Boston University School of Management
PhD in Marketing
Program Goals and Structure
The Marketing Doctoral Program equips PhD graduates with the
theoretical, methodological, and substantive expertise needed
for successful scholarly careers in marketing. The program offers
students the interdisciplinary environment to generate creative
research ideas, the analytic skills to evaluate and execute the
research studies that inform these questions, and experience
communicating to the marketing community through published
articles, in conferences and seminars, as well as inside the
classroom.
The Program is a full-time, four year commitment that extends
across fall, spring, and summer terms. Training in the program
involves: coursework that provides necessary foundations
while also meeting individual needs and interests; work with
faculty members on a series of original research projects, which
ultimately lead to a dissertation; and experience teaching
marketing courses. Qualifying milestones throughout the
program include a first-year curriculum paper, second-year
comprehensive exams, a doctoral dissertation proposal, and
completion of original thesis research.
Admission
The Marketing Doctoral Program is small and selective.
There are generally 4-8 active students in the program, with
1-2 students for each program year. The program accepts
only full-time students. Admission into the program is highly
competitive, with acceptance rates generally in the 5-10%
range (based on a typical pool of 30-50 applicants). Admission
decisions are based both on the quality of the applicant and on
the interest of the faculty members. Successful applicants have
a high level of intellectual ability, relevant work experience, and
a familiarity with and demonstrated commitment to scholarly
research in marketing. Average GMAT scores of accepted
applicants are in the 700s; undergraduate GPAs from solid
institutions range from 3.5 - 3.7; and average graduate GPAs
range from 3.6 - 3.9. Relevant work and research experience also
weigh heavily in decisions, as does a clear statement of research
interests that builds from knowledge of the faculty.
PhD Program Information 2012-2013
DOCTORAL REQUIREMENTS
The Marketing Department requires that doctoral students
successfully complete a series of required and elective
coursework. In the first two years of the program, students will
take 16 doctoral-level classes: four courses in the fall and spring
semesters of the 1st and 2nd years. In the summer before the
start of each academic year, students are required to complete
an annual course plan in consultation with the program liaison
and their research advisors. Early course planning is critical
as students seek enrollment in restricted courses across
departments within BU and at other consortium colleges.
Courses of study are typically designed along two tracks:
micro/behavioral or economics/modeling. Department
faculty will review each student’s progress and make
recommendations. Accordingly, students must maintain a
3.5 GPA in their major courses, and a minimum 3.3 GPA in all
doctoral coursework to continue in the Program.
Management Foundation Coursework
Students are expected to have completed graduate courses in
management prior to pursuing doctoral studies. Receipt of an
MBA degree or an MS in marketing within the past five years
from an AACSB-accredited program meets this requirement.
Students without such training and those who earned
their degree more than five years ago must complete four
management foundation courses at the MBA level in addition to
their major, minor, and methods courses. This requirement must
be completed before the student can sit for qualifying exams.
Major Area Coursework
Doctoral coursework in Marketing is designed to provide both
breadth and depth in specific areas of the field. The five required
seminars are:
1. MK914 Consumer Behavior I
2. MK915 Consumer Behavior II
3. MK927 Marketing and the Customer-Focused Firm I
4. MK928 Marketing and the Firm II
5. HBS 4660 Marketing Models
To further enrich students’ foundation in the discipline, seminars
at other local universities can augment the core portfolio,
such as Consumer Behavior and Behavioral Decision Making
(HBS 4630). Major courses are critical to the comprehensive
examination.
Creating Value for the World SM
 Boston University School of Management
Marketing
Minor Area Coursework
Marketing is very much an interdisciplinary substantive
domain, drawing upon theories in core disciplines to illuminate
the behaviors of markets, consumers, and firms. Reference
disciplines exist both within and outside the School of
Management and may include organizational behavior, finance/
economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and culture
studies. The minor area requirement includes the completion
of four courses in a related area of interest. Students choose a
minor in a reference discipline that will help provide a strong
basis from which to design research projects, the curriculum
paper, and thesis work.
Research Methodology Coursework
Expertise in the craft of research is tantamount to a successful
academic career. To that end, students are required to take
DS906, a seminar on the philosophy and science of research.
Five additional methods courses are required. Students
choose among a robust portfolio of offerings toward the goals
of developing familiarity with methods commonly used in
marketing research and expertise with methods leveraged
in students’ research. Foundation classes include Probability
Theory, Regression, ANOVA, Experimental Design, Multivariate
Analysis, Econometrics, Survey Design and Analysis, Scale
Development, LISREL, Social Network Analysis, and Qualitative
Methods (OB923). Since the benefits of a robust and broad
method toolkit cannot be overstated, students are encouraged
to take extra methods courses beyond the formal requirements.
