Kenneth Wilbur

Kenneth Wilbur serves as Professor of Marketing and Analytics and the Sheryl and Harvey White Chair in Management at the University of California, San Diego’s Rady School of Management in the Business & Economics faculty. He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Virginia in 2005, an M.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia in 2001, and a B.S.C. in Communication and Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Miami in 1997. His career trajectory includes promotion to full Professor at Rady in 2019, Associate Professor from 2015 to 2019, and Assistant Professor from 2013 to 2015. Previously, he was Assistant Professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business from 2009 to 2013 and at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business from 2005 to 2009, as well as Instructor at the University of Virginia from 2003 to 2004. Early in his professional life, Wilbur worked as a Business Analyst and Software Engineer at Accenture from 1997 to 1999.

Wilbur specializes in quantitative marketing and customer analytics, drawing actionable insights from large datasets on advertising, digital platforms, pricing algorithms, and consumer behavior. His publications feature prominently in premier outlets such as Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Management Science, Quantitative Marketing and Economics, and Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. Key papers include “Inefficiencies in Digital Advertising Markets” (Journal of Marketing, 2021, lead article with Brett Gordon, Kinshuk Jerath, Zsolt Katona, Sridhar Narayanan, and Jiwoong Shin), “Do Firearm Markets Comply with Firearm Restrictions? How the Massachusetts Assault Weapons Ban Enforcement Notice Changed Registered Firearm Sales” (Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 2022, with Meenakshi Balakrishna), “Price Promotions, Beneficiary Framing, and Mental Accounting” (Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 2023, lead article with Geoff Fisher, Matt McGranaghan, and Jura Liaukonyte), and “How Viewer Tuning, Presence and Attention Respond to Ad Content and Predict Brand Search Lift” (Marketing Science, 2022, lead article with Matt McGranaghan and Jura Liaukonyte). His research has received widespread acclaim, with papers serving as winners or finalists for 18 awards, including the John D. C. Little Award (winner 2015, finalist 2009 and 2016), Frank M. Bass Award (winner 2009, finalist 2015), multiple Don Morrison Long Term Impact Awards, and Marketing Science Service Awards (2021 and 2023). Named a Marketing Science Institute Scholar, he influences the field as Associate Editor for Marketing Science (2022–2025) and Journal of Marketing Research (2023–2026), and through co-organizing the Workshop on Platform Analytics.

Professional Email: kcwilbur@ucsd.edu