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2025/2026  KAN-CSAAV1001U  Social Media Marketing (online course)

English Title
Social Media Marketing (online course)

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Second Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 200
Study board
Study Board of Markets & Innovation
Course coordinator
  • Georgios Halkias - Department of Marketing (Marketing)
Main academic disciplines
  • Communication
  • Marketing
Teaching methods
  • Online teaching
Last updated on 11-02-2025

Relevant links
Learning objectives
This course discusses key issues and topics related to social media marketing, such as user’s motivation to engage on social media, content effects and virality, social media and the "self," influencer marketing, crowdsourcing, and branding in social networks.
  • Formulate, delimit, and analyze insightful research questions within the area of social media marketing, substantiating their relevance.
  • Select, combine, and apply theories from the course curriculum to address relevant research questions and hypotheses, as outlined in the exam project.
  • Develop research projects (either qualitative or quantitative) to empirically explore research questions and/or test hypotheses. The use of secondary data analysis is also allowed and highly encouraged.
  • Identify and critically reflect on the pros and cons regarding the theoretical and methodological approaches followed in the exam project.
  • Interpret research-based results and discuss their theoretical and policy-making implications for companies, consumers, and society at large.
Course prerequisites
Basic knowledge of marketing, consumer behavior, and research methods (qualitative and/or quantitative) is a prerequisite.
Examination
Social Media Marketing:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 15 pages
Assignment type Project
Release of assignment An assigned subject is released in class
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Winter
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
* If a student fails the ordinary exam, they have to hand in a new project for the re-take exam. (in some cases, the course instructor may allow a revision of the ordinary exam)
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

This course provides expert knowledge about why and how individuals engage with products and brands on social media and analyzes key topics related to branding and marketing activities in the realm of social media.

 

Based on this knowledge, students develop a case-specific research question, integrate it into a wider conceptual framework, decide what research approach is most appropriate to empirically investigate the question, and then execute a research project (by collecting and analyzing relevant data) to derive conclusions and managerial implications. The final output is an assignment of max. 15 pages. Essentially, working towards the assignment is the key learning process of the course.

 

In contrast to other courses, where the assignment is carried out at the end, in SMM the assignment is conceptualized from the very beginning and is being developed and refined as the course evolves. Thus, the course can be considered a resource hub that enables students to work in the domain of social media marketing with a case and topic of their own interest.

 

Students must use the theories and concepts from the mandatory readings as a starting point and may extend beyond the curicillum, according to the case at hand. The process of working with your own research data provides hands-on experience of current, real-life challenges. It is mandatory that the final assignment be based on empirical work (qualitative or quantitative) that uses either primary or secondary data.

 

The course is research-based; therefore, the material provided via slides, video tutorials, lectures (pre-recorded and live recordings), and so on is primarily based on relevant articles published in leading scientific marketing journals.


 
Research-based teaching
CBS’ programmes and teaching are research-based. The following types of research-based knowledge and research-like activities are included in this course:
Research-based knowledge
  • Classic and basic theory
  • Methodology
  • Models
Research-like activities
  • Development of research questions
  • Data collection
  • Analysis
  • Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
  • Peer review including Peer-to-peer
  • Students conduct independent research-like activities under supervision
Description of the teaching methods
This is a fully online course that runs over 8 weeks. As such, it is very important that students actively engage from day one. The ideal learning journey requires students to start searching for an exam assignment topic in the first few weeks, then gradually work on the problem delimitation to develop and execute a research project. The course provides students with multiple supporting resources throughout this journey, including (a) articles, (b) video lectures (live and recorded) on relevant topics, (c) lecture slides, (d) methodological resources for qualitative and quantitative studies, (e) guest lectures, and other videos on social media applications in real market contexts.
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback is an integral component of the course. Students have the opportunity to engage in several structured activities to receive peer and expert feedback (either written or oral) throughout the 8 course weeks. Feedback and interaction may also be realized through the discussion forum, several live Q&A sessions, or in a one-to-one fashion, when applicable. After the end of the 8-week course period, no further content-based feedback can be given.
Student workload
Immersion into course topics and preparation of your assignment 126 hours
Teaching in terms of course topic feedback on assignment 30 hours
Exam in terms of the final writing of the assignment 50 hours
Expected literature

 

Selected articles:

  • Wan-Hsiu ST & Linjuan RM (2013). Motivations and Antecedents of Consumer Engagement with Brand Pages on Social Networking Sites, Journal of Interactive Advertising , 13(2), 76-87.
  • Mochon, D., Johnson, K., Schwartz, J., & Ariely, D. (2017). What Are Likes Worth? A Facebook Page Field Experiment. Journal of Marketing Research , 54(2), 306–317.
  • Berger, J., & Milkman, KL (2012). What Makes Online Content Viral? Journal of Marketing Research , 49(2), 192–205.
  • Shehu, E., Bijmolt, T. & Clement, M. (2016). Effects of Likeability Dynamics on Consumers' Intention to Share Online Video Advertisements, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 35(August), 27-43.
  • Gilly, H. & Schau, M. (2003). We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space. Journal of Consumer Research , 30(3), 385-404
  • Belk , R. (2013). Extended Self in a Digital World, Journal of Consumer Research , 40(3), 477-500.
  • Grewal, L., Stephen, A. & Verrochi Coleman N. (2019). When Posting About Products on Social Media Backfires: The Negative Effects of Consumer Identity Signaling on Product Interest, Journal of Marketing Research , 56(2) 197-210.
  • Kozinets et al., (2010). Networked Narratives: Understanding Word-of-Mouth Marketing in Online communities, Journal of Marketing , 74(2), 71-89.
  • Hughes, C., Swaminathan, V. & Brooks, G. (2019). Driving Brand Engagement through Online Social Influencers: An Empirical Investigation of Sponsored Blogging Campaigns, Journal of Marketing , 83(5), 78-96.
  • Li, Y. and Xie, Y. (2020). Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? An Empirical Study of Image Content and Social Media Engagement, Journal of Marketing Research , 57(1), 1-19.
  • Leslie, J. Emrich, O., Gupta, S., & Norton, M. (2017). Does "Liking" Lead to Loving? The Impact of Joining a Brand's Social Network on Marketing Outcomes, Journal of Marketing Research, 54(1), 144-155.
    • Klostermann et al. (2018): Extracting Brand Information from Social Networks: Integrating Image, Text, and Social Tagging Data, International Journal of Research in Marketing 35, 538–556.
  • Hartmann, J., Heitmann, M., Schamp, C., & Netzer, O. (2021). The power of brand selfies. Journal of Marketing Research, 58(6), 1159-1177.
Last updated on 11-02-2025