Foundations for a Career in Academic Research
Those entering the doctoral program are preparing for careers
as researchers and professors at leading academic institutions.
Doctoral students are also required to take DS907 (Teaching,
Publishing, and the Dissemination of Knowledge) in the spring
of their second year to prepare for these responsibilities.
Teaching Practicum and Assistantships
In addition to their activities as scholarly researchers, marketing
academics serve as teachers in the business school classroom.
Toward this end, all second-year doctoral students audit an
MBA or undergraduate course selected by the department
liaison, and meet frequently with the Professor to debrief
methods and technique.
All students will teach a total of two courses during the course
of their third and fourth program years to gain direct experience
in the classroom. Class assignments vary, depending on student
interests and capabilities, and the opinions and needs of the
faculty group.
Boston University School of Management
595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 l 617.353.9720 l management.bu.edu
Faculty Research Assistantships and Collaborations
Upon joining the Marketing PhD Program, students become
part of our collaborative community of scholars. Outstanding
peers and advisors and a low faculty-student ratio provide a
stimulating intellectual experience at the School. Students begin
collaborating with faculty on their first day in the Program,
assisting in faculty research, co-authoring research papers and
presentations, and continuing as colleagues throughout their
professional careers. In this spirit, the philosophy and research
interests of the faculty critically define the doctoral experience
at the School.
The Marketing Department is very applied in its focus. Our
mission is to inform the practice of marketing by providing
a deeper understanding of the customers who interact with
services, products, companies, selling environments, and
brands. We are a first-class research department, with steady
publication in the most highly regarded academic journals of
managerially-relevant research on the customer-focused firm.
Our efforts are sensitive to three meta-trends affecting marketing
and consumption: 1) a marketing paradigm shift from exchange
to relationships, 2) an increasingly collaborative and consumer-
controlled world, and 3) increased accountability for marketing
performance. We believe in marketing as a true multidisciplinary
function—to do good marketing, managers not only have to be
masters of psychology, sociology, culture studies, and economics,
they also have to align their strategies with organizational
business models, structures, and plans. Our research and
teaching considers this integration. We are committed to
advancing knowledge in both theoretical and methodological
domains to support our substantive goals.
Though united in our philosophy and attention to particular
trends in the marketplace, the marketing faculty is diverse in
its methodological and theoretical perspectives. Two general
approaches characterize the group, which also structure
program tracks of study for doctoral students. The first
approach, behavioral research, is concerned with understanding
the psycho-social and cultural factors that influence buyer or
managerial behavior in consumer and business markets. It
typically uses the social sciences and humanities as a theory
base. The second approach, quantitative research, leverages
economic theory and methods or strategy as a core discipline to
build predictive and structural models of markets and behaviors.
Doctoral student collaborations with faculty are a critical
component of the Program and a primary learning venue for
academic marketing research. Exemplary joint research projects
involving faculty and students include:
Alvarez, C., & Fournier, S. (Forthcoming 2012). Brand flings:
when great brand relationships are not made to last. In Fournier,
S., Breazeale, M., & Fetscherin, M. (Eds.), Consumer-brand
Creating Value for the World SM
 Boston University School of Management
Marketing
relationships: theory and practice. New York, NY: Routledge Taylor &
Francis Group.
Alvarez, C., & Fournier, S. (Forthcoming 2012). The lived
experience of brand flings. In Fournier, S., Breazeale, M., &
Fetscherin, M. (Eds.), Consumer-brand relationships: theory and
practice. New York, NY: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Fournier, S., & Alvarez, C. (Forthcoming 2012). Brands as
relationship partners: warmth, competence and in-between.
Journal of Consumer Psychology.
Hsu, L., Fournier, S., & Srinivasan, S. (2012). How brand portfolio
strategy affects firm value. Marketing Science Institute Working
Paper Series, 11-112.
Hsu, L., Kaufmann, P., & Srinivasan, S. (2012). Firm value and risk
in franchised channels. Presented at the 25th anniversary of the
International Society of Franchising, Boston, MA.
Kim, S., Bickart, B., Brunel, F., & Pai S. (2012). Understanding
blogs as one-to-one mass communication for business. Boston
University working paper.
Lawrence, B., Fournier, S., & Brunel, F. (2011). Consuming the
consumer-generated ad. Boston University working paper.
Lawrence, B., & Kaufmann, P. (2010). Franchisee associations:
strategic focus or response to franchisor opportunism. Journal of
Marketing Channels, 17(2), 137-155.
Srinivasan, S., Liwu ,H., & Fournier, S. (Forthcoming 2012).
Branding and firm value. In S. Ganesan and S. Bharadwaj (Eds.),
The Handbook of Marketing and Finance. Northampton, MA:
Edward Elgar Publishing.
