Doctoral Program
Program
The Doctoral Program in Marketing is designed to develop graduates who assume positions as faculty members in research-oriented schools of business. The faculty has developed the doctoral program in marketing to provide challenging research and learning experiences for students seeking the skills to become leading researchers and communicators of advanced business knowledge. The key ingredients to the program's success are its excellent students and its dynamic, research-oriented faculty who publish regularly in the leading marketing journals. In addition, faculty members are active in national marketing associations such as the American Marketing Association, the Association for Consumer Research, INFORMS, and the Academy of Marketing Science.
The program is highly selective, rigorous, and personalized. The size of the program is strictly controlled to allow for intensive faculty-student collaboration. The required coursework provides rigorous exposure to the academic research literature in marketing as well as research methods and statistics. At the same time, we recognize that students bring a variety of interests and we will work with students to develop programs of study that will allow them to productively pursue those interests.
Program Structure
The program is designed as a four-year program with a strong research focus on behavioral marketing research areas including consumer research, consumer health and welfare, public policy, marketing strategy, and research methodology. The doctoral program, administered by the Graduate Program Committee in the Department of Marketing and the Graduate School of Virginia Tech, requires coursework in marketing content and theory, statistics, research methodology, and one supporting minor. The minor should be consistent with the student's interests and professional goals. Commonly selected minors include psychology, sociology, management, management science, and statistics. The program, in its entirety, is designed to train students to conceptualize, design and execute research; to analyze data; and to disseminate knowledge to peers, students, and practitioners.
A series of marketing doctoral seminars are required during the first year of study. MKTG 6105, 6106, and 6304 focused on the marketing literature and current issues in academic research in the field. MKTG 6224 is oriented to research methods. Additional seminars may be offered for the benefit of doctoral students. In addition, at least two courses of graduate statistics must be taken beyond STAT 5615 and 5616 or equivalent, along with at least three courses in the chosen minor field. A major aspect of learning is the student-faculty relationship. This one-on-one interaction is emphasized early in the program through research assistantships and independent studies.
As shown in the model program below, as the student advances through the doctoral program, the focus of the program shifts from coursework to research activity. Following completion of the doctoral seminars in the first year, each student is required to take a qualifying examination building on the work completed to date. Students failing the qualifying examination will be asked to leave the doctoral program.
In addition to study of the marketing literature, doctoral students are required to develop and present original research in seminar classes. Students will be expected to submit original research, some co-authored with members of the faculty, to major conferences and later to marketing journals.
In addition to the departmental qualifying examination, students are required during their third year of study to develop a dissertation proposal and to defend it. This defense constitutes the University-required Prelminary Examination. The fourth year of the doctoral program is focused on pursuit of dissertation research. The final oral examination, including the defense of the dissertation, is administered after completion of the dissertation.
Financial Aid
The department will commit up to four years of financial assistance, assuming satisfactory academic progress is being made. Additional financial support may be available through summer teaching. Each student is expected to spend a minimum two years as a research assistant and two years as a teaching assistant at Virginia Tech.
Admission
Application for admission to the doctoral program may be made for the fall semester only. We recommend that completed applications for fall enrollment be received by February 1st. Applications are evaluated on the basis of previous academic work, Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) scores, letters of recommendation, and other factors. Where appropriate, applicants should have a minimum score of 600 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). While the GMAT is preferred, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores may be substituted. Prospective applicants should arrange to take the GMAT and TOEFL so that scores are available when application is made. Official transcripts from all colleges and universities previously attended and three letters of recommendation are required. Applicants are encouraged to visit the campus and meet with members of the Graduate Programs Committee.
Prerequisites:
- A course in calculus
- Two semesters of statistics, equivalent to STAT 5615 and 5616. For students who have not completed the statistics prerequisite, we will admit provisionally contingent on completion of this prerequisite, either at Virginia Tech in the Summer prior to beginning doctoral study or at another university.
Doctoral Seminars
6105 ADVANCED TOPICS IN MARKETING I
This first seminar, on the nature of marketing theory, research, and strategy emphasizes the methodological and conceptual developments in the discipline of marketing.
6106 ADVANCED TOPICS IN MARKETING II
This seminar is a continuation of 6105. Together, they provide study in the major content areas of marketing. This second seminar, in marketing management, emphasizes the conceptual and methodological developments and quantitative decision models in promotions management, product and price management, channels and physical distribution management, and sales force management.
6214 MARKETING THEORY
For second-year students, this seminar explores issues related to research quality: the validity and reliability of measures, the construction and evaluation of marketing theory, the philosophical foundations of research, and research values. Several alternative methodological approaches for marketing research are also explored at a conceptual level.
6224 ADVANCED MARKETING RESEARCH
Issues related to research design, measurement and scaling, and data collection are the focus of this seminar. Methods for doing integrative research reviews are also explored.
6304 SEMINAR IN BUYER BEHAVIOR RESEARCH
This seminar focuses on the use and application of major psychological, sociological, communication, and economic theories and research in the study of buyer behavior phenomena. Emphasis is placed on recent findings and methodologies and on the development of a conceptual rationale for research in buyer behavior.
6404 ADVANCED QUANTITATIVE MARKETING METHODS
Theory, method, and application of selected quantitative methods for marketing are explored in this seminar: linear structural relations, path analysis, canonical and discriminant analysis, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Special purpose methods and recent developments, such as conjoint analysis and multidimensional scaling will also be covered.
Four Year Plan of Study
Year 1
|
Mktg 6224 Advanced Marketing Research |
Spring |
Mktg 6105 |
End Spring |
Qualifying Examination |
Year 2 |
Minor class |
Spring |
Mktg 6105 |
Year 3 |
Mktg 7994 Research and Dissertation (12 hours) |
Spring |
Mktg 6105 |
Year 4 |
Mktg 7994 Research and Dissertation (12 hours) |
Summary of Requirements and Advising
Courses |
Credit Hours |
Marketing Seminars (6) |
18 |
Statistics/Research Methods (2-4) |
6-12 |
Minor Electives (3-4) |
9-12 |
Dissertation Research (Minimum) |
30 |
Other Courses or Dissertation Research |
18-27 |
Total |
90 Credits minimum |
During the first year, the Graduate Program Committee will be responsible for advising doctoral students. Each student will be assigned an advisor. Once the student passes the Qualifying Examination, the student will choose an advisor, who will guide the student's further study. During the second year, the advisor and the members of the Graduate Program Committee will serve as the student's advisory committee for purposes of filing the student's Program of Study, which must be filed prior to the beginning of the Fall semester of the second year.
At the end of the second year of study, the advisory committee will be automatically dissolved as a matter of departmental policy. The student and his or her advisor will then recommend a new advisory committee that will serve as the student's dissertation committee, subject to the approval of the Department Head (who by Graduate School policy formally requests the appointment of the committee by the Graduate School ). If the student's advisor is an untenured member of the faculty, a dissertation co-chair must be selected from among the tenured faculty and included as a member of the dissertation committee. By University requirement, the Advisory Committee must include four or more members. As noted in the Graduate Catalog, it is appropriate but not required that one member of the committee be from outside the department. If a student and his or her advisor wish not to have a member from outside the department, the advisor should provide to the Department Head a justification for the recommended committee and the exclusion of an outside member.
The Dean of the Graduate School has established a policy requiring annual reviews of all graduate students. The Graduate Program Committee will provide the review of first-year students as part of the feedback on the Qualifying Examination. In subsequent years, the student's advisor as listed on the Program of Study is charged with developing a review and communicating it in writing to the student with copies to the student's file and the Graduate Program Committee.