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2021/2022  BA-BSOCO1841U  Consumer Culture and Marketing

English Title
Consumer Culture and Marketing

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Business Administration and Sociology
Course coordinator
  • Stefan Schwarzkopf - Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy (MPP)
Main academic disciplines
  • Customer behaviour
  • Marketing
  • Sociology
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 02-07-2021

Relevant links
Learning objectives
Having successfully completed the course, students should be able to:
  • demonstrate firm knowledge of marketing management processes, in particular the Marketing Mix (4 Ps) --- segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) --- consumer behaviour models --- the marketing communications mix --- product management and branding --- pricing --- channel marketing and retail concepts --- competitive strategies --- basic elements of qualitative consumer research methods
  • discuss some limitations of the managerial view of marketing processes
  • explain how consumer culture theory (CCT) challenges managerial views of consumer behaviour
  • apply concepts from social theory presented in the course to examine the relationship between consumers, markets, products and cultural intermediaries
  • explain and exemplify how marketing theories perform markets, especially in relation to the role of equipment, objects and calculative practices in consumer marketing
Examination
Consumer Culture and Marketing:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring
  • USB key for uploading of notes, books and compendiums in a non-executable format (no applications, application fragments, IT tools etc.)
  • In Paper format: Books (including translation dictionaries), compendiums and notes
The student will have access to
  • Access to Canvas
  • basic IT application package
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Description of the exam procedure

The exam is based on two essay-type questions; both questions need to be answered.

 
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Course Content and Aims

This course will introduce undergraduate students to the principles of marketing management, socio-theoretical perspectives on the consumption process, and to how marketing management might respond to the challenges of this process.

 

The course starts with a block of meetings that will show how managerial marketing strategy identifies and attempts to shape consumer attitudes and behaviours in order to sell goods and services.

A key aspect of the course will be the discussion of various sociological and cultural approaches to the understanding of consumer markets, consumer behaviour and the active role of consumers in co-creating contemporary markets, which is what marketing management needs to take into consideration.

 

In the following block, the managerial views will thus be juxtaposed with socio-theoretical approaches to consumption, namely consumer culture theory (CCT), critical theory and consumers as active co-creators of value, Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical approach to taste and symbolic consumption, and approaches associated with the Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) tradition that interprets markets as performed by theory and by agencements of human and non-human actors.

 

The final block introduces basic principles of qualitative consumer research as a key managerial method that helps develop responses to changes in society and culture. In this block, students will leave the classroom and conduct a field trip to observe a daily consumption practice in situ. This exercise is designed to help students put into practice the theoretical insights gained during the previous meetings, and to develop alternative concepts of responsible marketing management. After the field observation, students will meet for an additional studio-based workshop to discuss their insights, interpretations, and proposals.

 
Description of the teaching methods
The course runs over 10 weeks and consists of 3 thematic blocks. These cover

(1) marketing management,
(2) the sociology of markets and consumption, and
(3) principles of qualitative consumer research.

Each block will consist of several sessions, and each session will be structured as a 90-mins meeting that includes lectures, group work, and feedback. The lectures introduce and position the week’s core theoretical concepts in marketing management and/or major thinkers in a particular sociological tradition.

The group exercises will typically introduce a case study or problem situation that students will be asked to work on in groups. Students will be asked to present and discuss their answers, findings and choice of approach.
Feedback during the teaching period
Throughout the course, especially at the end of lectures, students will have the chance to test their knowledge in the form of mini-quizzes and similar exercises.

Students should use these exercises to talk about what they have learned in class. At the end of Block 1, students will be signed up into groups of 5-6 students and asked to compete in a marketing simulation, which will be used to provide feedback on their knowledge and skills in marketing management.
After Block 2 of the Seminar Topics, students will be invited to sign up as groups and take part in a writing exercise in the form of a ‘mock exam’, for which feedback will be given.
Student workload
Lectures and workshops 43 hours
Exam 4 hours
Readings and Preparation of classes 129 hours
Preparation of Exam 30 hours
Expected literature

Philip Kotler et al., Principles of Marketing. 8th European Edition. Harlow: Pearson.

 

Additional texts will be made available online.
Last updated on 02-07-2021