marketing phd program

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The marketing faculty embrace research traditions grounded in psychology and behavioral decision-making, economics and industrial organization, and statistics and management science.

These traditions support research inquiries into consumer behavior, firm behavior, the development of methods for improving the allocation of marketing resources, and understanding of how marketing works in a market setting.

A small number of students are accepted into the PhD Program in marketing each year, with a total of about 18 marketing students in residence. Student-faculty relationships are close, both professionally and socially. This permits the tailoring of the program of study to fit the background and career goals of the individual.

A marketing student’s program of study usually includes several doctoral seminars taught by marketing faculty, some doctoral seminars taught by other Stanford GSB faculty, and a considerable number of graduate-level courses in related departments outside the business school, depending on a student’s particular area of investigation.

The field is often broken down into two broad subareas: behavioral marketing and quantitative marketing.

Behavioral Marketing

Behavioral marketing is the study of how individuals behave in consumer-relevant domains. This area of marketing draws from social psychology and behavioral decision theory and includes a wide variety of topics such as:

• Decision making
• Attitudes and persuasion
• Social influence
• Motivation and goals
• New technologies
• Consumer neuroscience
• Misinformation

Students in this track take classes in behaviorally oriented subjects within Stanford GSB and also in the Psychology Department . All students have the opportunity to interact with Stanford GSB faculty in every group and, indeed, across the Stanford campus.

Behavioral Interest Group

There is also a formal institutional link between the behavioral side of marketing and the micro side of organizational behavior , which is called the Behavioral Interest Group. The Stanford GSB Behavioral Lab links members of this group. This lab fosters collaborative work across field boundaries among those with behavioral interests.

The Behavioral Lab is an interdisciplinary social research laboratory open to all Stanford GSB faculty and PhD students. The lab’s research primarily spans the fields of organizational behavior and behavioral marketing, and covers a rich and diverse array of topics, including attitudes and preferences, consumer decision-making, group dynamics, leadership, morality, power, and prosocial behavior.

Preparation and Qualifications

A background in psychology and experience with experimental methods and data analysis provide optimal preparation for students pursuing the behavioral track, though students from a variety of backgrounds have performed well in the program.

Quantitative Marketing

The quantitative marketing faculty at Stanford emphasize theoretically grounded empirical analysis of applied marketing problems. This line of inquiry draws primarily on fundamentals in applied microeconomic theory, industrial organization, and econometrics and statistics.

Questions of interest include:

Investigating consumer choices and purchase behavior

Examining product, pricing, advertising, and promotion strategies of firms

Analyzing competition in a wide range of domains

Development and application of large-scale experimentation, high-dimensional statistics, applied econometrics and big-data methods to solve marketing problems

A common theme of research is the use of rigorous quantitative methods to study important, managerially relevant marketing questions.

Cross-Campus Collaboration

Students in this track take common classes in quantitatively oriented subjects with others at Stanford GSB, as well as the Economics and Statistics Departments. All Stanford GSB students have the opportunity to interact with Stanford GSB faculty in every group and, indeed, across the Stanford campus.

Solid training in economics and statistical methods, as well as programming skills, offers a distinct advantage for quantitative marketing students, but students from various backgrounds such as engineering, computer science, and physics have thrived in the program.

Faculty in Behavioral Marketing

Jennifer aaker, szu-chi huang, jonathan levav, zakary tormala, s. christian wheeler, faculty in quantitative marketing, kwabena baah donkor, wesley r. hartmann, sridhar narayanan, navdeep s. sahni, emeriti faculty, james m. lattin, david bruce montgomery, michael l. ray, itamar simonson, v. “seenu” srinivasan, recent publications in marketing, 50 years of context effects: merging the behavioral and quantitative perspectives, investigating complementarities in subscription software usage using advertising experiments, when the one true faith trumps all: low religious diversity, religious intolerance, and science denial, recent insights by stanford business, why advertisers pay more to reach viewers who watch less, your summer 2024 podcast playlist, in a polarized world, an open mind can hurt your reputation.

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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

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From the Marketing Chair

"Welcome and thank you for your interest in a Ph.D. in marketing from UCLA Anderson! Marketing is a broad area, and we encourage curious individuals with strong economics, psychology or business training, as well as documented research experience, to apply. Our Ph.D. program is designed to allow students to concentrate in either a behavioral or quantitative marketing track, with training in economics and psychology to complement your coursework within marketing. We foster a collaborative environment and work hard to establish our students as successful researchers with strong publication records prior to graduation. Our excellent track record of placing our students in top research schools around the world speaks to the strength of our approach. To learn more about what our program focuses on, and to clarify the match to your own research interests, we strongly encourage you to read more on these pages about the work done by our faculty and students. "

Hal Hershfield, Ph.D. Marketing Chair

Explore the Program

Milestone publications.

People Who Choose Time over Money Are Happier Hal Hershfield and Cassie Mogilner Holmes

Although thousands of Americans say they prefer money, having more time is associated with greater happiness.  

Read Publication

Effects of Internet Display Advertising in the Purchase Funnel Randy Bucklin

Model-based insights from a randomized field experiment analyzed the value of reallocating display ad impressions across users at different stages.  

The Benefits of Emergency Reserves: Greater Preference and Persistence for Goals That Have Slack with a Cost Suzanne Shu

The exploration of how marketer-based programs designed to help consumers reach goals face dual challenges of consumer signup and motivating consumers to reach desirable goals.  

Alumni Success

Julia Levine (’23)

Dissertation: State Dependence in Brand, Category and Store Choice

Sherry He (’23)

Dissertation: Essays on Platform Policies, Ratings and Innovation

Kate Christensen (’21)

Dissertation: Moving Through Time: How Past and Future Connections Impact Consumer Decisions

Marissa Sharif (’17)

Dissertation: The Emergency Reserve: Benefits of Providing Slack with a Cost

Wayne Taylor (’17)

Dissertation: Modeling Customer Behavior in Loyalty Programs

Elizabeth Webb (’14)

Dissertation: Understanding Risk Preference and Perception in Sequential Choice

Claudia Townsend (’10)

Dissertation: The Impact of Product Aesthetics in Consumer Choice

Oliver Rutz (’07)

First academic placement: Yale University Dissertation: Essays in Cooperative Game Theory

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PhD Program

The marketing program offers two broad areas of research:  consumer behavior and quantitative marketing. Alternatively, students may focus on the interplay between these two broad areas (consumer behavior and quantitative marketing) and how the economics and psychology interface can help researchers better understand and predict marketing phenomena.

