Z. John Zhang

Current Projects: Targeting and channel strategies; behavior-based targeted pricing; demand collection systems.

Current Courses (Spring 2026)

• MKTG2540 - Pricing Policy

  The pricing decision process including economic, marketing, and behavioral phenomena which constitute the environment for pricing decisions and the information and analytic tools useful to the decision maker.

  MKTG2540402 ( Syllabus )

• MKTG2880 - Pricing Strategies

  This course is designed to equip students with the concepts, techniques, and latest thinking on pricing issues, with an emphasis on ways in which to help a firm improve its pricing. The orientation of the course is about practice of pricing, not theory. We will focus on how firms can improve profitability through pricing, look at how firms set their prices and how to improve current practices to increase profitability. The first part of the course focuses on how to analyze costs, customers, and competitors in order to formulate proactive pricing strategies. The second part focuses on price promotions, price bundling, price discrimination, versioning, nonlinear pricing, pricing through a distribution channel, dynamic pricing, etc.

  MKTG2880001 ( Syllabus )

• MKTG7540 - Pricing Policy

  The course provides a systematic presentation of the factors to be considered when setting price, and shows how pricing alternatives are developed. Analytical methods are developed and new approaches are explored for solving pricing decisions.

  MKTG7540002 ( Syllabus )

  MKTG7540402 ( Syllabus )

• MKTG9550 - Econ/or Models In Mktg B

  This is a continuation of MKTG 954. This doctoral seminar reviews analytical models relevant to improving various aspects of marketing decisions such as new product launch, product line design, pricing strategy, advertising decisions, sales force organization and compensation, distribution channel design and promotion decisions. The primary focus will be on analytical models. The seminar will introduce the students to various types of analytical models used in research in marketing, including game theory models for competitive analysis, agency theory models for improving organization design and incentives within organizations, and optimization methods to improve decision making and resource allocation. The course will enable students to become familiar with applications of these techniques in the marketing literature and prepare the students to apply these and other analytical approaches to research problems that are of interest to the students.

  MKTG9550302 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

• MKTG2540 - Pricing Policy

  The pricing decision process including economic, marketing, and behavioral phenomena which constitute the environment for pricing decisions and the information and analytic tools useful to the decision maker.

• MKTG2880 - Pricing Strategies

  This course is designed to equip students with the concepts, techniques, and latest thinking on pricing issues, with an emphasis on ways in which to help a firm improve its pricing. The orientation of the course is about practice of pricing, not theory. We will focus on how firms can improve profitability through pricing, look at how firms set their prices and how to improve current practices to increase profitability. The first part of the course focuses on how to analyze costs, customers, and competitors in order to formulate proactive pricing strategies. The second part focuses on price promotions, price bundling, price discrimination, versioning, nonlinear pricing, pricing through a distribution channel, dynamic pricing, etc.

• MKTG3990 - Independent Study

• MKTG7540 - Pricing Policy

  The course provides a systematic presentation of the factors to be considered when setting price, and shows how pricing alternatives are developed. Analytical methods are developed and new approaches are explored for solving pricing decisions.

• MKTG8990 - Independent Study

  A student contemplating an independent study project must first find a faculty member who agrees to supervise and approve the student's written proposal as an independent study (MKTG 899). If a student wishes the proposed work to be used to meet the ASP requirement, he/she should then submit the approved proposal to the MBA adviser who will determine if it is an appropriate substitute. Such substitutions will only be approved prior to the beginning of the semester.

• MKTG9550 - Econ/Or Models in Mktg B

  This is a continuation of MKTG 954. This doctoral seminar reviews analytical models relevant to improving various aspects of marketing decisions such as new product launch, product line design, pricing strategy, advertising decisions, sales force organization and compensation, distribution channel design and promotion decisions. The primary focus will be on analytical models. The seminar will introduce the students to various types of analytical models used in research in marketing, including game theory models for competitive analysis, agency theory models for improving organization design and incentives within organizations, and optimization methods to improve decision making and resource allocation. The course will enable students to become familiar with applications of these techniques in the marketing literature and prepare the students to apply these and other analytical approaches to research problems that are of interest to the students.

• MKTG9950 - Dissertation

  Dissertation

• WH2160 - Global Modular Course

  TBD

• Wharton MBA Teaching Awards, 2023
• Wharton MBA Teaching Awards, 2022
• Finalist for the Long Term Impact Award, the INFORMS Society for Marketing Science., 2011
• Finalist for the O’Dell Award for the Most Impactful JMR Paper Five Years Later, 2007
• Wharton EMBA Electives Teaching Award., 2003
• John Little Award for the Best Paper in Marketing Science, 2001
• Frank Bass Award for the Best Dissertation Paper, 2001
• Eugene Lang Research Fellowship, Columbia University, 2000
• Eugene Lang Research Fellowship, Columbia University, 1999
• Rackham Fellowship, University of Michigan, 1992
• Maas Research Fellowship, University of Michigan, 1990
• Pensfield Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 1987
• The Newcomen Award for Best Essay in History of Technology, 1987
• Mellon Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 1986
• Dean’s Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, 1985

• How Lenovo Is Leveraging the Brand from East to West, Knowledge@Wharton - 09/21/2005

Knowledge at Wharton

• Free Versus Fair Trade in a Changing Global Economy, Knowledge at Wharton - 12/17/2025
• Dynamic Discounting: How to Do Dynamic Pricing Right, Knowledge at Wharton - 9/30/2025
• The Luxury of Counterfeits | John Zhang, Knowledge at Wharton - 9/16/2025
• In the Wake of Tariffs, Can Dynamic Pricing Work?, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/5/2025
• Understanding Dynamic Pricing in Today’s Inflationary Climate, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/23/2025
• ‘Crypto Creep’: A New Report Shows Rising Consumer Confidence, Knowledge at Wharton - 5/13/2025
• Tracking Cryptocurrency Trends in Markets and Politics, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/15/2025
• Confidence in Cryptocurrency | David Reibstein and John Zhang (Part 2), Knowledge at Wharton - 1/14/2025
• Confidence in Cryptocurrency | David Reibstein and John Zhang (Part 1), Knowledge at Wharton - 1/7/2025
• Crypto Politics: Liberals’ and Conservatives’ Confidence in Cryptocurrencies, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/5/2024

Wharton Stories

• Penn Wharton China Summit Brings Industry Leaders from China to Campus, Wharton Stories - 04/13/2018
• MBA Students Head to Beijing for an Immersive Learning Experience on Marketing to the Chinese Consumer, Wharton Stories - 04/13/2018
• 2017: The Penn Wharton China Center Year in Review, Wharton Stories - 01/29/2018
• How This Schwarzman Scholar Founded America’s Largest Student-Organized Summit on China, Wharton Stories - 01/19/2018