Faculty research in the University’s Marketing Department tops 22 other public universities nationwide in terms of how often the research has been cited in other publications, according to a University press release.
A survey released in January by Academic Assessments Services ranks the department first among the top public universities in the nation. Among the 23 public and 23 private business schools surveyed, the department ranks sixth.
The department is also ranked first among West Coast universities, including the University of Southern California, University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University.
Marketing Department Head Peter Wright said the survey brings some much deserved recognition.
“As a small department, we sometimes get overlooked and an objective analysis like this gives a fair comparison of Oregon’s marketing department against much bigger departments (at other schools),” he said, adding that the department has nine faculty members.
The survey examined the median citation rates of a department’s faculty in business and social publications from 1975 to 2003, according to the release.
Wright said the survey shows both younger and older faculty members in the department are strong researchers.
“It indicates we have a strong department top to bottom,” he said.
He added that research is important to the department because it influences what will be taught in schools around the country.
“Research has an impact on students nationwide because it teaches the teachers,” he said, adding that much of what is found in textbooks today came from earlier research.
Associate marketing Professor David M. Boush said the survey allows him and other faculty members to trace how their research has been used by others.
“These are hard figures,” he said. “You can see what you’ve done that’s had the greatest impact.”
He said one of his articles published in the Journal of Marketing Research in 1991 has been cited many times. His research analyzed how consumers thought about brand names when the names were put on products usually not associated with the brand, such as Campbell’s brand on frozen food items.
“Those kind of processes might underlay the strategy that a marketer might take,” he said.
He said most of what gets published is usually basic research that ends up in textbooks.
“You can most of the time trace it to the academic research,” he said.
Boush said the study will help the department attract more quality students and faculty by bringing recognition to the school.
“Mostly I think it’s good in practical ways for the students and the University,” he said.
Marketing graduate student Jeff Stinson said the survey’s findings came as no surprise.
“The quality of our faculty is the primary thing that attracted me to Oregon,” he said. “But it’s great to see that public recognition of that.”
He said working under quality research faculty members will help him with his own research as he strives for his degree.
“You know that you’re learning from the best people in your field,” he said. “What more could you ask for?”