Consumer Behavior Track

In the consumer behavior track, students are exposed to the fundamentals of psychology (cognitive psychology, social psychology, and behavioral decision theory) and experimental research and on how to use them to address marketing problems, such as consumer judgment and decision making and the role of the multiple variables influencing this process (e.g., attitudes, emotions, motivation, individual differences, perception, social influence, etc).

Quantitative Marketing Track

In the quantitative marketing track, students are exposed to the fundamentals of economics (microeconomics, industrial organization, econometrics, etc.) and how to use them to address marketing problems such as mathematical modeling of buyer-seller interactions, consumer choice processes, the allocation of marketing resources into components of the marketing mix, and product development.

Program Overview

To cope with these expanding horizons, the program is designed to provide broad exposure to the advanced literature in each field. The program includes a series of marketing PhD seminars, the development of expertise in a particular social science discipline (economics and/or psychology), and technical skills appropriate to the analysis of the problems to be studied. Students select an area for intensive study and develop a program that trains them to comprehend and perform cutting-edge research in that field.

Consumer Behavior Curriculum

Quantitative Marketing Curriculum

Current student profiles

Dissertations & Placements

Next: Real Estate

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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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PhD | Marketing

The Ph.D. in Marketing

Stern’s Ph.D. program in marketing trains students to perform research in a broad array of behavioral areas such as consumer psychology, information processing, and judgment and decision making. The program also teaches students how to conduct research that develops econometric and statistical models to investigate consumer, firm, and market phenomena. The behavioral work in the department emphasizes experimental methodologies while the marketing science research focuses on structural models and Bayesian analyses. Applications of theory focus on current topics such as branding, social networks and media, word of mouth, and the use of digital media. The department is proud of a long tradition of close collaboration between doctoral students and faculty members.

Explore Marketing

Discover our other fields of study.

• Undergraduate
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PhD in Marketing

UNC Kenan-Flagler is a global leader in the field of empirical modeling and a destination department for marketing scholars who have a genuine interest in combining managerial relevance with academic rigor. The Marketing Area conducts managerially relevant research using rigorous empirical and analytical techniques, creates synergy between their research and teaching, and makes an impact on the business community and society by actively disseminating their insights.

PhD Marketing students learn to conduct research using rigorous empirical and analytical techniques. As a doctoral student, you will learn to unlock the full value of marketing data to better understand customers and improve marketing efforts. We actively share the newfound insights we glean to benefit the business community and society.

Typical Course Schedule by Year

During the first two years of the PhD program, you focus on courses that develop the tools you need to produce high-quality research. A faculty member, who acts as your advisor, is assigned to you when you enter the program.

• Marketing I
• Marketing II
• Issues in the Design and Analysis of Research in Marketing
• Seminar in Marketing Research Methodology
• An original research paper written under the supervision of a faculty member is required for presentation and critique.
• Economic Foundations in Marketing
• Advanced Psychometric Measurement and Data Analysis in Marketing
• A Comprehensive Written Examination covers all of the courses you take in the first two years of the PhD program
• An oral presentation of your current research
• Full-time research
• With consent of your advisor, you may attend/participate or present at external national or international conferences after your second year.
• Dissertation and Oral Defense is expected prior to the end of the fifth year.
• Preparing for the job market
• PhD students may take any elective course offered by UNC Kenan-Flagler or other UNC or Duke departments with guidance from your advisor.
• Your are invited to participate in all marketing-related research seminars and guest speakers offered at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

View our current Marketing PhD students .

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• 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.

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• Dissertation Areas and Joint PhD Programs
• PhD Career Outcomes
• PhD Proposals and Defenses
• PhD Job Market Candidates
• PhD Research Community
• 100 Years of Pioneering Research
• Rising Scholars Conference
• Yiran Fan Memorial Conference
• Frequently Asked Questions
• PhD in Accounting
• PhD in Behavioral Science
• PhD in Econometrics and Statistics
• PhD in Microeconomics
• PhD in Finance
• PhD in Management Science and Operations Management

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

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

Jeffrey Breakenridge Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing and IBM Corporation Faculty Scholar

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 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

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

Sara Drango

Fatemeh Gheshlaghpour

Nicholas Herzog

Stephanie Hong

Quoc Dang Hung Ho

Daniel Katz

Juan Mejalenko

Natalie Moore

Timothy Schwieg

Semyon Tabanakov Sophie (Jiarui) Wang

Ningyin (Ariel) Xu

Shuqiong (Lydia) Zhao Grace 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.

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Program Requirements

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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.

The Marketing area at the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business has a long tradition of leadership in doctoral education. The school’s marketing PhD graduates are among the nation's best in terms of the impact of their research on the profession, according to a study by Academic Assessment Services. Purdue graduates were one of only five sets of alumni to be ranked in the top 15 on each of five separate measures of influence.

In their doctoral coursework, marketing PhD students learn theoretical models and their empirical applications related to consumer behavior, organization buying behavior, pricing, product design, advertising, promotion, sales force, distribution, new product planning, marketing planning, and strategy decisions

The objective of the program is to educate cutting-edge future researchers who will contribute to the advancement of marketing and management science. We appreciate that marketing is both an art and a science and will prepare you for a career in academia, marketing consulting, marketing research/analytics, UX/UI design, business development and more.

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If you would like to receive more information about doctoral study in Marketing, please fill out the form and an Admissions Specialist will be in touch to connect you with a department representative!

Contact us for more information. [email protected]

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What We Are Looking for in Applicants

Consumer behavior program requirements, quantitative program requirements.