The Curriculum Paper
The curriculum paper serves as a test of the student’s ability
to develop original ideas, demonstrate critical thinking and
analytic skills, and indicate a general level of preparedness
to undertake independent research as is required for the
development of a marketing dissertation. The curriculum paper
is intended to be the primary activity undertaken over the
summer of the program’s first year. Students are also required
to present their papers to department faculty and doctoral
students during the first weeks of the fall semester. The paper
is graded on a pass/fail basis; a passing grade is required to
continue in the Program.
Boston University School of Management
595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 l 617.353.9720 l management.bu.edu
Qualifying Comprehensive Examination
Upon satisfactory completion of all course requirements and
successful performance on the curriculum paper, the student is
eligible to sit for his/her qualifying examination. The qualifying
comprehensive exam tests the student’s familiarity with
classic and recent literatures in marketing, his/her ability to
conceptualize marketing problems and inform them using a
theoretical base, and proficiency with fundamental analytic
and methodological issues. The examination is held in the
early summer of the second year of the program. The exam
extends across multiple days and variously involves a written
essay, problem-solving, critical review, and/or the development
of a research manuscript, as seen fit by the examining body.
At the discretion of the faculty, and based on the student’s
performance, an oral component of the exam may also be
administered. A student who fails his/her comprehensive
examinations is withdrawn from the program.
Dissertation
Completion of the PhD program requires a written and oral
defense of both the dissertation proposal and the dissertation
itself. Students create a thesis committee and defend their
thesis proposals early in the third program year, and dedicate
their doctoral activity to execution of the thesis thereafter. The
marketing job market is an early one: schools conduct their first-
round interviews for rookie candidates in August, with campus
visits for qualified candidates arranged for the fall. Successful
students in the program have not only defended their proposals
before interviewing in August of their third years, they have
collected preliminary data to inform their theses as well.
The dissertation must be based on an original investigation
that makes a substantive contribution to knowledge in the field.
Recent doctoral theses include:
Batra, R. “When Good Looks Kill: An Examination of Consumer
Response to Visually Attractive Products.” (2009)
Dong, W. “The Role of Channel Orientation in Customer Equity
Management.” (2008)
Du, S. “Strengthening Consumer Relationships through Corporate
Social Initiatives.” (2007)
Korschun, D. “Internal Marketing of Corporate Social
Responsibility: Does it Make a Difference?” (2008)
Lawrence, B. “Identity in Franchise Organizations.” (2011)
Recent doctoral awards include:
Hsu, L. “Can Online Chatter Kill a Giant? Insights into the
Role of Brand Equity and Social Media during a Product Recall
Crisis” (2012). Honorable Mention, Alden G. Clayton Doctoral
Dissertation Competition, Marketing Science Institute.
Creating Value for the World SM
 Boston University School of Management
Marketing
MARKETING FACULTY
Barbara Bickart, Associate Professor, Department Chair
(effective January 1, 2013), and Dean’s Research Fellow
Bickart’s research focuses on how situational factors influence
consumers’ judgment and decision-making processes. She has
examined these issues as they relate to retail displays, the design
of consumer surveys, and salesperson and online word-of-mouth
communication. Bickart serves on the board of Journal of Consumer
Research Policy and the editorial boards for Journal of the Academy
of Marketing Science and Journal of Public Policy and Marketing.
She was a recipient of the Rutgers University Provost’s Teaching Award.
Bickart earned her PhD at the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Frédéric F. Brunel, Associate Professor and Dean’s Research Fellow
Brunel leverages research at the intersection of social psychology
and anthropology to inform two domains of marketing: consumer
relationships and product design, including consumption
communities online and offline, word-of-mouth dynamics, and
aesthetic response styles and skill sets. Brunel’s scholarly work
is used by several corporations. He has been recognized through
many service and teaching awards. Brunel earned his PhD from the
University of Washington.
Sucharita Chandran, Assistant Professor
Chandran’s research concerns consumer issues in behavioral
pricing, online consumer behavior, and health and social marketing.
She was the recipient of the 2004 Broderick Prize for Research
at Boston University and, in 2006, was awarded a Peter Paul
Career Development Professorship. Prior to pursuing a career
in academics, Chandran gained considerable experience across
various marketing functions in Unilever’s Indian subsidiary and ANZ
Bank’s Indian operations. Chandran earned her PhD from New York
University.
Roberta Clarke, Associate Professor
Clarke’s research addresses patient and member retention in health
care settings and the interaction of retention and information
systems. Clarke received the 1995 AMA Philip Kotler Award for
Excellence in Healthcare Marketing. She is vice chair of the board of
the Academy for Educational Development and the New England Organ
Bank. Clarke holds a DBA from Harvard Business School.
Susan Fournier, Professor (effective September 1, 2012) and
Dean’s Research Fellow
Fournier’s award-winning research explores the creation and
capture of value through branding and relationship marketing.
