogeneity.” working paper.

(with S. Hui and E. Bradlow)
“An Integrated Model of Grocery Store Shopping Path and Purchase Behavior.” working paper.

(with B. Hardie)
“How to Project Customer Retention." Journal of Interactive Marketing 21 (2007).