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Our Current PhD Students

Learn more about our faculty, faculty journal publications & books.

Marketing adapts the analytical and behavioral theories commonly used in economics, psychology, sociology, and operations research and applies them to marketing problems. Potential areas of study range from analysis and modeling of consumer behavior to research in the decision-making processes of marketing organizations.

Our marketing faculty and students approach the study of marketing from two distinct perspectives: a psychological, behavioral orientation and a quantitative, empirical one. The presence of two paradigms enriches the experiences of both groups.

The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management supports scholarly activity of marketing faculty and students. For instance, faculty and students have access to the Johnson Business Simulation Laboratory to conduct experiments, the Dyson Lab for Experimental Economics & Decision Research ), as well as an online participant pool for experimental research. Funding is available to support student research projects and travel to national and international conferences. Johnson also is the home to the internationally-recognized academic journal, Administrative Science Quarterly .

Our faculty regularly publish in top marketing journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Consumer Research, and Marketing Science, among others. For additional information on faculty research, please visit individual faculty websites.

Marketing students take courses developed and taught by marketing faculty, as well as courses outside the area (e.g., from expert faculty in Psychology, Economics, Computer Science, etc.). A representative summary of courses offered by Marketing faculty are below:

• B1. Judgement and Decision Making/BDT
• B2. Information Processing/Social Psychological Perspectives
• B3. Cognitive Psychological Perspectives
• B4. A Special Topics Course

Quantitative

• Q1. Choice Modeling and Diffusion
• Q2. Empirical Models (includes machine learning methods)
• Q3. Structural Models in Marketing
• Q4. A Special Topics Course

Tommaso Bondi Johnson School

Khaled Boughanmi Johnson School

Helen Chun Nolan School

Geoffrey Fisher Dyson School

Alexander Fulmer Nolan School

Emily Garbinsky Johnson School

Sachin Gupta Johnson School

Sylvia Hristakeva Dyson School

Vrinda Kadiyali Johnson School

Shreya Kankanhalli  Johnson School

Jura Liaukonyte Dyson School

Emaad Manzoor Johnson School

Michael Lynn Nolan School

Young-Hoon Park Johnson School

Omid Rafieian Johnson School

Jacqueline Rifkin Johnson School

Suzanne Shu Dyson School

Douglas M. Stayman Johnson School

Manoj Thomas Johnson School

Stijn M.J. van Osselaer Johnson School

Kaitlin Woolley Johnson School

Nathan Yang Dyson School

Some of Our Alumni

Arnaud Monnier, Graduation Year: 2022, First Placement: EDHEC Business School (France)

Sarah Lim, Graduation Year: 2021, First Placement: University of Illinois

Piyush Anand, Graduation Year: 2021, First Placement: Rice University

Sungjin Kim, Graduation Year: 2020, First Placement: University of Hawaii at Manoa

Shreyans Goenka, Graduation Year: 2020, First Placement: Virginia Tech

Sharmistha Sikdar, Graduation Year: 2019, First Placement: Dartmouth College

Jialie Chen, Graduation Year: 2018, First Placement: University of Arkansas

Joowon Park, Graduation Year: 2017, First Placement: City University of Hong Kong

Dinesh Puranam, Graduation Year: 2016, First Placement: University of Southern California

Hwang Kim, Graduation Year: 2015, First Placement: Chinese University of Hong Kong

Ping Zhao, Graduation Year: 2014, First Placement: Wilfrid Laurier University

Chang Hee Park, Graduation Year: 2012, First Placement: Binghamton University

Anne-Sophie Chaxel, Graduation Year: 2012, First Placement: McGill University

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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
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For more information or to request admission application forms:

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PhD in Marketing

Preferred deadline: January 20

• Terry Dean’s Advisory Council Distinguished Professor and Associate 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
• Marketing Department Seminar ( 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
• Marketing Department Course ( MARK 9650  Multivariate Methods)
• PSYC 6160  Sensory Psychology
• PSYC 6430  Applied Regression Methods in Psychology
• First Year Paper
• Marketing Department Seminar ( 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
• Marketing Department Course ( 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
• Marketing Department Seminar ( MARK 9450  Marketing Strategy I or  MARK 9550  Consumer Behavior I)
• ECON 8010  Microeconomics
• ECON 8110  Econometrics I
• POLS 7014  Intermediate Political Methodology
• Marketing Department Seminar ( MARK 9650  Multivariate Methods)
• ECON 8120  Econometrics II
• POLS 8501  Advanced Quantitative Methods OR  ECON 8020 Microeconomics II
• Marketing Department Seminar ( MARK 9480  Marketing Strategy II or  MARK 9560  Consumer Behavior II)
• ECON 8130  Econometrics III
• Marketing Department seminar ( MARK 9700  Marketing Models)

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)

Departments and Program Offices

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• Department of Marketing

UGA Resources

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Additional Information

• Current PhDs
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• 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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Gain the quantitative technical skills and the market understanding to become an “analytical marketeer” who can derive data-driven creative insights

The Master of Science in Marketing Science program offers a STEM-eligible curriculum that focuses on marketing analytics. The program trains marketing researchers to work in a variety of organizations where marketing analytics adds value, including media and advertising, consumer products, omnichannel retailing and financial services.

The growing demand for data analytics and the increasingly complex consumer understanding required in marketing decisions is spurring a growing demand for “analytical marketeers”, who can combine quantitative skills, market understanding and creative insights. 

The MS in Marketing Science requires three semesters of full-time study. Students must complete a minimum of ten full-term graduate-level courses (30 credits).

The Columbia Advantage

Students take a carefully constructed curriculum of PhD, MBA, and MS courses offered at Columbia Business School, and electives chosen from courses offered by CBS or other schools at Columbia University (e.g., Engineering, Economics, Statistics, Computer Science, Psychology).

This program is intended for students who prefer a shorter and more industry-oriented experience than the School’s Doctoral Program.  

Take a look at the Program's coursework.

Student life

Columbia Business School’s supportive community helps our busy students balance their life, work, and studies while still having opportunities to enjoy one another’s company and the excitement of New York City.

