Marketing Ph.D. Thread

[MapsAndPlans]

Hi, internet! 

 

I'm an applicant to both marketing and social psychology Ph.D. programs. I haven't heard much at all about marketing interview invites yet, so I wanted to reach out. Let's update each other about we hear in the upcoming month or so! 

 

 

[Angua]

Hi! I did that a few years ago (mostly psych and OB, but some marketing). I don't have much to share, except that business schools tend to make decisions much later than psych programs, so try not to stress!  And good luck!

[MapsAndPlans]

Hi! I did that a few years ago (mostly psych and OB, but some marketing). I don't have much to share, except that business schools tend to make decisions much later than psych programs, so try not to stress!  And good luck!

 

Hi there! Thank you for reaching out! Did you find it difficult to explain, when asked about the programs you're applying to, that your interests overlap enough to fit both? Or have you found it common that people apply to both psych and business programs? 

[Angua]

Haha, good question!  People in the field (Marketing, OB, and to a lesser extent psychology) found it easy enough to understand, but I did/do have to explain in more detail to others! I often just default to telling those folks that I study psychology in a business school, which is true, because the terminology can be so confusing to people.  Also, people tend to make assumptions about what I know and study at a business school -- those with no information tend to assume I know about business, which is natural enough but totally not the case, and those with a little bit of knowledge tend to assume I study behavioral economics, which is less innaccurate but still not really true.   I do a lot of cross-disciplinary work in fields like law and developmental psych as well, so it is especially hard to sum up my work accurately using program labels!

 

So it's complicated, but I usually just circumvent the questions by talking about what I study specifically.  Then I get the "Oh, you do that in a _____ program?" and I just say "yes!" and nod.

[MapsAndPlans]

Angua,

 

First of all, thank you for your insights! Secondly, here's a question that may be useful to applicants in my position. 

What are your thoughts on the job prospects of people who come out of this process with a marketing Ph.D. for marketing professor jobs versus those who come out with a psychology Ph.D. for psychology professor jobs? My psychology friends recommend staying under the psychology degree name (they say psych is more flexible as a degree, meaning I can apply for marketing jobs with a psych degree), and my marketing friends recommend the marketing name (they say the marketing research field is suffering less than psych in terms of jobs and it's easier to get a marketing position with a marketing degree). Is it basically just better to do a joint program if interests overlap? 

[quaker13]

Angua,

 

First of all, thank you for your insights! Secondly, here's a question that may be useful to applicants in my position. 

What are your thoughts on the job prospects of people who come out of this process with a marketing Ph.D. for marketing professor jobs versus those who come out with a psychology Ph.D. for psychology professor jobs? My psychology friends recommend staying under the psychology degree name (they say psych is more flexible as a degree, meaning I can apply for marketing jobs with a psych degree), and my marketing friends recommend the marketing name (they say the marketing research field is suffering less than psych in terms of jobs and it's easier to get a marketing position with a marketing degree). Is it basically just better to do a joint program if interests overlap? 

 

In my opinion, most marketing professor jobs are in business schools and, being b-schools, people have to adhere to accreditation requirement. Many b-schools in the U.S. prefer to recruit professors with degrees from AACSB-accredited schools. I think this is one of the reason why a psychology degree suffers in terms of job prospects, as psychology departments never bear b-school accreditation. So your psychology friends are absolutely right that psychology PhDs can also apply for marketing job but your job prospects in marketing will actually be very limited. As of now, new marketing PhDs are still placing very well in both the U.S. and E.U., as the shortage for business professors are still happening. I did my master's in psychology and had to switch to marketing. I don't have much information on current psychology placements siutation though. 

[MapsAndPlans]

In my opinion, most marketing professor jobs are in business schools and, being b-schools, people have to adhere to accreditation requirement. Many b-schools in the U.S. prefer to recruit professors with degrees from AACSB-accredited schools. I think this is one of the reason why a psychology degree suffers in terms of job prospects, as psychology departments never bear b-school accreditation. So your psychology friends are absolutely right that psychology PhDs can also apply for marketing job but your job prospects in marketing will actually be very limited. As of now, new marketing PhDs are still placing very well in both the U.S. and E.U., as the shortage for business professors are still happening. I did my master's in psychology and had to switch to marketing. I don't have much information on current psychology placements siutation though. 

 

That is helpful. Thank you!  

[Angua]

In addition to what quaker13 said, I think it also depends on what kind of marketing department you want to work in.  There are a handful of very psych-oriented marketing programs (plus some marketing-adjacent programs, like OB and Behavioral Science) who are hiring more psychology PhD's than marketing PhD's.  In fact, I have talked with marketing students who were a little miffed that some of the top B-schools (Chicago, Wharton, Stanford, etc.) seemed more interested in psych students.  But I don't know how universally that is true, and I don't know how much longer it will be true, because more marketing grads are coming out of their programs with research and cred that looks a lot like psychology.

 

Overall, I think that if you know you want a marketing job, it's almost certainly true that your prospects are better (or at least much broader) from a marketing program.  But, of course, psych departments are not hiring marketing PhD's.  So if you are unsure, a psychology PhD might give you more options (though, as quaker13 pointed out, there is a lot more competition for psych jobs right now).