Professor Connects Business and Psychology to Enrich Baylor’s PhD Program

A professor of marketing at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business recently assumed the role of co-director for a student’s PhD dissertation, effectively demonstrating Baylor’s commitment to leadership for both professors and students.

Chris Pullig, professor and chair of Baylor’s marketing department, recently co-directed a PhD dissertation for Thomas Carpenter, then a doctoral student in psychology. Carpenter’s psychological dissertation had direct connections to the field of marketing, making Pullig’s expertise very beneficial. “Working with PhD students is a challenge and a reward,” Pullig said. “I knew that working with Tom would be both, and it was.”

Pullig, whose research has a specific focus on branding and consumer decision-making, was a perfect co-director for Carpenter, whose dissertation explores pleasure-based brand associations and how they deliberately or subconsciously affect preference and choice in a consumer market. With Pullig’s help, Carpenter successfully completed his dissertation and achieved his PhD. He is currently an assistant professor at Seattle Pacific University.

It is not often that students and faculty from different colleges and departments have the chance to work together so closely, although Pullig hopes to extend the relationship between himself and PhD students in his own department. Moreover, preparations are currently underway for the 2016 Entrepreneurship and Healthcare Economics doctoral programs, and it is possible that a new marketing PhD program could be considered.

Pullig says that the discussion about a marketing PhD program has been revived recently and could become a reality now that Baylor has new researchers on board that could support such a program. Of the potential program, Pullig said: “[w]ith some additional resources, we would be in a position to have a significant impact and elevate the academic reputation of Baylor.”

regions: Dallas

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