Take a moment to meet our current students and alumni who talk about their Columbia Business School experiences. We’re sure you’ll see yourself in their personal glimpses and positive reflections on their time here, especially with their professors and fellow students.

Career resources

The Career Management Center (CMC) at Columbia Business School works with students to develop lifelong career management skills and empowers them to leverage the Columbia Business School network throughout their careers. The small size of the program allows the CMC to target search resources, tailoring these to the experience and needs of MS in Marketing Science students in a variety of industries.

By the numbers

Our Admissions Office is located at 483 David Geffen Hall on Columbia University’s Manhattanville Campus. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, drop-in visits are not currently available. Prospective students can speak with an admissions counselor from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday via the contact options below. Beginning in January 2022, all MS courses will be held at our new campus in Manhattanville and our offices will relocate to Kravis Hall.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +1-212-854-2836

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DEGREES & PROGRAMS

Master of Science in Marketing

Ready to Start Your WGU Journey?

Next Start Date for Marketing Programs: July 1

ONLINE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MARKETING

An M.S. in Marketing that can Transform your Career

You already know what it takes to work in marketing—now you’re ready for what’s next. WGU can help. With our online marketing master’s degree, you’ll gain advanced knowledge and skills to help you progress in your career, gain a competitive edge in the job market, and maximize your earning potential.    The Master of Science in Marketing degree programs are entirely online, so you can work full-time while earning your degree and take tests whenever and wherever works best for you.    Learn the latest in SEO, content creation, data analytics, e-commerce, and more through our educational partnerships with Google and HubSpot. Then, practice your skills in hands-on simulations and apply them to real-world marketing scenarios. When you graduate with WGU’s marketing master’s degree, you’ll have an entire portfolio of work as well as the opportunity to earn valuable industry certifications that can make you even more marketable to future employers.

How the M.S. Marketing Degrees Work

The Master of Science in Marketing is offered with two program options: Digital Marketing (MSMK) and Marketing Analytics (MSMKA).  

Digital Marketing is geared toward general marketers and includes creative elements focusing on e-commerce, social media, email, and content marketing.  

Marketing Analytics is for technical marketers and includes the technical skills needed for SEO and marketing analytics.  

These programs provide industry-relevant courses in top in-demand areas that have distinct skill sets, along with shared foundational courses that cover general business and marketing content. Your career goals will ultimately help you decide which specialty is right for you.

INDUSTRY CERTIFICATIONS

In these programs, you have the opportunity to earn industry-recognized certifications and skills through our collaboration with Google and HubSpot. The cost of some of these certifications are covered in your tuition, streamlining the process of earning career-boosting certs aligned with your career goals.  

Digital Marketing certifications:

HubSpot Inbound Marketing certification

HubSpot Marketing Software certification

HubSpot Email Marketing certification

• HubSpot Social Media Marketing certification
• Google Ads Search certification
• Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate (Google Career Certificate) 

Marketing Analytics certifications:

HubSpot SEO certification

• Google Analytics certification 

WGU’s marketing master’s degree also aligns with the Online Marketing Certified Associate (OMCA) industry certification. Students will receive a voucher to sit for this 3rd-party industry certification. The cost of the OMCA certification is included in the program’s tuition rate. Sitting for the OMCA certification is voluntary and must be completed within six-months of receiving the certification voucher.

WGU offers affordable tuition charged per six-month term, not per-credit. This means you can take as many courses as you want during each term and not pay extra.

61% of students in WGU business master's programs are able to complete them within 18 months. WGU’s competency-based education model lets you complete courses on your schedule, with 24/7 online access to learning materials and the ability to take tests as soon as you know the material.

* WGU Internal Data

$11,813 Average Salary Growth*

WGU’s School of Business graduate students report an average salary increase of $11,813* after finishing their degree program.

*WGU Internal Data

M.S. Marketing vs. MBA

Both an MBA or a marketing master's can be a great way to advance your education. Unsure of which one is the right fit? It really comes down to what your interests and aspirations are. If your goal is to gain skills more specific to marketing—such as social media, SEO, market research, analytics, etc.—consider the marketing master’s. On the other hand, if you want to build a stronger business background, an MBA can expand your knowledge in areas such as finance, operations, and strategy. 

Careers Your Online Marketing Master's Prepares You For

With a master’s in marketing from WGU, you’re ready to move into the following jobs, depending on your specialty.

• Chief Marketing Officer
• Marketing Manager  
• Digital Marketing Manager
• Market Research Analyst
• Brand Manager
• Content Marketing Specialist  
• Social Media Manager  
• SEO Manager
• Media Analyst  
• Sales Manager
• Advertising Manager
• Media Buyer
• Traffic Manager
• Promotions Manager
• Content Manager

WGU vs. Traditional Universities Compare the Difference

Traditional Universities

TUITION STRUCTURE

Per credit hour

Flat rate per 6-month term

Schedule and wait days or even weeks to meet with one of many counselors

Simply email or call to connect with your designated Program Mentor who supports you from day one

Scheduled time

Whenever you feel ready

Professor led lectures at a certain time and place

Courses available anytime, from anywhere

TIME TO FINISH

Approximately 2 years, minimal acceleration options

As quickly as you can master the material, can finish programs in 1 year

Be Career Ready

Designed with input from healthcare leaders, our accredited programs give you the skills and credentials today’s employers need. That’s why 97% of employers said they’d hire another WGU grad. 1

1: 2023  Harris Poll of 300 employers of WGU grads.

Get and Keep the Job You Want to Have

85% of WGU graduates are employed in their degree fields—and 87% are employed full-time. 2

2: 2023  Harris Poll  of 1,655 WGU grads.

With flat-rate tuition that is 48% lower than the national average 3 and generous need-based scholarships, our degrees are an excellent investment that you can afford.

3: National rates reported by the  Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System in 2022 . WGU average rate does not include rates for WGU Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Prelicensure program.

