Assistant Professor Drawn to Whitman’s Niche Appreciation of Quantitative Marketing, Cross Section of University Researchers

Assistant Professor of Marketing Meheli Basu, Ph.D., was drawn to Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management because she knew that many of her peers were involved in exactly the type of work she, too, was interested in.

“Quantitative marketing is an emerging specialization in the field thanks to the availability of big data. It’s all about working with data and customer data sets. I knew there was a niche group of people appreciating and working in quantitative marketing at the Whitman School,” says Basu, who joined the faculty in the fall of 2020. “Everyone is speaking the same language, which is very helpful to me. This was the first reason I chose Syracuse University, and, of course, I’m glad that Syracuse also chose me.”

Basu also appreciates the “big data cluster” at the University, which gives her access to a cross section of researchers in such areas as engineering and video analytics. 

A native of India, Basu earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at West Bengal University of Technology, followed by a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Iowa. She started her Ph.D. in electrical engineering, as well, at the University of Pittsburgh, but her interest in consumer purchase making decisions changed her course of study to business administration/quantitative marketing.

This academic year, Basu is teaching New Product Management to marketing students at the Whitman School. Her main areas of research are digital marketing and consumer analytics pertaining to the consumer purchasing process, which includes understanding how consumers search for information and, in turn, use that information to make purchasing decisions; and healthcare and nutrition, which includes what motivates and promotes consumers to make purchases based on healthy eating habits. In addition, she recently began working on consumer data related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including how likely consumers are to go out to restaurants or outdoor activities, as well as overall pandemic shopping patterns. 

“There’s such an open community of researchers here, and I really value the opportunity to pursue my interest in big data analysis,” she says. “I also appreciate that there are a sizeable number of women researchers, and I am very pleased that the University nurtures women faculty as it does. It’s nice to start your first job in such a supportive environment.”

Learn more about Whitman faculty members in the latest faculty profiles.