Fournier served on the faculties of Harvard Business School and
Dartmouth, and held a VP position at Young & Rubicam. She sits on
the editorial boards of Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing
Theory, Journal of Business to Business Marketing, and Journal of
Relationship Marketing, and consults with a range of companies
to inform her teaching, case development, and research. Fournier
holds a PhD from the University of Florida.
Boston University School of Management
595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 l 617.353.9720 l management.bu.edu
Jonathan Hibbard, Assistant Professor
Hibbard’s research focuses on the design and management of
marketing channel systems, interorganizational relationships, and
the valuation of marketing relationships as assets. He serves as an
active consultant in legal marketing matters, has authored many
teaching cases, and won several best paper awards. He holds a PhD
from Northwestern University.
Patrick J. Kaufmann, Professor and Everett W. Lord
Distinguished Faculty Scholar
Kaufmann’s research involves franchising, channels of distribution,
spatial behavior, and public policy issues. He was previously on the
faculty of Harvard Business School and Georgia State University.
He serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Retailing and Journal
of Public Policy & Marketing, and on the executive committee of
the International Society of Franchising. He holds a JD from Boston
College and a PhD from Northwestern.
Melvyn Menezes, Associate Professor
Menezes’s research focuses on improving the marketing
capabilities of firms in business-to-business settings and the role
of leadership in enhancing the market orientation of companies. He
holds a PhD from UCLA.
Seema Pai, Assistant Professor
Pai’s research examines the impact of buzz and word of mouth on
firm performance, as well as the dynamics of information spread
across online media such as blogs and discussion groups. Prior to
pursuing a career in academics, Pai worked as a brand manager with
Procter & Gamble in Asia. She holds a PhD from the University of
Southern California.
Shuba Srinivasan, Associate Professor, Dean’s Research Fellow,
and PhD Liaison
Srinivasan’s research focuses on strategic marketing problems, in
particular long-term marketing productivity, to which she applies
expertise in time-series analysis and econometrics. Her current
research explores marketing’s impact on financial performance,
mindset and marketing metrics, and demand effects of radical
innovations. She won the 2001 European Marketing Academy Best
Paper Award and serves on editorial boards for Journal of Marketing
Research and International Journal of Research in Marketing. She
holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Remi Trudel, Assistant Professor
Trudel’s research focuses on consumer judgment and decision
making around social issues. Projects include investigating the role
of information processing in self-control, information processing in
the evaluation of hedonic versus utilitarian products, how a firm’s
ethicality influences consumers’ own ethicality, and the role of self-
affirmation in ethical purchasing. He has published in MIT Sloan
Management Review. Trudel joined Boston University in July of
2009. He earned his PhD from the Ivey Business School, University
of Western Ontario.
Creating Value for the World SM
 Boston University School of Management
Marketing

RECENT AND FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS DOCTORAL ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM

Fournier, S., Breazeale, M., & Fetscherin, M. (Eds.). (2012). Consumer- Faculty Contacts
brand relationships: theory and practice. New York, NY: Routledge Lloyd Baird, PhD Faculty Director
Taylor & Francis Group. Phone: (617) 353-4168
Email: lbaird@bu.edu
Lawrence, B., & Kaufmann, P. (2011). Identity in franchise systems:
the Role of franchisee associations. Journal of Retailing, 87(3), 285- Shuba Srinivasan, PhD Liaison, Marketing
305. Phone: (617) 353-2661
Email: ssrini@bu.edu
Noseworthy, T., & Trudel, R. (2011). The effects of functional and
experiential positioning on consumer evaluations of incongruent Administrative Office Contact Information
product form. Journal of Marketing Research, 67(December), 1008-19. Patricia Caffrey, Associate Director, Graduate Programs
Trudel, R., Murray, K. B., & Cotte, J. (Forthcoming 2012). Beyond Phone: (617) 353-2732
expectations: the effect of regulatory focus in consumer satisfaction. Fax: (617) 353-9498
International Journal of Research in Marketing. Email: pcaffrey@bu.edu
Abbie Bloom, Senior Program Coordinator, Graduate Programs
Phone: (617) 353-3522
Fax: (617) 353-9498
Email: aebloom@bu.edu

Mailing Address
Boston University School of Management
595 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
To learn more, visit:
management.bu.edu/graduate/graduate-programs/phd

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Kenneth W. Freeman, Allen Questrom Professor and Dean
Karen Golden-Biddle, Senior Associate Dean
Martin Carter, Associate Dean, Finance and Administration
Michael Lawson, Associate Dean, Executive Education
Patricia Cudney, Assistant Dean, Graduate Admissions
Katherine Nolan, Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs

Boston University School of Management

595 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 l 617.353.9720 l management.bu.edu Creating Value for the World SM