Work as You Need While Going to School

At WGU, you can complete courses, take tests, and graduate on your schedule. In fact, many of our healthcare students work full-time while earning their life-changing bachelor’s or master’s degrees. 

View M.S. Marketing Programs Learn about the two different program specialties you can choose from in a marketing master's program at WGU.

Accredited, Respected, Recognized™

One important measure of a degree’s value is the reputation of the university where it was earned. When employers, industry leaders, and academic experts hold your alma mater in high esteem, you reap the benefits of that respect. WGU is a pioneer in reinventing higher education for the 21st century, and our quality has been recognized.

Master Your Future Scholarship Opportunity

In addition to our already low tuition, WGU wants to make getting your master’s degree even more affordable. That’s why we’re offering $2,500 toward your MSM with the Master Your Future Scholarship opportunity. Interested? The next step is to apply for admission.  

Don't Have a Bachelor's Degree?

Consider WGU’s Bachelor of Science Business Administration in Marketing. This program will give you the strong marketing foundation you need to excel in a marketing master’s program, as well as prepare you for a wide variety of valuable careers in content marketing, social media, brand management, and much more.

No GMAT or GRE Requirement

Our goal is to make it easier for you to follow your dream of pursuing your master’s degree. So, instead of looking at standardized test scores, WGU looks at previous work and college experience, using that as a gauge to help in admission decisions. 

What Students Are Saying About WGU

Our students say it best. See why their WGU experience means so much to them, and what makes us different.

"During my studies, I worked full time, was raising a toddler, and had a second child this year. The flexibility that WGU offered was incredible."

—Tata Stowe B.S. Business Management

"I got a degree in a fraction of the time and for much less cost than any other respectable university. WGU is also institutionally accredited."

—Brandy Engleking M.S. Management and Leadership

"WGU was a great experience I finished at an accelerated pace but maintained my work and social life! Perfect for those working full time where conventional in class education is not an option."

—Nathan Ceniceros MBA - IT Management)

WGU Grads Hold Positions With Top Employers

FAQs about Marketing Master's Degrees

What are some specializations within marketing I can pursue with an M.S. in Marketing?

WGU’s Master of Science in Marketing offers two specialization options: Digital Marketing and Marketing Analytics. The Digital Marketing specialization focuses on creative skills in e-commerce, social media, and email marketing, and the Marketing Analytics specialization focuses on more technical skills in analytics and SEO.

What’s the salary range for someone with an M.S. in Marketing?

The average annual pay for a marketing master’s in the United States is $72,000 a year with annual salaries ranging from $40,000 to $140,000.

Should I get an MBA or an M.S. in Marketing?

It depends on what your career aspirations are. A marketing MBA focuses more on the business of marketing and dives into topics such as finance and operations, which can help you build a stronger business background. An MSM teaches you skills that are more specific to marketing, such as social media, SEO, and market research, which can help you build or grow in your current marketing career.

What jobs does this degree prepare you for?

With an M.S. in marketing, you’ll be qualified for a variety of advanced marketing jobs, including:  

Marketing Manager   

Digital Marketing Manager  

Brand Manager  

Content Marketing Specialist   

Social Media Manager   

SEO Manager  

Media Analyst   

Do I need a bachelor’s in marketing before obtaining an M.S. in marketing?

In order to obtain a master's degree, you will need a bachelor's degree. It is not required that you have a bachelor's degree in marketing in order to pursue a master's in marketing.

What are the different types of marketing degree programs?

WGU offers a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and a Master of Science in Marketing that includes Digital Marketing or Marketing Analytics specializations.   

How long does an online M.S. in marketing take?

It varies. With WGU's competency-based model, your time to graduation is unique because you move through your courses based on how quickly you prove mastery of the material. For some students, it might take two years, but for those who already have a solid base of knowledge in marketing, it may take less time.

What certifications should I complete with an M.S. in marketing?

Certifications are a great way to increase your marketability and show employers you’re serious about advancing your marketing career. However, they’re not typically a requirement. Some certifications you can earn along with WGU’s marketing master’s degree include:  

HubSpot Social Media Marketing

Google Ads Search certification  

Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Certificate (Google Career Certificate)

Google Analytics certification

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Digital Marketing Strategy

Key concepts, who will benefit, marketing professionals, non-marketing professionals, entrepreneurs.

What You Earn

Certificate of Completion

Boost your resume with a Certificate of Completion from HBS Online

Earn by: completing this course

Marketing in the Digital Era

• DTC Brands: Fad or Disruption?
• DTC Brands: Innovations and Challenges, Part I
• DTC Brands: Innovations and Challenges, Part II
• Incumbent Responses

Featured Exercises

Crafting a digital marketing plan.

• Setting Objectives
• Defining Target Audience
• Determining Value Proposition
• Identifying Metrics

Acquiring Customers, Part 1: Paid Media

• The Challenges of Reaching and Acquiring Customers Online
• Search Advertising
• Display Advertising
• Utilizing Paid Media Channels
• Measuring Paid Media

Acquiring Customers, Part II: Owned and Earned Media

• Owned Media
• Earned Media
• Influencer Marketing

Engaging Customers

• Personalization
• From Storytelling to Story-Making
• Connecting Customers and Building Community

Allocating Budget and Measuring Success

• Budget Allocation
• Customer Lifetime Value
• Adobe Simulation
• The Future of Marketing

How to Formulate a Successful Business Strategy

Our difference, about the professor.

Sunil Gupta Digital Marketing Strategy

Dates & eligibility.

No current course offerings for this selection.

All applicants must be at least 18 years of age, proficient in English, and committed to learning and engaging with fellow participants throughout the course.

Learn about bringing this course to your organization .

Learner Stories

Digital Marketing Strategy FAQs

What are the learning requirements in order to successfully complete the course, and how are grades assigned.

Participants in Digital Marketing Strategy are eligible for a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Business School Online.

