If you are looking to further your education or your career and have a background in marketing, you might be wondering if you can get a Ph.D in Marketing. Getting a Ph.D in Marketing depends on a variety of factors including your prior education, your Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores, your graduate school application packet, your ability to finance your education and most importantly – your motivation.
Why Do You Want a Ph.D in Marketing?
First, consider your motivation. Before pursuing a Ph. D in marketing, ask yourself a few things such as, do you love research? Are you fascinated with why consumers behave in certain ways? Do you like writing academic articles and reports? Are you ready to commit the next four or five years of your life to pursue your degree? If the answers are yes, then you have the motivation to move ahead.
Selecting a School and Program
Your next consideration is deciding what type of school you want to attend. According to the American Marketing Association, traditional campus programs are the most common. In the compiled by the American Marketing Association there are links to Ph. D programs in marketing located throughout the world. Another type of program is online marketing Ph. D programs. The key here is making sure any program you consider is fully accredited by an approved agency. The third option is what’s called a hybrid program that combines distance learning with several face-to-face work sessions peppered throughout the program.
Financing Your Ph. D
Perhaps the most critical concern in deciding to get your Ph.D in Marketing is how to pay for it. As a Ph. D student, you are likely to attain a position as a research or teaching assistant which could completely cover your tuition. You can search for scholarships and awards such as the Valuing Diversity scholarship from the American Marketing Association Foundation and Marketing Edge, a resource that helps marketing students pursue their education. Some schools also offer fellowships where you may receive salary and benefits. These are usually offered for one year and are often renewable.
Areas of Study
Once you are in your Ph. D program in marketing, there are several general directions you can pursue. One focuses on behavioral marketing where you study why consumers behave as they do in certain situations. Here much coursework and research is in social psychology and behavioral theory. The other approach is quantitative marketing which entails empirical study of marketing problems. Typical course work includes applied microeconomics, industrial organization, economics and statistics.
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Now What?
You have probably given this a good bit of thought already, but once you are finished with your Ph. D., what do you want to do? The most obvious answer is to pursue a career in academics where flexibility, independence and getting paid to do what you love reign. Becoming a consultant and running your own business is another option. There are also organizations and companies that value that high level of expertise. The important thing is that you feel your efforts and hard work were worth it.
If you have a great passion for marketing as well as the drive to pursue your dream of reaching the pinnacle of study in your field, then the answer to the question: “Can I GET A PH. D. IN MARKETING?” becomes a resounding YES!
