Certificate in Consumer Analytics and Insights

The MBA Certificate in Consumer Analytics and Insights is a response to a growing interest among businesses to use consumer rich data to make decisions.

Students who earn the MBA Certificate in Consumer Analytics and Insights will be prepared to identify sources of data to examine how an organization’s actions affect relevant decisions, select suitable methods to analyze these data, and understand the risks involved. Through a series of courses, hands-on consumer analytics projects, and events allowing them to engage with experts, students will learn how to manage consumer analytics projects and translate the results into strategic insights. These events will include invitation-only speaker events, and other events on campus, as well as events hosted by federal agencies and D.C.-based firms and organizations.  

The certificate coursework builds on core MBA coursework by teaching students more about sources of customer data and methods that can be applied to analyze consumer data.

Overview

Students who earn the MBA Certificate in Consumer Analytics and Insights will be prepared to:

• Frame business problems in terms of consumers’ behaviors and decisions;
• Identify appropriate sources of data to examine how organizations’ actions affect relevant consumer decisions;
• Develop an understanding of relevant methods to select for data analysis;
• Identify and conduct the appropriate analyses to address the business problem using both consumer-level data and/or aggregate data sources; and
• Provide recommendations to address the business problem, supported by data and analyses, including developing decision support tools.

Upon graduation from the MBA Program, students will receive a notation on their official university transcript along with a certificate of completion.

Admissions

The certificate program is designed for and limited to enrolled McDonough MBA students. At the beginning of their second semester, Full-time and Flex MBA students are invited to participate through an application process. Flex students can also apply in their second year if they are graduating in the spring of their third year or later.

Admitted students who successfully complete the certificate requirements upon graduation will receive notation of this distinction on their official university transcript.

For more details, visit the Canvas Certificate Information page.

Coursework

This 7.5-credit sequence of integrated MBA coursework* helps build an appreciation of how to provide insight into business problems using consumer data. Students will learn to identify appropriate sources of consumer data for the problems being addressed, select methods appropriate to the data, build decision support tools, and provide recommendations to address the business problem that are supported by data and analyses.

* The certificate requirements are subject to change.

Elective Requirements: 3 elective credits

• Customer Analytics (MARK-6580, 1.5 credits): This course provides an introduction to the methods employed in customer-centric analytics and the resulting applications. The objective is to introduce students to techniques designed for analyzing behavior at the level of the customer and to examine the implications of the resulting insights on marketing strategies.
• Practicum in Consumer Analytics and Insights (MARK-6590, 1.5 credits): This course is designed to provide students with a hands-on experience in deriving insights through the analysis of consumer data. We partner with client organizations to solve a particular problem that they are facing. Examples of such problems may include evaluating salesperson performance, increasing customer retention or acquisition, and predicting future purchasing behavior. This course is only available to students enrolled in the certificate. Pre-requisite: MARK-6580.

Elective Choice: 4.5 elective credits

• BADM-6017 Core Principles of Data Visualization (3) 
• BADM-6045 Digital Marketing Analytics (1.5)
• MARK-6551 Marketing Research (1.5)
• MARK-6555 Applied Product Management (1.5)
• MARK-6561 Customer Data Mining for Segmentation (1.5)
• MARK-6570 Consumer Behavior (1.5)
• MARK-6573 How to Build Strong Brands (1.5)
• MARK-6579 Leveraging Social Media (1.5)
• MARK-6565 Global Marketing (1.5)
• OPAN-6551 Decision Support Systems (1.5)
• OPAN-6557 Decision Theory: Small Data (1.5)
• OPAN-6552 Data Science for Bus Decisions (1.5)
• OPAN-6555 Analytics Advantage (1.5)
• OPAN-6554 Database Development and Management (1.5)
• OPAN-6556 Applied Data Visualization (1.5)
• OPAN-6541 Internet Business Technologies (1.5)
• OPAN-6558 Regression Modeling and Analysis (1.5)
• OPAN-6555 Analytics Advantage (1.5)

*Off-list courses including non-MBA courses with approval of the certificate program director.
**This list of MBA electives serves as a guide. It is subject to change and does not represent a guarantee that specific courses will be offered in specific academic years.

Event Calendar

The Consumer Analytics & Insights speaker series features young professionals who share their experience with analytics and insights to students enrolled in the certificate.

Upcoming Speakers

Stay tuned for future speaker events.

Past Speakers

Fall 2021

Kristina Moses – Brand Manager, Campbell Soup.

Yvonne Chiang (UG ’11) – General Manager & Senior Product Manager, ID.me.

Spring 2021

Bryan Christian (EP ’19) – Data Science Lead (Mission Data), Navy Federal Credit Union.

Fall 2020

Vanessa Lee (UG’ 11) – Shopping Solution Partner Manager at Instagram.

Stephanie Hannah (UG ’11) – Senior Director, Member Support Operations at Peloton.

Director of the Certificate

Simon Blanchard

Provost Distinguish Associate Professor and Dean’s Professor