DBA in Marketing

Prepare yourself for high-level applied research, consulting or teaching roles that don't require academic research.

The program requires 72 credit hours of graduate coursework, and it can be pursued part-time.

DBA students must maintain satisfactory academic progress; pass examinations and paper requirements; and write, submit and defend a doctoral thesis. All students are expected to finish the program within four years on a full-time basis or within five to six years on a part-time basis.

Two Tracks to Suit Your Research Interests

In the program, you can pursue one of two tracks: Quantitative Marketing or Consumer Behavior.

Quantitative Marketing Track

The DBA in Marketing Quantitative track focuses on economic fundamentals, including microeconomic theory and econometrics. Using this methodology, you examine mathematical modeling of buyer-seller interactions, consumer choices, purchase behavior, resource allocation, components of the marketing mix and new product development.

Required Courses (24 credits)

Required courses provide you with basic knowledge in marketing research, customer and brand management analytics, and empirical methods. You must also fulfill teaching and communication requirements.

Elective Courses (24 credits)

Elective coursework includes managerial economics, industrial organization and econometrics seminars from graduate programs at WashU Olin and other graduate-level Arts & Sciences courses authorized by the program director and approved by the course instructor.

View the Quantitative Marketing curriculum.
Consumer Behavior Track

The DBA in Marketing Consumer Behavior track concentrates on psychology fundamentals, including cognition, social psychology and behavioral decision theory. Students study and research consumer judgment and decision-making, culture, emotions, motivation, individual differences, perception and social influence.

Required Courses (19.5 credits)

Required courses provide you with foundational knowledge in consumer behavior, marketing research and quantitative methods in psychology. You must also fulfill a teaching and communication requirements.

Elective Courses (28.5 credits)

Elective coursework includes product development, memory and emotion, and communication seminars from graduate programs at WashU Olin and graduate-level psychology courses authorized by the program director and approved by the course instructor.

View the Consumer Behavior Marketing curriculum.

Research and Qualifying Exams

Having completed courses for your Quantitative Marketing or Consumer Behavior track, you commence the intensive 24-credit research phase of your program. Independent studies, research assistantships, and directed readings account for 12 credit units, and doctoral thesis work accounts for 12 credit units.

Comprehensive field examinations take place within six months after you complete required coursework (normally within two to three years of beginning the program). The examination committee is composed of your faculty advisor and two other faculty members.

After successfully passing the qualifying exams (or field exams), you write an extended research paper under the guidance of a faculty member in preparation for your thesis proposal.

Olin Doctoral Series | DBA Marketing

WashU Olin’s doctorate degree in marketing prepares students for high-level research or consulting positions.

Doctoral Thesis

Once you pass your qualifying exams, you embark on your thesis.

Your faculty advisor mentors you throughout the stages—proposal, research, writing and defense—and serves on your thesis and defense committees.

Your advisor, the research advisory committee and program director all must approve your proposal.

After submitting your written thesis, you defend it in an oral presentation to your advisory committee. The committee assigns a passing grade, assigns a failing grade or requests revisions in order for you to receive a passing grade.

Marketing Faculty Research

Olin’s academic research in marketing focuses on building frameworks and models to understand and evaluate marketing strategies and their impact on customers, consumers and competitors.

On the Quantitative Marketing side, faculty conduct empirical tests on the implications of these models and quantify the effectiveness and profit implications of different strategies.

On the Consumer Behavior side, faculty draw from theory in psychology and marketing to understand how people make decisions.

Research papers by faculty members have recently been published in well-respected journals such as:

Marketing Science
Journal of Consumer Research
Journal of Marketing Research
Journal of Marketing
Marketing Letters

Marketing Faculty Members

Your faculty advisor plays a key role in the development of your research skills. In addition, DBA candidates may collaborate on research with other marketing faculty members.