Marketing
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What is Unique about the Illinois Program?
The marketing program at the University of Illinois is known for its broad-based influence on marketing thought. Faculty and students conduct high-impact research on marketing issues in developing economies, consumer rituals, cross-cultural consumer behavior, logistics management, multi-person decision making, and materialism, as well as on ways to improve new product development, customer/seller relationships, and other processes central to contemporary marketing.
A PhD from Illinois prepares you to generate new knowledge through rigorous research. The dozen or so PhD students in marketing enjoy a high faculty to student ratio that enables extensive collaboration and mentoring.
At Illinois, you have unparalleled opportunities to interact with top researchers from across campus. Whether your interests intersect with those in engineering and process management, social cognition and psychology, anthropology and ethnographic studies, or other disciplines, Illinois boasts top-tier scholars eager to work with you. Facilities for conducting research are up to date and extensive, including behavioral laboratories, consumer panels, and an outstanding University library system.
Illinois offers you a well-integrated group of scholars, combined with the unparalleled resources of a great university.
The Illinois Marketing Laboratory (IML) is a working group that brings together multiple disciplines and perspectives to create a broadly integrative, dissemination-driven team. Combining the distinctive strengths of the department and College of Business with the University's intellectual excellence in the social sciences, engineering, agriculture, and health, IML-affiliated researchers conduct innovative research that leads interdisciplinary marketing thought and action around the globe.
Recent graduates have joined the faculty at Texas A&M University, Michigan State University, Syracuse University, Loyola University, and others.
Coursework & Research
The program is designed to provide you with enough flexibility to discover an intellectual niche while ensuring that all students acquire:
- general expertise in marketing research
- in-depth knowledge and expertise in a selected sub-area of specialization
- competence in quantitative and qualitative research methods
Your coursework is tailored around your specific interests to provide depth in key areas most relevant to your planned research. Numerous seminars encourage you to meet faculty and students from other departments.
Rather than exam-focused preparation, your progress toward the PhD is marked by preparation of independent research papers on research issues of interest to you. Submitted and evaluated at the end of each of the first two years in the program, these papers provide you with opportunities to examine critically the current literature in a selected area, to stimulate creative thinking in proposing new research ideas, and to launch new projects designed to lead to publishable contributions. Practice in seminar presentation of research is also provided in order to enhance your communication skills.
What Makes the Marketing Curriculum Unique?
FLEXIBLE CURRICULUM: Your coursework can be tailored around your specific interests to provide depth in the key areas most relevant to your planned research. Below are 2 sample curricula out of the many possible combinations of courses available to you in the College of Business and across the University.
EVALUATION BASED ON 1ST AND 2ND YEAR PAPERS: Rather than exam-focused preparation, as an Illinois Marketing student, your progress toward the PhD is marked by preparation of independent research papers on research issues of interest to you. These papers are submitted and evaluated at the end of each of the first two years in the program. The yearly papers provide you with unique opportunities to examine critically the current literature in a selected area, to stimulate creative thinking in proposing new research ideas, and to launch new projects designed to lead to publishable contributions to knowledge. Practice in oral presentation of these papers in a seminar atmosphere is also provided in order to enhance your communication skills.
Sample Curriculum #1: (Focus on Consumer Behavior)
Year 1
Fall Semester
- Scholarship in Business Administration I - Substantive and Theoretical Perspectives
- Empirical Research Methods in Business Administration
- Advanced Topics in Marketing - I or II
- Theories of Persuasion
Spring Semester
- Scholarship in Business Administration II - Methodological and Philosophical Perspectives
- Methodology in Consumer Behavior or Marketing Models
- Cultural Psychology
- Ethnographic Research Methods
Year 2
Fall Semester
- Advanced Topics in Marketing - I or II
- Social Judgment
- Methods of Field Research
- Proseminar in Marketing
Spring Semester
- Methodology in Consumer Behavior or Marketing Models
- Advanced Problems in Attitude Research
- Survey Design and Methodology
- Proseminar in Marketing
Sample Curriculum #2: (Focus on Supply Chain Management)
Year 1
Fall Semester
- Scholarship in Business Administration I - Substantive and Theoretical Perspectives
- Empirical Research Methods in Business Administration
- Mathematical Economics
- Mathematical Prog for Management Science
Spring Semester
- Scholarship in Business Administration II - Methodological and Philosophical Perspectives
- Advanced Topics in Marketing - I or II
- Stochastic Models in Management Science
- Supply Chain Management
Year 2
Fall Semester
- Planning and Control Systems
- Marketing Models
- Methods of Field Research
- Proseminar in Marketing
Spring Semester
- Advanced Topics in Marketing - I or II
- Microeconomic Theory
- Survey Design and Methodology
- Proseminar in Marketing
Faculty
Intellectual leadership is our legacy. In a recent survey, the marketing faculty at the University of Illinois was ranked in the top 10 among the nation's top universities in research impact per faculty member, based on the median citation rates in business and social sciences journals.