Participants are expected to fully complete all coursework in a thoughtful and timely manner. This will mean meeting each week’s course module deadlines and fully answering questions posed therein. This helps ensure your cohort proceeds through the course at a similar pace and can take full advantage of social learning opportunities. In addition to module and assignment completion, we expect participation in the social learning elements of the course by offering feedback on others’ reflections and contributing to conversations on the platform. Participants who fail to complete the course requirements will not receive a certificate and will not be eligible to retake the course.

More detailed information on course requirements, including the Adobe Data Driven Operating Model Simulation (one of the assignments), will be communicated at the start of the course. No grades are assigned for Digital Marketing Strategy. Participants will either be evaluated as complete or not complete.

Can you tell me a little more about the budget allocation simulation?

The budget allocation simulation (Adobe Data Driven Operating Model Simulation) will be part of module 6 of the course. It is similar to a mini capstone experience, in that it encourages participants to draw on their knowledge from the rest of the course to make investment decisions in the simulation. It is the very same simulation included in the MBA program's required curriculum marketing course, and, while designed to be challenging, it is ungraded and assessed based on completion. We recommend budgeting approximately 1.5 hours to complete the simulation. Full instructions for how to complete the simulation will be provided to course registrants.

What materials will I have access to after completing Digital Marketing Strategy?

You will have access to the materials in every prior module as you progress through the program. Access to course materials and the course platform ends 60 days after the final deadline in the program.

How should I list my certificate on my resume?

Once you've earned your Certificate of Completion, list it on your resume along with the date of completion:

Harvard Business School Online Certificate in Digital Marketing Strategy [Cohort Start Month and Year]

List your certificate on your LinkedIn profile under "Education" with the language from the Credential Verification page:

School: Harvard Business School Online Dates Attended: [The year you participated in the program] Degree: Other; Certificate in Digital Marketing Strategy Field of Study: Leave blank Grade: "Complete" Activities and Societies: Leave blank

Description:

Digital Marketing Strategy is a 7-week, 35-40 hour online certificate program from Harvard Business School. Digital Marketing Strategy equips professionals with the tools, mindset, and trends to make decisions about digital marketing strategy and tactics, including how to position a product or service for success, acquire and engage customers, and measure both performance of near-term campaigns and longer-term customer value.

Related Program

CLIMB enables new and experienced leaders to ignite their careers with a combination of vital and forward-looking business skills, self-reflection, and an immersive cohort-based learning experience with a diverse global network.

• Best Online M.B.A. Accelerated Programs

Best Online M.B.A. Accelerated Programs Of 2024

Published: Jun 11, 2024, 12:03pm

Whether you’re looking to advance your role or switch industries altogether, an M.B.A. can be a game-changer for your career. If you don’t have the time to pursue a traditional M.B.A., good news: Accelerated programs are available.

Online learning works well for busy professionals, allowing them to balance their studies with work, family and other obligations. Thanks to the flexible format of an accelerated online M.B.A., you can earn your degree without a career pause, often in less than a year. But with so many online M.B.A.s available, choosing the right one can be overwhelming.

We’ve ranked the top 10 accelerated M.B.A. programs online, complete with tips for finding the perfect fit. Read on to learn more.

Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Education

Forbes Advisor’s education editors are committed to producing unbiased rankings and informative articles covering online colleges, tech bootcamps and career paths. Our ranking methodologies use data from the National Center for Education Statistics , education providers, and reputable educational and professional organizations. An advisory board of educators and other subject matter experts reviews and verifies our content to bring you trustworthy, up-to-date information. Advertisers do not influence our rankings or editorial content.

• 6,290 accredited, nonprofit colleges and universities analyzed nationwide
• 52 reputable tech bootcamp providers evaluated for our rankings
• All content is fact-checked and updated on an annual basis
• Rankings undergo five rounds of fact-checking
• Only 7.12% of all colleges, universities and bootcamp providers we consider are awarded

Our Methodology

We ranked 385 accredited, nonprofit colleges offering online, accelerated M.B.A. degree programs in the U.S. using 15 data points in the categories of credibility, affordability, student outcomes, student experience and application process.

We pulled data for these categories from reliable resources such as the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System ; private, third-party data sources; and individual school and program websites. Data is accurate as of February 2024.

We scored schools based on the following metrics:

Student Outcomes:

• Overall graduation rate
• Median earnings 10 years after graduation

Affordability:

• In-state graduate student tuition and fees
• Alternative tuition plans offered
• Median federal student loan debt
• Student loan default rate

Student Experience:

• Student-to-faculty ratio
• Socioeconomic diversity
• Availability of online coursework
• Total number of graduate assistants
• Portion of graduate students enrolled in at least some distance education

Credibility:

• Fully accredited
• Programmatic accreditation status
• Nonprofit status

Application Process:

• Acceptance rate

We chose the 10 best schools to display based on those receiving a curved final score of 95% or higher.

Find our full list of methodologies here .

• Best Online Accounting Degrees
• Best MBA In Finance Online
• Best Online Finance Degrees
• Best Online Master’s In Accounting Degrees
• Best Online Master’s In Finance

Degree Finder

Key takeaways, should you enroll in an online accelerated m.b.a. program, accreditation for online accelerated m.b.a., how to find the right online accelerated m.b.a. for you, frequently asked questions (faqs) about online accelerated m.b.a. programs.

• You can complete an accelerated online M.B.A. in as little as one year.
• Over 53% of graduate students took at least one distance education course in 2022, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
• M.B.A. concentrations vary widely, from AI management to healthcare administration.
• Prioritize programmatically accredited M.B.A.s to ensure you receive a quality education.

Best Online Accelerated M.B.A. Degree Options

University of florida, touro university worldwide, eastern new mexico university-main campus.

• Texas A & M International University

North Carolina State University at Raleigh

Gwynedd mercy university, spring arbor university, trine university, olivet nazarene university, saint joseph’s college of maine, featured online schools.

Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial credit and much more by clicking 'Visit Site'

Program Tuition Rate

$1,500/credit (in-state)

Percentage of Grad Students Enrolled in Distance Education

Overall Graduation Rate

The University of Florida ‘s Warrington College of Business is located in Gainesville and offers a 32-credit accelerated M.B.A. Students can complete the AACSB-accredited program in 16 months. It is designed for individuals who have earned their business undergraduate degree within the last seven years. Two years of post-baccalaureate professional experience is required for enrollment.

