Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

Dear mintztm,

Just wondering but how will you getting an MBA and then getting
a Ph.D help the worlds of commerce and marketing?

Don't misunderstand me but by flipping from one to the other you run the risk of becoming a career student, something that will cut you off from the world of work and something that, in the longer term, will make you less intelligent, not more.

It's not one's LEVELS of education that count, it's how one
APPLIES them.

I'll come back to the Kia commercial in a moment, But first, let's look at your alternative choices for your current thesis:

Social media and defining the factors of buzz marketing
(expecially in interactive internet advertisements). Here's the primary question to address before your go any farther with this idea: who cares? Who stands to benefit from this line of research?

Buzz marketing is about gaining attention and there are several books on the subject already, How will your line of inquiry add to people's knowledge? What will you say that's new?

Second, spacial distance relationships in internet marketing and there affects on brand attitude and purchase intention.

Most people selling things in the world of Internet marketing have one goal: find a need and fulfill it. Their customers have have a pain that needs to be salved or they're looking for pleasure. The overwhelming majority of Internet marketers don't care about spacial distance because it's not on their radar.

Let's be honest here: getting a Ph.D means its recipient learns more and more about less and less. This begs the questions: to what ends? To whose benefit?

Every year, business schools around the world pump out tens of thousands of MBAs and Ph.Ds in marketing, but to what end?

Now then, the Kia commercial. It's an ad ... and a very bad one
at that. It offers no evidence of consumer benefits; it conveys no special offer other than lease for $199 per month; it gives no incentive to buy now; it contains no social proof; it instills no trust, little likeability, and it offers no evidence that its creators understand their buyer and what that person needs.

But hey! It's hip! It's edgy! It's catchy! No, it's not. Someone at
Kia signed off on it and handed over a LOT of money for an ad
that may, in all likelihood, not sell a single car ... BECAUSE,
most car ads don't sell: they cost millions to make, but they seldom result in droves of eager buyers breaking down the
doors at their local dealership.

Why? Well there's your thesis subject:

"The swooping car on the wet road must die: Why most car ads suck and ten ways to improve them." THIS is the kind of MBA and Ph.D publication people will take notice of ... because it identifies a problem and it offers a solution, which is the role of marketing.

Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
Wilmington, DE, USA

(Aside: if you haven't seen slides from Matt Might's The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D presentation, enjoy: https://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/)

Gary's given some on-target real-world advice (if you want your thesis to be "actionable"). If you're interested in consumer behavior, then focus on consumer behavior as it applies to buying decisions for a specific niche (and to make your life easier / research better, focus on a narrow niche - people in a certain country, certain age range, certain product category, etc.). In addition to seeing the effects of the past, you'll be able to survey them to better understand their likely needs in the future.