Ph.D. in Marketing


Program information

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

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

Application deadlines

  • Priority: December 15, 2023

  • Final: January 10, 2024

Admissions




List

  • Research

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




List

  • Teaching

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

Program details

Major courses

MKTG 901: Research Methods in Marketing

MKTG 951: Consumer Behavior

MKTG 952: Introduction to Marketing Models

MKTG 957: Managerial Issues in Marketing

Consumer Behavior tool courses

BE 917: Advanced Managerial Econ OR ECON 700: Survey of Microeconomics

BSAN 920: Probability for Business Research OR MATH 727: Probability Theory

BSAN 921: Statistics for Business Research

PSYC 791: Statistical Methods in Psychology II

PSYC 818: Experimental Research Methods in Social Psychology

PSYC 894: Multilevel Modeling

Consumer Behavior supporting courses

Choose at least five of the following courses, with advisor's approval.

PSYC 723: Advanced Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 725: Cognitive Neuroscience

PSYC 735: Psycholinguistics I

PSYC 774: Advanced Social Psychology I

PSYC 775: Advanced Social Psychology II

PSYC 787: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Gerontology and Aging

PSYC 896: Structural Equation Modeling I

PSYC 933: Seminar: The Measurement of Attitudes

PSYC 991: Longitudinal Data Analysis

Courses outside the list below may also be considered, with advisor's approval.

 

Quantitative tool courses

BSAN 920: Probability for Business Research OR MATH 727: Probability Theory

BSAN 921: Statistics for Bus. Res. OR MATH 728: Statistical Theory

BSAN 922: Advanced Regression

ECON 817: Econometrics I

ECON 818: Econometrics II

Quantitative supporting courses

BE 917: Advanced Managerial Econ OR ECON 730: Topics in Industrial Org

ECON 800: Optimization Techniques I

ECON 801: Microeconomics I

ECON 809: Optimization Techniques II

EECS 836: Machine Learning OR EECS 837: Data Mining

EECS 839: Mining Special Data

BIOS 902: Bayesian Statistics

Other substitional courses for the above supporting courses may be from the list below with advisor's approval:

ECON 916: Advanced Econometrics II (Time Series, VAR models)

EECS 649: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

More information:

View a detailed list of courses in the Academic Catalog.

Area of concentration

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

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

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

Supporting areas

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

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

Research methodology

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

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

Year 1

  • Coursework
  • Research

Year 2

  • Coursework
  • Research

Year 3

  • Comprehensive exams

Year 4

  • Dissertation proposal

Year 5

  • Dissertation defense

Some students can complete the program in four years.


Program faculty

Marketing doctoral students

Questions?

Contact Charly Edmonds, doctoral program director.