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2026/2027  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 for Markets & Innovation
Programme MSc in Economics and Business Administration - Sales Management (SAM)
Course coordinator
  • Georgios Halkias - Department of Marketing (Marketing)
Main academic disciplines
  • Consumer behaviour
  • Communication
  • Marketing
Teaching methods
  • Online teaching
Last updated on 29-01-2026

Relevant links
Learning objectives
This course discusses key issues and topics related to social media, such as users' engagement, content effects and virality, exploring social media and the "self," influencer marketing, and competitive branding strategies in social media.
  • 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 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 practical implications for companies, consumers, and society at large.
Course prerequisites
Basic knowledge of marketing, consumer behavior, and research methods (qualitative and/or quantitative) is required.
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. Same specifications as the ordinary exam hold true. (after formal request, and if appropriate, the course instructor may allow a revision of the ordinary exam).
Description of the exam procedure

The final exam consists of an empirical project assignment (up to 15 pages) that follows either a qualitative or a quantitative approach and utilizes either primary or existing, secondary data (find more details below).

 

Students are allowed to use AI tools to enhance their learning processes. However, it is essential that the final product represents their own original thought and effort. Students must explicitly indicate any instances where AI tools were employed and provide a detailed description of their role within the assignment.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

This course provides expert knowledge about how individuals and brands engage with social media and analyzes key topics related to developing effective social media strategies.

 

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 this question, and then execute a small-scale 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 through several activities as the course evolves. Thus, the course can be considered a resource hub that enables students to work in the domain of social media with a case and topic of their own interest in an informed and organized way. The course is self-paced, allowing student to follow their own timeline. However, it

offers several structured activities and tasks that students can voluntarily take to support the development of their assignments. These activities are not mandatory.

 

Students must use theories and concepts from the reading list as a starting point and may extend beyond the curriculum, 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 and, therefore, it primarily relies on most recent, cutting-edge research published in leading scientific business 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 an online course that runs over 8 weeks. All live lectures will be recorded and made available for later use.

While fully self-paced, the proposed learning journey requires students to begin exploring potential assignment topics within the first few weeks and then gradually refine their problem delimitation to develop and execute their assignment project. The course provides students with multiple supporting resources throughout this journey, including (a) articles, (b) video lectures (live and recorded), (c) podcasts, (d) lecture slides, (e) methodological tutorials and resources for qualitative and quantitative studies, (f) guest lectures, and other material related to 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 both peer and expert feedback (either written or oral) throughout the 8 course weeks. Feedback and interaction are also enabled through the discussion forum, several live Q&A sessions, and one-on-one feedback activities with the instructor.
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 (detailed list will be provided in class):

 

  • Berger, J., & Milkman, KL (2012). What Makes Online Content Viral? Journal of Marketing Research , 49(2), 192–205.

 

  • Hartmann, J., Heitmann, M., Schamp, C., & Netzer, O. (2021). The Power of Brand Selfies. Journal of Marketing Research ,  58 (6), 1159-1177.

 

  • 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.

 

  • Berendt, J., Uhrich, S., Borah, A., & Kilduff, G. (2024). The Rivalry Reference Effect: Referencing rival (vs. nonrival) competitors in public brand messages increases consumer engagement. Journal of Marketing Research, 61(6), 1058–1078.

 

  • 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.

 

  • Oba, D., Howe, H. S., & Fitzsimons, G. J. (2025). Brand teasing: how brands build strongrelationships by making fun of their consumers. Journal of Consumer Research, 52(1), 70-92.

 

  • Duffek, B., Eisingerich, A. B., Merlo, O., & Lee, G. (2025). Authenticity in Influencer Marketing: How can influencers and brands work together to build and maintain influencer authenticity? Journal of Marketing, 89(5), 21-46.

 

  • 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.

 

  • Klostermann, J., Plumeyer, A., Böger, D., & Decker, R. (2018). Extracting brand information from social networks: Integrating image, text, and social tagging data. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 35(4), 538-556.
Last updated on 29-01-2026