Rolph Ely Anderson

Rolph Anderson is the Royal H. Gibson, Sr. Chair Professor Emeritus of Marketing and former Head (1975-1997) of the Department of Marketing at Drexel University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Florida, and his MBA and BA degrees from Michigan State University where he was a member of the varsity basketball team after being selected First Team All-State in high school. His primary research and publication areas are personal selling and sales management, customer relationship management, and customer satisfaction/loyalty. He is author or co-author of more than twenty textbooks, including Multivariate Data Analysis, 8th ed. – one of the most highly referenced research textbooks ever in the social sciences (among top five all-time) – translated into various languages including Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese editions; plus other recent books including Personal Selling, 3rd ed.; and Sales Force Management, 2nd ed. According to Google Scholar Citations, his publications have been referenced over 200,000 times in scholarly journals and books. In 2022, he was elected to the Drexel University LeBow College of Business Wall of Fame.

Dr. Anderson’s research has been widely published in the major journals in his field, including articles in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of Experimental Education, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Global Marketing, Journal of Marketing Education, European Journal of Marketing, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Journal of Business Research, Advances in International Marketing, Business Horizons, Journal of Managerial Issues, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Risk Management, Journal of Selling and Major Account Management, Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, Journal of Marketing Channels, Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and others.

His classic Journal of Marketing Research article on “Consumer Dissatisfaction: The Effect of Disconfirmed Expectations on Perceived Product Performance” was one of the pioneering articles in the study of customer satisfaction. In 1988, he won the national Mu Kappa Tau award for the best article published in the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. In 1992, Dr. Anderson was selected for the second time by the Drexel College of Business students to receive the Faculty Appreciation Award. In 1995, he was recipient of the national “Excellence in Reviewing Award” from the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. In 1998, he received the American Marketing Association Sales Special Interest Group inaugural “Excellence in Sales Scholarship Award.” For 2000-2001, he received Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business “Research Achievement” award. In 2003, he was selected a Distinguished Fellow of the LeBow College Center for Teaching Excellence, and received the LeBow College Award for Academic Leadership in Textbook Publishing.

Professor Anderson has served several professional organizations as an officer, including: President, Southeast Institute for Decision Sciences (IDS); Secretary and Board of Directors, Academy of Marketing Science; President, University of Florida Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter; Board of Directors, American Marketing Association (Philadelphia Chapter); Vice President for Programming, American Marketing Association (Philadelphia Chapter); National Council, Institute for Decision Sciences; Board of Directors, Northeast IDS; and Co-Chair, 61st International American Marketing Association Conference. He has served and currently serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Anderson worked for three Fortune 500 companies, including as New Product Development Manager for the Quaker Oats Company. After active military duty aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet (CVS-12), he remained in the naval reserves and retired as a U.S. Navy Supply Corps Captain (06).