David Godes

David Godes is a Dean's Professor of Marketing and is the Chair of the Marketing Department. He holds a Ph.D. and S.M. in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the Smith School faculty in 2009 after teaching for ten years at Harvard Business School. His teaching experiences include undergraduate, graduate and executive courses ranging from Introduction to Marketing to Business-to-Business Marketing and Sales Management. His academic research focuses on two areas: sales management and social networks/word of mouth. His work has appeared in top journals like Marketing Science, Management Science and Quantitative Marketing & Economics and he has authored numerous case studies on leading global firms like Federal Express, Avon Products, Terumo (Japan), SKF (Sweden), XM Satellite Radio, BMW, IBM, Hasbro, BzzAgent and Lincoln Financial. His research and opinions have been cited in a wide range of popular press outlets including The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist and The Boston Globe. He has consulted and/or delivered executive education courses to many firms, small and large, located in the U.S. and abroad.

Prior to returning to MIT to pursue doctoral studies, Godes started and ran his own market research and consulting firm which served a range of clients throughout the Northeast drawn from banking, mortgage lending, health care management and venture capital. Prior to that, he was a marketing manager in consumer banking.

Godes resides in Bethesda, MD with his wife Jodi and daughters Bellamy and Grace.

Selected Publications

Brandes, Leif, David Godes and DIna Mayzlin, “Extremity Bias in Online Reviews: The Role of Attrition,” Journal of Marketing Research, 2022, Vol 59 (4), (Lead Article)

Zhang, Yuchi and David Godes, “Learning from Online Social Ties,” Marketing Science, 2018, Vol. 37 (3), pp. 333-506

Phan, Tuan Q. and David Godes, “The Evolution of Influence through Endogenous Link Formation,” Marketing Science, 2018, Vol. 37 (2), pp. 177-331

Wojnicki, Andrea and David Godes, “Signaling Success: Word of Mouth as Self Enhancement,” Customer Needs and Solutions, 2017, Vol. 4, pp. 68-82

Godes, David, “Product Policy in Markets with Word-of-Mouth Communication,” Management Science, 2016, Vol. 63 (1), 267-78.

Aral, Sinan, Chrysanthos Dellarocas and David Godes, “Editorial – Social Media and Business Transformation: A Framework for Research," Information Systems Research, 2013, Vol. 24, (March), pp. 3-13.

Godes, David and Jose Silva, “Sequential and Temporal Dynamics of Online Opinion,” Marketing Science, 2013, Vol. 31 (3), (May/June), pp. 448-473. - Winner, John D.C. Little Award

Godes, David, “The Strategic Impact of References in Business Markets,” Marketing Science, 2012, Vol. 31 (2), (March/April), pp. 257-76. - Finalist, John D.C. Little Award

Godes, David and Dina Mayzlin, “Firm-Created Word-of-Mouth Communication: Evidence from a Field Test,” Marketing Science, volume 28, issue 4, 2009, (July/August), pp. 721-39.