The Katz Marketing PhD Program follows a mentorship-based model, where students work intensively with a subset of the faculty to explore their areas of interest. Our students build their skills by taking a wide variety of classes tailored to their domain of study, playing both leading and supporting roles on original research projects, presenting at major conferences, and publishing in top-tier journals. We also encourage our students to build connections in the broader marketing community through our speaker series and our annual Sheth Marketing Camp.
Mentorship
Our faculty strives to conduct research in collaboration with our students. The collaboration frequently results in articles that are published in top journals. View a list of recent collaboratively published articles.
Our faculty are:
– Ranked 15th in North America based on research contributions in the leading business journals (UT-Dallas Database, 2009-2022)
– Ranked 1st in per capita faculty productivity in the FT-50 leading marketing journals (MKTBig15 Database, 2024)
Research
The Katz marketing faculty is internationally recognized as experts in their fields and have published in prestigious academic journals such as Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, and Management Science. Read more about highlights from our marketing faculty.
Current Students and Alumni Placements
Pitt Marketing is ranked 6th nationally for placing our PhD graduates in tenure-track positions in prestigious universities (Nature, 2022).
The associated dataviz depicting marketing tenure-track hiring flows across institutions is here.
Most recently, our graduates accepted tenure-track Assistant Professor positions at the following schools. Notably, most of our PhD students graduate in 4-5 years before starting as Assistant Professors.
– 2024: Theresa (Tess) Kwon, Hong Kong University
– 2023: Sayan Gupta, Clemson University
– 2023: Pallavi Jha, Georgia State University
– 2022: Jenny (Yang) Guo, Binghamton University
– 2021: Qiaoni Shi, Bocconi University
– 2020: Jillian Hmurovic, Drexel University
– 2020: Meheli Basu, Syracuse University
– 2019: Christian Hughes, University of Notre Dame
– 2018: Lauren Grewal, Dartmouth College
– 2017: Aleksandra Kovacheva, SUNY Albany
– 2016: Feihong (Jerry) Xia, University of Rhode Island
– 2014: Felipe Thomaz, University of South Carolina
– 2014: Hristina Dzhogleva Nikolova, Boston College
– 2012: Tuba Pinar Yildirim, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
– 2012: Didem Kurt, Boston University
– 2012: Sara Loughran Dommer, Georgia Tech
Distinguished Alumni: Many of our alumni are leading scholars in the field, including:
– Rohit Deshpande: Harvard University (emeritus)
– Jag Sheth: Emory University
– Christine Moorman: Duke University
– Dan Smith: Indiana University
– Ajay Kohli: Georgia Tech
– Deborah McInnis: University of Southern California (emerita)
– Karen Winterich: Pennsylvania State University
Curriculum
The sample curriculum shown below is for students on the Consumer Behavior Track. For students on the Quantitative Track (Empirical or Analytical Modeling), the curriculum may include, for example, econometrics, bayesian statistics, microeconomics, game theory, computer science courses etc. from Pitt and CMU.
Year 1 Curriculum: Fall Term
An exploration of critical thinking.
| Course |
| BMKT 2513 Consumer Behavior 1 |
| BMKT 2514 Consumer Behavior 2 |
| PSYED 2019 STAT 2 Analysis of Variance |
| PSYED 2410 Applied Regression Analysis |
| CMU 0739 Topics in Consumer Behavior |
Year 1 Curriculum: Spring Term
A thorough examination of research methods.
| Course |
| BMKT 3017 Marketing Models |
| BMKT 3099 Readings in Marketing |
| CMU 0894 Research Methods Behavioral Science |
| PSYED 2416 Applied Multivariate Analysis |
Year 1 Curriculum: Summer Term
Research paper with faculty guidance.
| Course |
| BMKT 3030 Workshop Summer Paper |
Year 2 Curriculum: Fall Term
A continued study in critical thinking and research methods.
| Course |
| BMKT 3014 Marketing Strategy |
| CMU 0702 Behavioral Economics |
| PSYED 3485 Advanced Topics in Research Design |
Year 2 Curriculum: Spring Term
A further dive into major concentrations, critical thinking, and research methods.
| Course |
| BMKT 3025 Market Behavior Research |
| PSY 2111 Foundations of Social Psychology |
| PSYED 2030 Experimental Design |
| PSYED 3408 Hierarchical Linear Modeling |
Year 2 Curriculum: Summer Term
A comprehensive independent study.
| Course |
| Independent Study |
Year 3 Curriculum: Fall, Spring, and Summer Terms
Fully concentrated work on dissertation and service as teaching assistant.
| Course |
| BUSADM 3199 (9 Dissertation Credits) |
| FTDF 0000 Full-Time Dissertation Study |
Years 4 and 5 Curriculum
Teach and enter the job market to defend your dissertation.
| Course |
| FTDF 0000 Full-Time Dissertation Study |
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
I chose Pitt over other schools for the exceptional faculty at Katz and for the flexibility and freedom it provides. The faculty, who are world-class researchers, genuinely care for my growth and are always open to discuss and collaborate on new research ideas. The flexible course of study allows me to draw from a vast array of courses offered across different schools, helping me choose only those which best fit my needs. I am lucky to be part of the Katz community, which inspires me to do better every day!
Pitt has spectacular faculty and staff members. One can work with world-class scholars on rigor and relevant topics in business fields. I’m fortunate to work with possibly the best mentors one could ask for – they respect your own research interests, always inspire you, and they encourage curiosity, discovery, and blazing your own trail. They support and help me evolve as an independent researcher and a future educator.