Multidisciplinary is not just a buzzword at Illinois. It is at the core of our research philosophy. The department boasts a highly visible, active, and collegial group of faculty with a diverse set of cutting-edge research programs. The research experiences and mentorship opportunities for PhD students extend well beyond this stimulating group.
For a complete list of Marketing faculty members please visit our faculty directory.
Current Students
For a complete list of current candidates in Marketing please visit our PhD student directory.
Student Perspectives
"The PhD program at UIUC has been instrumental
for the development of my research agenda. It is preparing me well for the
challenges of an academic life as a consumer behaviorist through a stimulating
research environment. The abundant opportunities to collaborate with talented
researchers all across campus has been a key element for enriching my theoretical
background and for providing me with a great network of fun people to work
with."
- Carlos Torelli, Ph.D. Candidate
"I just joined this Fall, and I have already experienced the stimulating and supportive environment here. It is exciting and rewarding to work and interact with the faculty. In addition, students are from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and with different research interests. Being in this group is a great learning experience." - Shirley Cheng, Ph.D. Student
"The doctoral program at the University of Illinois offered a comprehensive and challenging learning environment. Particularly helpful in preparing me for the role of assistant professor was the faculty's genuine interest to share their knowledge - be it in research, teaching, or service. I have personally benefited from having two wonderful mentors during my years at Illinois, and they continue to share valuable insights with me. My experience at Illinois was highly positive in that the program combined rigorous coursework, challenging research, and helpful teaching assignments with a supportive faculty and environment." - Jelena Spanjol, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M University
"I strongly believe that no other Ph.D. program
could have afforded me the rigorous training I received while making the
whole process so enjoyable. The motto I have for those considering a Ph.D.
in marketing is: Come to Illinois, work hard, and see for yourself the fruits
that follow."
- Ashok Lalwani, Ph.D. Candidate
"The doctoral program here has fulfilled all my
expectations and has been intellectually stimulating and satisfying. The
rigorous curriculum provides a solid foundation for building our knowledge
and sharpening our research skills. The faculty provides excellent guidance
for our academic careers and research agenda. Similarly the Ph.D students
are also very bright and supportive of each other. The mix of eminent scholars
along with a cooperative atmosphere fosters a very healthy environment for
productivity and creativity in research."
- Kumar Sarangee, Ph.D. Student
"The best part of my Illinois experience was the
opportunity to work with outstanding scholars and getting to know my fellow
classmates."
-Linda Tuncay, Assistant Professor,Loyola University
"I have enjoyed every single moment being here
in the company of exciting intellectual minds. My first year paper was my
debut in a full scale research project of my own. It was a great learning
experience which instilled in me a confidence to venture in unexplored domains
in consumer behavior."
- Avinish Chaturvedi, Ph.D. Student
"I thought I received excellent preparation at
Illinois. My advisor allowed me to study what was relevant to me from my
years in practice to create academically rigorous but managerially relevant
research. We worked together to frame questions from practice about customer
relationship management so these questions could be answered from a research
context. The preparation I received not only in our department but throughout
the university, particularly in the statistics classes in the psych department
has been invaluable."
- Debra Zahay, Acxiom Corporation Professor Of Interactive Marketing, Northern Illinois University