The average GPA of accepted students is 3.3, and the average GMAT score is 600. Applicants should exhibit substantial career advancement and potential, such as experience in managerial or international roles.

• Our Flexibility Rating: Learn around your 9-to-5
• School Type: Public
• Application Fee: $30
• Degree Credit Requirements: 32 credits
• Program Enrollment Options: Accelerated
• Example Major-Specific Courses: Entrepreneurship and venture finance, global strategic management
• Concentrations Available: N/A
• In-Person Requirements: Yes, on-campus orientation required

$500/credit (in-state)

Founded in 1971 in New York City, Touro University Worldwide is the largest nonprofit higher education institution under Jewish auspices in America. Its online Master of Business Administration is geared toward full-time professionals. Coursework includes 27 core and nine elective credits. There is no application fee, and GRE or GMAT scores are not required.

The ACBSP-accredited program has six start dates and 11 concentrations, including artificial intelligence (AI) management, cybersecurity management and nonprofit management. The curriculum emphasizes business skills like communication, cross-cultural management, business ethics and strategic planning. Students can earn their M.B.A. in one year of full-time study or one and a half years of part-time study.

• Our Flexibility Rating: Learn on your schedule
• School Type: Private
• Application Fee: None
• Degree Credit Requirements: 36
• Program Enrollment Options: Part time, full time
• Example Major-Specific Courses: Professional communications, managing organizational behavior
• Concentrations Available: AI management, cybersecurity management, finance, global management, health administration management, human resources management, IT management, marketing, nonprofit management, physicians and healthcare executives
• In-Person Requirements: No

$310/credit (in-state)

Eastern New Mexico University ‘s main campus is located in Portales, New Mexico. The school offers a 100% online, ACBSP-accredited M.B.A. program for working professionals. Students can start during any semester and earn their degree in as little as 12 months.

Program admission requires a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and a GMAT score of 450. The program combines undergraduate standard professional courses and core courses with skill competency. While the general online M.B.A. consists of 30 credits, students specializing in accounting or finance must complete nine additional credits.

• Application Fee: Free
• Degree Credit Requirements: 30 credits
• Program Enrollment Options: Part-time, full-time
• Example Major-Specific Courses: Managerial economics, leading human resources
• Concentrations Available: Accounting, finance

Texas A&M International University

$367/credit (in-state)

Located near Mexico in Laredo, Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) is home to a multicultural student community. The A.R. Sanchez, Jr. School of Business offers five online M.B.A. programs. They include criminal justice, healthcare administration, international banking and finance, international business, international trade and logistics, and management.

Coursework is delivered in a 100% online format designed with working professionals in mind. Each concentration consists of 21 core and nine program-specific credits. There are six start dates per year, and students can complete their M.B.A. in as little as 12 months.

• Application Fee: $35
• Program Enrollment Options: Accelerated, part-time
• Example Major-Specific Courses: Business research methods, managerial economics
• Concentrations Available: Criminal justice, healthcare administration, international banking and finance

$1,432/credit (in-state)

Located in Raleigh, North Carolina State Univiersity ’s Poole College of Management offers a flexible online M.B.A. program geared toward working professionals. Students can create a plan of study that aligns with their work and family obligations, completing the program in as little as 21 months if they choose the accelerated track. Learners must complete the program within six years and maintain continuous enrollment requirements.

Taught by award-winning faculty from the Jenkins Graduate School of Management, the AACSB-accredited program requires two years of post-graduate employment. Students must complete two three-day leadership residencies on NC State’s main campus. Core courses include finance and markets, analyzing the value chain and managing the organization.

• Application Fee: $75
• Degree Credit Requirements: 40 credits
• Program Enrollment Options: Accelerated, part-time, full-time
• Example Major-Specific Courses: Financial management of corporations, marketing management and strategy
• In-Person Requirements: Yes, two three-day residencies

$750/credit (in-state)

A private Catholic institution near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gwynedd Mercy University was founded in 1948 by the Sisters of Mercy of Merion. The school offers two online, accelerated M.B.A. programs: healthcare administration and strategic management. Each 30-credit program shares seven foundational courses and has three program-specific courses.

The M.B.A. in healthcare administration is geared toward hospital, pharmaceutical and leadership professionals. The M.B.A. in strategic management prepares professionals for executive-track careers. Three stackable M.B.A. certificates (strategic management, healthcare administration and leadership) can be applied toward the M.B.A. degree.

• Application Fee: N/A
• Example Major-Specific Courses: Strategic management, marketing planning
• Concentrations Available: Healthcare administration, strategic management and leadership

$766/credit (in-state)

Founded in 1873, Spring Arbor University is a private Christian school in Michigan. The Higher Learning Commission accredits the school. Spring Arbor’s online M.B.A. program offers seven concentration areas, each comprising 20 core and 12 elective credits. Concentrations include management, organizational consulting, cybersecurity and data.

To enroll, students must have a bachelor’s degree with an overall 3.0 GPA. They can complete the accelerated program in 12 months or the part-time program in 16 months. While there are no in-person program requirements, students can participate in an International Business Summit trip to New York City for networking opportunities.

• Example Major-Specific Courses: Leadership in business, statistics for business managers
• Concentrations Available: Healthcare administration, human resource development, executive leadership, management

$575/credit (in-state)

Trine University is a private institution located in Angola, Indiana. Its online M.B.A. serves working professionals looking to advance their business skillset and marketability. Three areas of specialization are available: human resource management, management and marketing. Students can also design a specialization.

Courses are asynchronous so students can manage their schedules. The coursework comprises 21 core credits covering business strategy, market development, management and decision-making. Students also complete nine specialization-specific credits. Graduates are equipped to further their careers or continue their education to earn a Ph.D.

