Marketing (Social Marketing) MSc (PGCert PGDip)

How this course is delivered

COVID-19 has changed everything. We’ve made some changes to the way our courses are taught to keep everyone safe and that will help you stay connected and involved in university life.

From the start of term in September, you’ll learn through a blend of on-campus and digitally enabled remote learning that will provide lots of opportunities to interact and engage. Together with carefully managed access to libraries, labs, workshops and studios this means your studies are as collaborative, practical and flexible as possible.

Course structure

The course is organised into three-hour blocks of teaching and seminar activities, which are based on specialist reading, research and case studies. Modules are assessed through essays, reports, group work, presentations and examinations.

All of our Marketing MSc courses share six core modules. This specialist route includes one subject-specific module (Social Marketing), but you can also select from a range of option modules which enable you to tailor the course to your interests and career aspirations.

In the final phase of the course, you will complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a marketing topic of your choice, where you will make recommendations for real-life marketing practice. Throughout your dissertation, you will receive support from a supervisor who will help to guide you in your research.

Syllabus

All students will study seven core modules. You will also select one option module, which will allow you to specialise in an additional strand of marketing.

Modules

• Moving to Masters
• Critical Developments in Marketing Theory and Practice
• Marketing Planning and Strategy
• Marketing Research I: quantitative methods
• Marketing Research II: qualitative methods
• Social Marketing
• Dissertation

Options
One from:

• International Marketing
• Branding and Communications
• Behavioural Economics
• Digital Marketing
• New Product Development

Modules in focus

Social Marketing

Social marketing concerns the use of marketing techniques to improve individual or societal wellbeing, for example promoting improved diets, healthier lifestyles, road safety and environmental responsibility. This module aims to provide students with a greater understanding of the application of marketing concepts and techniques to the promotion of behavioural change for the benefit of individuals and society.

Contents:

• Marketing mix applied to social marketing issues and problems
• Segmentation and targeting in the context of social marketing
• Qualitative research techniques to develop consumer insight
• Behavioural change models
• Social marketing campaigns and marketing communications
• Social marketing and health promotion
• Marketing to promote improved nutrition and healthy eating
• Exercise and lifestyle change
• Anti-smoking/alcohol/drugs campaigns
• The role of social marketing in climate change, recycling and the environment
• Ethical and political issues in social marketing.

Behavioural Economics

Behavioural economics is an emerging subfield of economics that incorporates insights from psychology and other social sciences into economics. It considers how the processes underlying decision-making influence our actual decisions – rather than assuming away these processes to arrive at a flawed model of rational decision-making. Behavioural economics is increasingly being used to inform practice in both the public and private sectors – it is now being applied to commercial, policy and behavioural challenges. This module sets out the key elements and gives students the opportunity to apply behavioural economics to decision making, both their own and their clients.

The module covers core concepts and techniques associated with behavioural economics, as well as considering how these theoretical constructs are being applied in the public and private sectors. Content includes:

• Overview; homo economicus or homo sapiens? Rational economics and irrational behaviour.
• Judgement, heuristics and bias; bounded rationality; bounded self interest; bounded willpower; risk.
• Now or later? Inter-temporal choice and hyperbolic discounts.
• Too much information, too many choices: the curse of knowledge.
• Boom, bust and bubbles: From the Joint Stock Company via the Wall Street Crash to the Credit Crunch; bulls and bears, greed and fear; irrational exuberance vs manic depression; herds and heuristics: are markets efficient or emotional?
• Altruism and fairness: reciprocity, punishment and just desserts.
• Implications for the enterprise: sophistication, naivety and disciplined consumers; behavioural strategy.
• Implications for public policy (public health, environment and climate change, transport): libertarian paternalism; nudges; framing; choice architecture; choice editing; defaults; heuristics.
• Controversies: validity – lab rats and empirical actors; using data.

International study exchange 

Through our partnership with MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business you have the opportunity to gain an international perspective to your studies. On our study exchange programme you would join MIP’s International Master in Multichannel Marketing Management course, which is taught in English.

You will be able to choose from a range of modules, including Design & Marketing: the Italian way, in different sectors including for example design, fashion and furniture, automotive, wine and sports marketing.

Placement year 

To further increase your employability and international experience we offer full-time students starting in September the opportunity to take a placement year. This means that your course will take two years, but you’ll be graduating with work experience.

The year on placement in a role related to your course will allow you to put all that you have learned on your masters into practice, enhancing your career opportunities and giving you practical experience in your area of expertise.

During your placement you will also complete a business project. This project is assessed as part of your masters and, depending on the topic that is agreed between you and your employer, could also provide a valuable piece of insight for your placement employer.

Our placement partners include BMW, Bosch, Disney, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HSBC, IBM, Ipsos Mori, L’Oréal, Nike, Metropolitan Police and The Pensions Regulator.

Work placements are optional, and you are responsible for arranging your placement with support from our dedicated Placements and Employability team.

We are now offering a two-year international study visa route to support applications for this course.

Find out more about how we can support you finding a placement.

Staff profiles

Teaching excellence

Most of our tutors worked in industry before joining the university and continue to consult for corporate firms, which allows them to integrate the latest commercial developments into our courses. They are also active researchers at the forefront of marketing theory.

Industry representatives advise on the content and development of our courses and contribute to teaching as guest lecturers. Their talks help to bring classroom theory to life by sharing real-world case studies, results and pitfalls.

You will learn transferable skills in research, presentations, group work and conflict resolution, all of which are highly sought after in today's highly competitive job market.

Class sizes are small enough for there to be a personal and friendly atmosphere where staff know students by name and can closely monitor their progress.

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Course fees

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

Our Marketing MSc courses, full-time and part-time, are eligible for the government’s postgraduate master’s loan scheme. 

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included, while studying a course in Brighton Business School are listed here.

• Students who choose to take an optional placement will have travel and living expenses. The cost of this depends on where and how long your placement is.
• Some courses include optional field trips for which the school pays – you may incur minimal costs such as for food and drink and should budget up to £15.
• You will be required to buy textbooks and should budget up to £150.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships, as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2020–21.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Local area

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Maps