I have recently received a number of e-mail inquiries from people asking whether I would be available to supervise their PhD studies. The answer is that I could take on one, maybe two new students. However, if we are going to work together for 3-4 years, we need to have research interests in common.
Most of the e-mails that I have received are related to digital marketing, but they have nothing to do with my area of expertise. For instance, I don’t really do branding (though I have a number of very talented colleagues who are doing excellent work in branding, and who might be available to supervise you – you can see their profile, here).
My research interests lie in customer profiling, customer targeting, and personalisation. So, topics around how we could use social media or wearables data to learn more about our customers; or the role of algorithmic decision making in targeted customer service; or how we could use artificial intelligence to personalised offers, would all be of interest.
I am happy to look at both the user side (e.g., customers’ use of technology) and the marketing management side (e.g., quality issues in profiling). And I have a particular interest in the biases (e.g., technical, social, cognitive…) and the mistakes surrounding these activities (e.g., sources of false positives / negatives; consequences for the customers).
If these topics interest you, do get in touch. But, first, work through these six questions to ask yourself before starting a PhD.
If you decide to go ahead, take a look at the university’s website, for details on how to apply. One final tip: do prepare a strong personal statement and research proposal. These two pieces are crucial at convincing me of your motivation and that we could work together for three or so years.
Ana Canhoto 