Our Program

Objective: The objective of our marketing PhD program is to train bright, motivated, and intellectually curious individuals in the craft of marketing scholarship. Our goal is to produce graduates who have the ability and motivation to conduct interesting, important, and impactful research on a variety of marketing problems and issues. We expect that our graduates will seek positions as faculty members at leading research universities in the U.S. or abroad.

Requirements: Typically, a PhD in marketing will take at least four years to complete. Your first two years will be mainly devoted to graduate-level coursework. We require doctoral students to complete four marketing seminars, four courses in a minor area (typically in an allied discipline such as sociology, psychology, or economics), and four method courses. At present, our four marketing seminars cover the following topics:

• Marketing Theory
• Consumer Behavior
• Marketing Strategy
• Marketing Channels
• Marketing Models

After successfully completing this coursework, a PhD student works closely with a faculty advisor to conduct background research on an individual research topic. This research is then presented to the entire marketing faculty. This presentation serves as a dissertation proposal defense. A successful defense moves the student to the status of a doctoral candidate in marketing. At this point, the student is permitted to begin original research leading to completion of his or her doctoral dissertation. Due to the individual nature of a dissertation, completion times may vary considerably. However, we expect that the dissertation should be successfully defended 12-18 months following the oral defense.

In addition to coursework, proposal defense, and dissertation, PhD students are also given the opportunity to enhance their research and teaching skills by serving as either a research assistant, teaching assistant, or instructor.

Support Package: To help our students succeed, we provide a generous support package. Typically, we provide PhD students with four years of financial support, as well as the opportunity for supplemental income via summer teaching. In addition, all PhD students are granted a full tuition waiver and low cost health insurance for themselves and their dependents. We also provide a yearly allowance for students to present research at select academic conferences. Exceptionally qualified students may also be eligible for a number of university and school-wide fellowships, scholarships, and grants during their studies at the University of Wisconsin.