What schools have the best marketing programs?

Consumer Psychology PhD Programs in the U.S.

• I am looking for a list of Ph.D. programs in Consumer Psychology, for the United States only. I am only interested in formal Ph.D. programs, such as 1) a Marketing Ph.D. program that offers a formal degree in Consumer Psychology, 2) a Psychology program that offers this degree, or 3) an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary formal Ph.D. program. I am also interested in marketing or psychology programs that offer formal "concentrations" or "emphases" in Consumer Psychology (that is, there might be a formal Ph.D. from a psychology program, with a concentration or major in consumer psychology.) Whatever it is called, there must be a formal, documented program in Consumer Psychology. I am aware of the information at: http://fisher.osu.edu/marketing/scp/education_and_training.htm The information in the above link is not particularly helpful to me, because it only describes Marketing Ph.D. programs where faculty are active researchers in the area of Consumer Psychology. These schools also do not necessarily offer a formal program in Consumer Psychology. Rather, they provide a Ph.D. in Marketing, and the student can then say "I specialized in Consumer Psychology." This is not what I am looking for. I am seeking an answer which provides the names of any such Ph.D. programs, together with URLs to descriptions of these programs. I am not interested in Masters programs, only Ph.D programs.

• Answer:

  You are right that most graduate programs will place buyer behaviour or consumer psychology as a component of their PhD offering (e.g. seminars, special courses, and "major areas of concentration"). At the same time, many business schools equate Marketing with the analysis buyer behaviour. You may therefore also want to consider such programs. Here are some PhD programs in consumer behaviour: * University of Chicago Graduate School of Business ( http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/research/mkt/Phd/phdpro.html ) "Marketing Ph.D. program specialize in one of the following three areas. (1) Consumer Behavior (2) Economics (3) Econometrics & Statistics (Quantitative Methods) Students specializing in Consumer Behavior take courses not only in the GSB but also in Psychology, Sociology." * Berkeley Haas school of business ( http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/~market/program.html ) "each marketing program is designed to provide a broad exposure to the advanced literature in each field. Students then select an area for intensive study and develop a program that trains them to comprehend and perform cutting-edge research in that field. The program includes a series of marketing Ph.D. seminars and the development of expertise in a particular social science discipline and technical skill appropriate to the analysis of the problems to be studied. The field offers four Doctoral Seminars in Marketing (BA269A-D): Consumer Behavior, Choice Models, Marketing Strategy, and Special Topics in Marketing." * The University of Texas at Austin ( http://www.bus.utexas.edu/dept/marketing/phd/ ) Department of Marketing - Areas of Specialization "Although each course of study is tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual student, a doctoral program in marketing is generally structured around one of four areas of specialization. These areas include buyer behavior (both consumer and industrial), international marketing, marketing management and strategy, and analytical and quantitative methods." The business school has a Behavioral Laboratory ( http://www.bus.utexas.edu/phd/research/behav_lab.asp ) * University of Wisconsin ( http://sohe.wisc.edu/secondTierText.asp?ExtCat=4027 ) MS/PhD in Consumer Behavior and Family Economics, Department of Human Ecology http://www.wisc.edu/grad/gs/programs/majors/549.html * University of Illinois at Chicago ( http://www.uic.edu/cba/phd/marketing.htm ) "The area of inquiry in marketing, offered by the Department of Managerial Studies, emphasizes a variety of sub-areas for in-depth study, including but not limited to consumer behavior, international marketing, entrepreneurship, product development, choice models, and information processing." * Ohio State - Marketing PhD ( http://fisher.osu.edu/marketing/programs/phd_policies_market.htm ) " The curriculum is structured into three areas: the major, the second field and research tools. The courses are: Marketing Thought, Consumer Behavior, Logistics, Marketing Models, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Colloquium. Each of these courses will trace development of thought in marketing to its current state using structure provided by philosophy of science where appropriate. (Program also requires two independent studies. and a research proposal)" * Purdue University - School of Consumer and Family Science ( http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/conscirt/My_Web-Navarre/GRADUATE_PROGRAM/csr_graduate_program.htm ) MS/PhD in Consumer Behavior * University of Georgia - College of Family and Consumer Sciences ( http://www.fcs.uga.edu/ ) Splits focus into types of products and services (Foods & Nutrition, Housing and Consumer, Textile Sciences, Child & Family Development) * University of Oregon ( http://oregonstate.edu/dept/gencat/coldep/homed/hdfs/hdfs_info.html#Graduate_Programs ) PhD in Family and Consumer Science Department - Human Development and Family Studies * University of Florida ( http://www.cba.ufl.edu/mkt/phd/program.HTML ) "The Department recommends that students select one of three areas of study. Students concentrating on consumer behavior will take seminars that provide a background on cognitive and social psychology plus methods courses that develop experimental design and analysis skills." The other two areas of study are managerial topics (such as organizational behavior and strategy) and quantitative modeling. Top Business schools who consider Marketing and consumer behaviour to be pretty much equivalent. They encourage interdisciplinary work with their Psychology (and other) departments. * Northwestern University ( http://www.kellogg.nwu.edu/marketing/doctoral/index.htm ) "The Marketing program is interdisciplinary. Faculty interests include Anthropological studies of cultural meaning, Behavioral decision theory, pychometrics and causal modeling " * Stanford business school ( http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/phd/fields/marketing/index.html ) Sample Stanford Bschool Marketing dissertations include: * Sang-Hoon Kim - '00 (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology): Modeling Buyers' Upgrading Behavior on Successive Versions of High-Tech Products: Theoretical and Empirical Analyses * Donnel Briley - '97 (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology): Influence of Collectivism on Consumer Choice * David Bell - '96 (UCLA): Consumer Response to Retailer Pricing Strategies * University of Michigan ( http://www.bus.umich.edu/prostudents/phd/areas_of_study.html UMich definition of marketing: "The field of marketing focuses on the basic questions of how consumers make choices and how the companies that compete for the business of those consumers ought to design their marketing programs." * UPenn Wharton business school ( http://www-marketing.wharton.upenn.edu/programs/phd_program.html ) "The seminars [ eg MKTG 963 Consumer Behavior ] involve in-depth consideration of various aspects of marketing. Ordinarily, a student taking these seminars will have already completed some work in quantitative methods and, perhaps, in behavioral sciences as well. The general objectives of these seminars are to: (1) discuss contemporary research problems and relevant literature, and (2) describe concepts and techniques for handling the research questions, current and future, in each field." Ultimately, your PhD research will define where your focus lies. It might be in your best interests to apply to one of the top business schools and work with professors who are actively involved in the specific aspect of buyer behaviour you are interested in. I hope this answers your request. PS: Some other universities whose faculty research may be of interest to you: * Case Western University ( http://www.weatherhead.cwru.edu/degree/phd_mgmt/ ) * University of Arizona ( http://www.cob.asu.edu/mkt/phd_curriculum.cfm ) "The Marketing department research orientation spans a broad scope of topics including Consumer behavior" * Vanderbilt University ( http://mba.vanderbilt.edu/phd/marketing.cfm ) Marketing Specialization Courses include Buyer Behavior, Online Consumer Behavior * University of Connecticut ( http://www.sba.uconn.edu/PHD/Concentrations/MktgPhd.htm ) * University of California, Riverside - A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management ( http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/ ) FYI, US News ranks the following top Economic Sociology programs in the USA (for 2003): 1. Stanford University (CA) 2. University of California–Berkeley 3. Princeton University (NJ) 4. Cornell University (NY) University of Wisconsin–Madison