Course description
MSc Marketing – Course structure
Semester one
All taught course units are 15 credits.
• Marketing Fundamentals
This course unit equips you with the theoretical underpinnings of the marketing discipline. It encourages appreciation of different theoretical and practical perspectives and provides a broad understanding of the skills and challenges presented in the field of marketing.
• Marketing Implementation
This course unit provides you with a critical appreciation of how marketing is put into practice, the interactions with customers (consumer and organisational), and development of products/markets (eg retail, international, services).
• Marketing Strategy and New Product Development
The course unit aims to develop an appreciation of marketing practice and to provide an understanding of marketing management strategy and development processes for bringing new products to market, through a group case study project.
• Researching Markets
The main aim of the course unit is to provide a critical assessment of the different types of research that are used in marketing and the appropriate contexts for the different types of research. More specifically it provides you with the fundamental research skills needed to investigate marketing from an academic and practitioner perspective.
Semester two
• Research Methods and Data Analysis
The purpose of this course unit is to prepare you for carrying out your dissertation. It builds on the work carried out in the first semester concerning the theory of research methods by familiarising students with approaches and techniques, which they may use in carrying out their dissertation. The course unit shows you how to categorise quantitative and qualitative data and choose appropriate methods of analysis for the data. It allows you hands-on experience of analysing data and interpreting statistical output and shows how qualitative data from interviews can be organised and analysed.
Choose three course units, from -
• Business-to-Business Marketing
This course unit considers the process and nature of marketing and buyer behaviour in different business-to-business contexts and environments. It presents a range of
models and theories that can be applied in a business-to-business context. You will
understand the challenges of marketing in business markets in a global context and
develop an understanding of the research skills that are needed in order to undertake
business-to-business marketing research.
• Consumer Behaviour
The course unit aims to provide you with an understanding of consumer behaviour; to acquaint you with the factors which influence consumer behaviour at different stages of the consumption process; and to outline the links between consumer behaviour research and marketing theory and practice.
• Services Marketing
This course unit considers the development of theories of services marketing. You gain an understanding of key aspects of marketing management and strategy in the services sector to include consumer behaviour, elements of the marketing mix, service quality and internationalisation. Particular focus is given to research evidence in industries such as financial services, tourism, education and healthcare.
• International Marketing
This course unit provides a comprehensive introduction to international marketing,
emphasising both academic substance and real-world practicality. The course unit
introduces the core components of international marketing by taking a comparative perspective in the context of European, North American and Asia-Pacific markets.
• Retail Marketing
The primary focus of this course unit is upon the major issues and strategies of retail
management. Particular attention is given to the key elements of retail marketing strategies, and related aspects of consumer behaviour. The course also seeks to develop a wider understanding of the functions of retail systems within the UK and Europe, including an appreciation of the crucial role of major retailers within the marketing channel.
• Relationship Marketing
The course provides you with an understanding of the popular marketing concept of relationship marketing. It discusses the various approaches to building, managing and maintaining relationships, the difficulties of relationship management, deals with CRM highlighting the difference between strategy and software, looks at relationship marketing techniques across cultures and countries and discusses customer lifetime value (CLV), customer loyalty and customer profitability. It also compares relationship marketing across customer and business relationships.
By agreement one course unit may be taken from other masters courses.
There may also be an opportunity to study for one semester in an Exchange Institution. This will need to be discussed on an individual basis with the course director.
Summer research period
Research dissertation (60 credits)
During this period you will carry out an original piece of research. This is a critical element of the course with a strong emphasis on empirical work, utilising appropriate and advanced research methods. You will have a supervisor, who will discuss your choice of research project with you and advise and guide you through the process. Your dissertation topic will be chosen from a fixed list of areas submitted by dissertation supervisers, but examples of topics covered in recent dissertations include:
• Perceptions of service quality
• The use of the internet by charities
• Relationship marketing in professional services
• Category management
• Ethnic minorities and acculturation and new product development
