| Learning objectives |
On completion of this course, students will be
able to:
- understand the role of AI in a marketing context
- design the structure for an effective implementation of AI in
marketing
- understand the value of AI in personalizing the consumer
experience and journey
- effectively incorporate AI into marketing strategy (including
in product, price, communication, and sales marketing)
- critically evaluate the benefits and risks of AI for companies
and for consumers
|
| Course prerequisites |
| None |
| Examination |
|
Artificial
Intelligence for Marketing: Practical Applications and Use
Cases:
|
| 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 |
Written assignment |
| Release of assignment |
The Assignment is released in Digital Exam (DE)
at exam start |
| Duration |
48 hours to prepare |
| 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
|
Description of the exam
procedure
Students have 48 hours at home to answer a range of
course-relevant questions, some of which will be in short essay
form. Examples of exam questions will be shared with the students
during the exam preparation class.
The use of AI is permitted.
|
|
| Course content, structure and pedagogical
approach |
|
What is the main purpose of this course?
This course is designed to provide undergraduate students with
basic understanding how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing
the marketing environment and how it can be applied in various
marketing contexts. The main purpose of the course is to learn from
best-practice use cases (e.g., Amazon, BMW, Coca Cola, Netflix,
Starbucks) in order to develop and implement an AI-based strategy
in a firm. This course is not about
programming AI tools or statistical issues behind AI; the course
takes a more practical approach and looks at how and where AI can
be applied in today's marketing.
Why is this course relevant?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way how businesses
interact with consumers and vice versa. According to an Accenture
global survey among 1500 C-suite executives from companies across
several industries, 84% of executives believe they will not achieve
their growth objectives without scaling AI in their organization.
Importantly, a large majority of the surveyed executives report
that they struggle with how to scale it. Moreover, a McKinsey
analysis of more than 400 actual use cases shows that marketing is
the functional area in an organization where AI contributes the
greatest value. This is in line with the CMO (Chief Marketing
Officer) Barometer 2026 showing that AI is the key topic in
today's marketing.
Given the growing importance of AI in business and especially
for marketing activities, it seems fundamental to understand how
and where AI can be applied in the field of marketing to provide
substantial benefits for companies (and consumers) and to stay
competitive in the market. This course is designed to provide such
understanding and help students to get an overview on how AI can be
effectively used and applied in today's marketing contexts.
What topics will be discussed in this
course?
The course introduces the students to the history and meaning of
AI, to different types of AI, how it evolved in marketing, what
impact it has on today's marketing strategy to create value for
both organizations and consumers, and what role data play for an
effective AI implementation. The course discusses both strategic
and operational elements of AI in marketing. For example, the
followiong topics will be covered:
- Strategic elements of AI
- AI and marketing research (e.g., synthetic respondents)
- AI and market segmentation
- AI and marketing automation (e.g., standardization,
personalization)
- Operational elements of AI
- AI in product management (e.g., improving fit of product
offering and consumer preferences)
- AI in price management (e.g., dynamic pricing)
- AI in communication management (e.g., content generation,
automated social media campaigns, virtual and AI influencers,
generative engine optimization)
- AI in sales management (e.g., sales forecasts)
- AI in customer relationships (e.g., chatbots for customer
support)
- Psychological elements of AI (e.g., benefits and costs for
consumers)
- Ethical, environmental, and privacy issues of
AI
|
| 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
- New theory
- Teacher’s own research
- Methodology
Research-like activities
- Development of research questions
- Data collection
- Analysis
- Discussion, critical reflection, modelling
- Activities that contribute to new or existing research
projects
|
| Description of the teaching methods |
| This course is delivered in an online learning
format, integrating various lectures, materials, activities (e.g.,
online discussions), and guest talks. The class is designed to be
highly interactive with a corresponding expectation that students
engage in these interactions. |
| Feedback during the teaching period |
| Several feedback activities are included to
increase the learning experience. For example, during a class,
there will be several breakout sessions to give students the
opportunity to debate cases and business examples of AI in
marketing. Groups will then have the option to voluntarily present
their findings in class and receive feedback either directly or
collectively to allow students to learn from the discussion.
Moreover, students will be able to perform learning check
activities to reflect on the topics discussed throughout the
course. |
| Student workload |
| Class teaching |
38 hours |
| Readings and class preparation |
120 hours |
| Exam and preparation |
48 hours |
|
| Expected literature |
|
Selected readings:
- Arora, Chakraborty, and Nishimura (2025): AI–Human Hybrids for
Marketing Research: Leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) as
Collaborators, Journal of Marketing, 89 (2), 43-70.
- Bertini and Koenigsberg (2024): Dynamic Pricing Doesn’t Have to
Alienate Your Customers, Harvard Business Review, Digital:
https://hbr.org/2024/05/dynamic-pricing-doesnt-have-to-alienate-your-customers?ab=HP-hero-for-you-text-1
- Cillo and Rubera (2025): Generative AI in Innovation and
Marketing Processes: A Roadmap of Research Opportunities,
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 53, 684–70.
- Dawar and Bendle (2018), Marketing in the Age of Alexa,
Harvard Business Review, 96, 3, 80-86.
- de Freitas, Agarwal, Schmitt, and Haslam (2023): Psychological
Factors Underlying Attitudes towards AI Tools, Nature Human
Behaviour, 7, 1845-1854.
- de Freitas (2025): Don't Let an AI Failure Harm Your Brand,
Harvard Business Review, July/August 2025, 126-133.
- Gonzalez, Habel, and Hunter (2026): AI Agents, Agentic AI, and
the Future of Sales, Journal of Business Research, 202,
115799.
- Grewal, Satornino, Davenport, and Guha (2025): How Generative
AI Is Shaping the Future of Marketing, Journal of the
Academy of Marketing Science, 53, 702-722.
- Hermann and Puntoni (2024): Artificial Intelligence and
Consumer Behavior: From Predictive to Generative AI, Journal of
Business Research, 180, 114720.
- Huang and Rust (2021): A Strategic Framework for Artificial
Intelligence in Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing
Science, 49, 30-50.
- Hwang, Zhang, Liu, and Srinivasan (2024): Should Your Brand
Hire a Virtual Influencer?, Harvard Business Review.
- Korst, Puntoni, and Toubia (2025): How GenAI is Transforming
Market Research, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2025,
91-99.
- Kozinets and Gretzel (2021): Commentary: Artificial
Intelligence: The Marketer’s Dilemma, Journal of
Marketing, 85 (1), 156-159.
- Li, Lai, and Wang (in press): From Tools to Agents:
Meta-Analytic Insights into Human Acceptance of AI, Journal of
Marketing.
- Palumbo and Edelman (2023): What Smart Companies Know About
Integrating AI, Harvard Business Review, 101 (4),
116-125.
- Sinha, Shastri, and Lorimer (2024): Can AI Assistants Add Value
to Your Sales Team?, Harvard Business Review:
https://hbr.org/2024/09/can-ai-assistants-add-value-to-your-sales-team
Specific reading instructions will be given at the beginning of
and throughout the course on Canvas.
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