An Analysis of PHD and Master's Thesis on Marketing Communication Conducted Between 1999-2023 in Communication Research

Abstract

Marketing communication is a process that covers both consumer behavior and businesses' development of new marketing strategies. For this reason, marketing communication is a comprehensive subject area that has gained a significant place in academic studies, especially in the last 20 years, and on which scientific research has been conducted. Both the growing capacities and production volumes of businesses and the changing consumer make it necessary to carry out marketing studies. In this context, the aim of this study is to conduct detailed research on the theses completed in the national literature in the field of marketing communication. In this context, as a result of the detailed examination conducted through the National Thesis Center (YOKTEZ), 64 master's and 17 doctoral theses completed on marketing communication between 1999 and 2023 were identified. 8 of these theses could not be accessed (since they were not accessible via YOKTEZ), and 81 of them were evaluated using the content analysis method. In the study, data provided from documents; It is discussed under seven subheadings: type of thesis, gender, university, department, method, data collection and analysis technique and year category. As a result of the analysis, information was obtained about the nature, trends and prominent elements of academic postgraduate theses in the field of marketing communication. In particular, it is noteworthy that female researchers have a higher rate of writing master's theses on marketing communications and that the highest number of theses are in the field of Public Relations and Promotion. These findings show how important factors such as gender and field of expertise in the field of marketing communications are reflected in research.