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2024/2025  BA-BKOMV6004U  Naming & Framing: Mastering the Power of Words

English Title
Naming & Framing: Mastering the Power of Words

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Autumn
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 50
Study board
Study Board for BSc/MSc in Business Administration and Organizational Communication, BSc
Course coordinator
  • Viktor Smith - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation
  • Communication
  • Marketing
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 17-01-2024

Relevant links
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Formulate a set of clear research questions and objectives within the framework of the Live Case worked on in class.
  • Apply key theoretical concepts and empirical methods presented during the course to analyzing central strategic and operational aspects of the case.
  • Propose and motivate operational solutions to meeting the naming & framing challenge identified and dealt with within the framework of the Live Case.
Course prerequisites
Although the teaching language is English, the course may also address naming & framing challenges that involve other languages and cultures, including the native languages and cultural backgrounds of participating exchange students.
Examination
Naming & Framing: Mastering the Power of Words:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
The written assignment must be max. 10 pages, excluding appendices.
Assignment type Written assignment
Release of assignment Subject chosen by students themselves, see guidelines if any
Duration 2 weeks to prepare
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Autumn
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The retake is based on the same Live Case as the ordinary exam. If a student has been unable to participate in the group work, the student can work on the Live Case individually and use that work as a basis for the final exam paper.
Description of the exam procedure

On the basis of their work with a Live Case in class, including group presentation of a proposal for a naming & framing solution to an external client (see below for further details), the students will write their final individual exam papers. The papers should further motivate and explain the theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations behind the concrete naming & framing proposal pitched to the client and suggest possible improvements based on received in-class feedback. The home assignment can be written in English or Danish at the student’s own choice. 

 

During the final part of the teaching period, the outcome of the Live Case work will first be presented in the shape of a 10-15 min group presentations (pitches) in class for feedback from the external client and in-class discussion. On that background, the group members will write and hand in their individual exam papers, drawing on the outcome of the collective work (which can be referred to and included in the papers of all group members) while also further elaborating on it individually. Before the final sessiion, each student will have the opportunity to hand in a short overview/synopsis of the planned individual paper (max. 1 standard page) for individual feedback.

 

The final exam paper must account for the theoretical frameworks and the empirical methods on the basis of which the Live Case was addressed and, on that background, explain and motivate the proposed course of action for dealing with the naming & framing challenge at hand. This includes discussing the implications and limitations of the choices made. The written product must be handed in on a set date following the last lecture.

 

If, for compelling reasons, a student has been unable to participate in the group work, the student can work on the Live Case individually and use that work as a basis for the final paper.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

Picking or creating the right words for something is crucial to how people will understand that 'something' and whether they will love it or hate it, believe it or reject it, fear it or desire it… or buy it. Dealing systematically with these matters is a vital part of the job in a variety of fields that span from marketing, branding, and advertising, through PR and political communication, to national and cultural identity building, public health promotion, and climate-change action.

 

In recent years, the phrase naming & framing has become increasingly used for referring to the totality of communicative and psychological mechanisms in play here. The present course offers an integrated introduction to naming & framing processes as they unfold in the domains mentioned, and in everyday life. An emphasis is put on bridging between complementary theoretical perspectives and, not least, between theory and practice.

 

The overarching rationale is that the power of words does not come down to one, but to four different, but tightly interwoven enterprises:

 

  1. Giving things names (otherwise, no one will care).
  2. Deciding on what name to give them (green tax works better than fuel tax).
  3. Further shaping people’s understanding of these names through surrounding verbal and non-verbal cues (Apple® just means ‘apple’, but has been framed to success by other words, images, and immediate consumer experiences).
  4. Selecting larger sets of names and supporting non-vebal cues for presenting a wider subject in a particular light (a coup against a government is bad, a rebellion against a regime is good – but the words may well refer to the same events).

 

The course combines general insights on persuasive and marketing communication with recent experimental findings on people’s real-time decoding of innovative single words (product and brand names, political buzzwords, etc. but also plain words) and whole “cocktails” of words, texts, colours, pictures, films, actions etc. that are served across a variety of platforms to promote a variety communicative agendas and goals. The course furthermore addresses psychological mechanisms such as stereotype thinking, mental shortcuts and biases, and cost/benefit tradeoffs in information processing that make us receptive to persuasive framing effects. Throughout, word-based framing is seen as both depending on and contributing to framing effects achieved through non-verbal communi­cative means (pictures, colours, symbols, shapes, tastes, etc.).

 

In addition to the theoretical curriculum, the participants will be introduced to selected methodological principles and tools suited for pinpointing the essence of concrete naming & framing challenges and for developing and pre-testing possible solutions to them. There will also be opportunities to try some of them out hands-on on a smaller scale. The hands-on aspects of working with naming & framing will be centred around a Live Case, as further described below. This work will also serve as a framing for the final exam.
Description of the teaching methods
Class lectures will be combined with practical exercises that will reinforce the participant’s analytical skills and capability to identify and come up with creative and effective solutions to concrete naming and framing challenges.

Throughout the course, the students will be working on a Live Case developed in collaboration with an external company, organization, or other real-life partner. The students will form their own virtual communication ‘agencies’ and develop and alternative (competing) proposals for a persuasive communication effort involving naming & framing and pitch them to the external client. There will be room for different “takes” on the overall communicative challenges addressed that emphasize different aspects of and approaches to naming & framing. The work with the Live Case will subsequently serve as a basis for the final individual exam papers.
Feedback during the teaching period
Continuous feedback will be given in the shape of oral or written comments on group presentations and exercises, the Live Case pitches, the pre-exam paper (synopsis), and a multiple-choice test.
Student workload
Lectures and exercises 38 hours
Preparation and exam 170 hours
Total 208 hours
Expected literature

 

Smith, V. (2021). Naming and Framing: Understanding the Power of Words Across Disciplines, Domains, and Modalities. Routledge Studies in Multimodality. New York: Taylor & Francis

 

Selected chapters from:

  • Fairhurst, G. T. (2011). The Power of Framing: Creating the Language of Leadership. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
  • O'Keefe, D. J. (2015). Persuasion: Theory and Research. Saage Publishing.
  • Fill, C., & Turnbull, S. (2019). Marketing Communications. 8th Edition. London: Pearson.
  • Riezebos, R. (2003). Brand. Management: A. Theoretical and Practical Approach. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
  • Aitchison, J. (2012). Words in the Mind. An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. 4th Edition. Oxford: Blackwell

 

The curriculum will furthermore include journal articles, reports, original case material, online resources, etc. accessible online or made available via the CBS Canvas portal or the CBS Library.
Last updated on 17-01-2024