Marketing and Persuasive Communication

COURSE OBJECTIVE
After completion of this course, students are able to:
• reproduce and interpret the key theories of persuasive and marketing communication, such as theories about attitude formation, message
processing, group influence, social influence, implicit behaviour, branding, positioning, and advertising;
• recognise persuasive elements in real-world (marketing) messages, and to identify these elements in theoretical terms;
• explain how methods and design of experimental research are applied in order to to study effects of persuasive communication.

COURSE CONTENT
Marketers and advertisers use persuasive communication to promote goods and services, non-profit organisations use it to acquire donations or volunteers, and politicians use it to win over public opinion. And these are just a few examples - persuasive communication is everywhere: at the workplace, on social media, and even in your daily exchanged with friends and family.
There are many ways in which we can influence - or can be influenced by - others. Generally, influence depends on sender characteristics (e.g., credibility or social attractiveness), message characteristics (e.g., vividness or argument quality), and receiver characteristics (e.g.,
personality or background). In this course, we will review the most important theories in persuasive communication and marketing communication. Using real-life examples (often from an advertising context) we will see how these theories are employed in practice, and to what effect. Through the electronic reader and the assignments, you will also become familiar with experimental research into the effects of persuasion.

TEACHING METHODS
Lectures

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT
Written final exam (multiple choice; 70%), and three individual assignments (each 10%).