• Example Major-Specific Courses: Executive communication, corporate finance
• Concentrations Available: Accounting, analytics, finance, management, human resource management, marketing

$415/credit (in-state)

Olivet Nazarene University is an HLC-accredited, private Christian institution in Bourbonnais, Illinois. It offers a flexible online M.B.A. program for working professionals and parents. Specializations, available as add-on certificates, include leadership, healthcare leadership, corporate communications, intercultural competence and nonprofit management.

Students can earn their M.B.A. in 12, 18 or 24 months. The coursework consists of 27 core and nine elective credits. The curriculum covers communication in the digital workplace, ethics and crisis management, planning and control of business organizations, evaluation and decision-making, financial analysis, capital structure and leadership strategies. Courses start every eight weeks.

• Degree Credit Requirements: 36 credits
• Example Major-Specific Courses: Professional communication, managerial accounting
• Concentrations Available: Leadership, healthcare leadership, corporate communications, intercultural competence, nonprofit management

$463/credit (in-state)

Saint Joseph’s College of Maine is a private Catholic institution founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy. It offers a leadership-focused, online M.B.A. for recent graduates and beginning or senior-level professionals. The program is flexible and entirely online, with five start dates each year.

The coursework includes 27 core credits, six elective credits and three capstone credits. The curriculum covers fundamental business topics and leadership skills, focusing on communication and problem-solving skills. Business electives include human resources, accounting, health sector, quality, marketing and leadership. Full-time students can complete the program in 15 months.

• Example Major-Specific Courses: Leadership and lifelong learning, systems thinking
• Concentrations Available: Human resources, accounting, health sector, quality, marketing, leadership

Online college is a popular option for many learners. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 53.5% of graduate students took at least some distance education courses in 2022. But while online degree programs are popular, this learning format may not suit everyone.

Consider the following factors before deciding whether online college is right for you :

Accreditation

Is your online M.B.A. program accredited ? Accreditation, granted by independent organizations, signifies that an educational institution or specific program has met stringent criteria to deliver high-quality education. This accreditation serves as a testament to the excellence and credibility of a program, regardless of the mode of delivery (traditional or online). We’ll dive into accreditation in more detail later.

Are you a busy professional with work and family commitments? Many online M.B.A. programs offer access to course materials at your convenience, including lectures, discussion forums, quizzes and exams. However, a traditional M.B.A. may be a viable option if you have freedom with your schedule and can devote more time to your degree.

Learning Style

An online M.B.A. program offers a flexible learning environment that allows you to work at your own pace, on your schedule. That way, you can fit your coursework around other obligations. Time management skills, motivation and self-discipline are crucial to success in an online program, so a traditional M.B.A. degree may be a better choice if you struggle with these elements.

Because there are no transportation, housing or campus fees, Online M.B.A.s often cost less than traditional M.B.A.s. Even so, tuition can vary widely by program. Before you enroll, carefully research the costs to determine the right program for your budget and financial goals

Before enrolling in an online M.B.A. program, ensure the college is accredited . Accreditation provides quality assurance for your university and M.B.A. program.

Institutional Accreditation

Institutional accreditation results from a thorough assessment of an educational institution’s academic programs, curriculum design, student resources and faculty qualifications. Institutional accreditation ensures an institution meets high-caliber education standards. It’s also required for federal student aid eligibility, credit transfers, and many jobs and professional credentials.

Institutional accreditation is overseen by nonprofit accrediting bodies, which must receive approval from the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). To find accredited schools, check CHEA’s online institution directories .

Programmatic Accreditation

Programmatic accreditation applies to specific departments and degree programs. This subject-specific accreditation process validates that curriculum content, faculty qualifications, student learning outcomes and resources meet or exceed industry standards.

Here are a few of the agencies that accredit M.B.A. programs the U.S.:

• Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP)
• International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE)
• Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

Note that AACSB is not approved by CHEA, but the business industry still recognizes this organization as a reputable accreditor.

If decision-making has you feeling stuck, let’s kickstart the process of choosing an online M.B.A. program that suits your needs.

Consider Your Future Goals

What are your long-term professional aspirations? Are you interested in a role in healthcare administration , or do you wish to pursue a career in cybersecurity ? Different M.B.A. programs offer various focus areas, so pick a program with relevant courses.

If you’re relatively new to the workforce, you may consider an M.B.A. program geared toward entry-level students rather than one requiring work experience, such as an executive M.B.A . A part-time program that allows you flexibility may be better than an accelerated program if you’re juggling multiple responsibilities.

Understand Your Expenses and Financing Options

Tuition for the online M.B.A.s included this guide averages $708 per credit. The programs we listed require 30 to 40 credits, placing the total tuition cost of a top-ranked, accelerated M.B.A. online between $21,240 and $28,380.

The average graduate program at a public university costs $12,596 in tuition and fees yearly, whereas private school grad programs cost about $28,017, according to 2021–22 data reported by the National Center for Education Statistics . At that rate, the cost of completing a two-year M.B.A. program would total approximately $25,000 at a public college or $56,000 at a private university. Comparatively, the programs ranked in our guide are generally less expensive.

You must submit the FAFSA ® to determine your eligibility for federal student aid options, such as scholarships, grants and loans. For additional financing options, check with your school to see if it offers scholarships or work-study programs. Your employer may also provide tuition assistance.

How fast can I get an M.B.A. online?

You can earn an online M.B.A. in 12 months or less if you choose an accelerated program.

Is an online M.B.A. taken seriously?

Yes. Online M.B.A.s from accredited colleges and universities like the ones listed in this guide are just as credible as traditional M.B.A.s.

Is an executive M.B.A. the same as an M.B.A.?

Not exactly. Both degrees provide a solid foundation in business principles, but they have a few key differences. A traditional M.B.A. is appropriate for recent graduates or working professionals. On the other hand, an E.M.B.A. is specifically geared toward professionals in leadership roles with around 10 to 15 years of experience.

Heidi Borst is a freelance journalist, healthcare content writer and certified nutrition coach with a love of all things health and wellness. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, MSN, Yahoo and more. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina, Borst is a lifelong runner and general fitness enthusiast who is passionate about the physical and mental benefits of sleep and self-care.