Sparks Commentary: What should I study to go into marketing research?

I should preface this by saying that I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a Concentration in Marketing. I don’t have the kind of personality to succeed in the sales end of marketing, but I never really intended to do that anyway. Rather, I wanted to go into marketing research, and apply my analytical personality to studying consumer behavior.

I believed that doing social sciences might be more appropriate for my personality, and studied marketing with this goal in mind. But for various reasons, this did not work out, and I ended up doing something else instead. Nonetheless, I do have some basic education about the subject, and might be able to advise people about what to study to enter the field. I have some inside information, at least with regards to formal education.

Statistics

Few things will help a prospective market researcher like a good background in statistics. A good rule of thumb is to take as much statistics as you can stand. Some actually major in mathematics, with a concentration in statistics. This is the hardest way to go, but it may be among the best ways if you can pull it off. A typical degree in mathematics or statistics will also involve some coursework in computer science – and, by extension, some computer programming classes. This is also quite helpful for marketing research, although the most essential preparation of all is probably statistics itself (at least with regard to numbers). Some might even get a bachelor’s degree in statistics, and then get a master’s degree in another subject – such as business, marketing, or even marketing research specifically. This might be the best preparation of all, if you can find such a program.

Snake eyes from rolling dice

But most of us can’t stand the rigor of a statistics major, or any other kind of math major. If this describes you (and it certainly described me), then you might consider two other options (among others) for learning your statistics. One of them is to minor in statistics, which is much easier than a full-on major in it. But a minor in this is also fairly demanding, so it’s not the easiest option for this. I will then talk about the other most-recommended option in my next section about economics.

Bell curve from rolling three dice, with outcomes from 3 (triple 1's) to 18 (triple 6's)

Economics

Another place to get your statistics is from the economics department (the place where most business majors get their stats classes). Statistics classes from the economics department are sometimes easier than their counterparts in the math department, since some of those from the math department are actually calculus-based. Virtually all business programs these days will require their students to take at least one class in “business & economic statistics,” which is taught by the economics department. One semester of this is usually all that’s required, but you might consider taking more than the minimum requirement if your school offers more. A class in economic & business forecasting, or in econometrics, might actually be a good elective for someone going into marketing research. As a personal anecdote on this subject, I took an extra statistics class along these lines, and was able to apply it to a certificate in business economics (basically a minor in economics). This is often the easiest route for learning your statistics.

The harder routes are usually better preparation for analyzing numerical data, but not all of us can handle these routes (and I freely admit that I couldn’t myself). Thus, consider a statistics minor (or some handy statistics electives) if you don’t want to major in this kind of a subject. These electives could be from a math department, an economics department, or even a psychology department. So long as these classes teach the content, they can probably help you in this field. The economics and psychology versions also have the advantage of being more applied (and less theoretical) than the versions from the math department. A minor in economics would not hurt, either, and might actually help you a lot. But a full major in economics is not necessarily recommended for marketing research, since it’s not all uniformly relevant to the subject. A minor in this subject may actually be better, and would be more applicable to going into marketing.

Supply and demand curves

One particularly relevant economics class is “micro-economics,” which teaches you about supply and demand theory, and is thus very useful in pricing. This may be more useful to a marketing major than “macro-economics.” Macro-economics (and international economics & finance) are better preparation for financial professions, and are usually not as relevant to marketing research.

Psychology

Another field that is useful for breaking into marketing research is psychology. Virtually any kind of psychology class can have applications to marketing. This includes intro classes, statistics classes, and research methods classes (which are particularly useful to marketing research). But a particularly useful class is social psychology, which studies how people are influenced by others. To borrow some wording from Wikipedia (and I admit this freely), social psychology is defined as “the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.” (Source: Wikipedia’s page on social psychology) All of this is relevant to marketing in general, and to marketing research in particular.

Social psychology studies the nature and causes of social behavior

Obviously, any attempt to sell something is an attempt to influence people. But you may also want to appeal to people’s desires to satisfy others for social reasons. These “other people” could include friends, family, or romantic prospects – all of whom can have a tremendous influence on their buying decisions. Social psychology studies all of this, and can give you a remarkable insight into your potential market – and how and why they decide to buy things.

An EEG recording setup

A related field is industrial-organizational psychology, which studies the behavior of people in the workplace. This is primarily designed to help people with management careers, and particularly human resource management. Nonetheless, it also has some applications to marketing, particularly since much marketing is done to other organizations, rather than to individuals. Business-to-business marketing is actually more common than marketing to individuals, even though it is typically invisible to the everyday consumer. Knowing about this would also be helpful, and would be worth the time of a prospective market researcher.

Communications

Another subject that can be useful is communications. Communications classes of all kinds are often applicable to marketing. I was required to take a few such classes for my business degree – such as public speaking and business communication. After graduation, I actually took an intro to communication class for my own amusement, and read an introductory textbook about journalism – followed by another about public relations. These are all helpful for marketing research. Marketing involves a certain amount of public relations, and public relations is sometimes classified as a part of marketing. An understanding of the media can also help, and journalism classes can be particularly useful for this. Communications is applicable to virtually everything, even if the applications are less direct here. And advertising is a type of communications class, which can be applied to marketing. Indeed, it is sometimes taught by the marketing department, which typically includes classes in “advertising & promotion” as part of its standard curriculum. These are of immense value to marketing researchers, since the information that one gathers as a marketing researcher is often used to tailor good advertisements to customers. What aspects of your product are most appealing to the target market, and which would be the most important to advertise to this market? Marketing research can help to answer these questions.

The Roman orator Cicero speaks to the Roman Senate

A few communications electives (or even a minor in communication) would probably be helpful for a prospective market researcher. But as with economics, a full-on communications major is not necessarily recommended for this purpose, since it’s not all uniformly relevant to marketing research. A minor may actually be better, or even some electives that are relevant to marketing.

Marketing

And the most standard background for entering marketing research is just to major in marketing. This is typically offered as a concentration within a business major, although it’s possible to get a degree specifically in marketing – and, at the graduate level, even in marketing research. A typical degree will involve classes in consumer behavior and marketing research, both of which are useful for breaking into the field (and among the most essential kinds of preparation for it). A master’s degree in marketing or marketing research may actually be the best preparation for this career, although you can break into marketing research with just a bachelor’s degree in marketing (or even a bachelor’s degree in some other subject).

The term “marketing” comes from the Latin “mercatus,” meaning a marketplace

That being said, it’s possible to get a Master’s of Business Administration degree without a bachelor’s degree in that specific subject. In fact, it’s often easier to get into a Master’s of Business Administration program with a major in something other than business or economics. For master’s programs in marketing research, a bachelor’s degree in statistics or psychology would be particularly helpful for this. Consider these combinations if you want the optimal preparation for this field, but it’s still possible to get into MBA programs with just an undergraduate major in business or marketing. If you would rather just stick with a business or marketing major, it is certainly possible to do that. There are many paths to success in marketing research. If you can find the one that’s best for you, you will have a better chance of getting good grades in school, and thus getting into a good graduate program later on (if this is what you seek), since graduate admissions are (at least partially) based on undergraduate grades.

Whatever your choice, take the opportunity to learn certain things in school while there is little or no personal risk from doing so. Education of all kinds is a good preparation for everyday life, and will help you in a variety of different careers, including this one.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

Some thoughts about business education

My positive experience with psychology

My undergraduate experience with communications

My love-hate relationship with economics

Why I majored in marketing

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