module specification

The module is designed to enable you to develop your knowledge and understanding of the marketing environment with a particular focus on interpretation of economic and financial information to inform marketing decisions. It enables you to gain a comprehensive understanding of how stakeholders and internal and external factors influence marketing practices and decision-making processes.

The module will enable you to review and interpret the marketing mix in an economic and financial context relevant for marketers. It also provides you with the practical experience of using the latest version of Excel software to compute, describe and interpret data of relevance to marketing organisations. The module lays the foundation for level 5/6 modules, as appropriate.

The module aims to develop your understanding and application of knowledge of the nature and scope of the marketing environment and the significance of economic and financial information for marketing decision making within the organisational and industry context.

The module also will enable you to develop a range of key skills: research and analysing data, application of knowledge and presenting data, data interpretation and reporting, problem solving and decision making, self / time management, digital literacy and IT skills, and numeracy / quantitative skills.

No prerequisites.
Available for Study Abroad? YES
 

Understanding the nature of demand for products and the influence of market structure, macro, meso and micro contexts of marketing (LO1-LO2)

- What’s economics got to do with traditional, digital and social media marketing?
- Economic markets - retail, brick and mortar, online, etc.
-  The structure of the marketing industry and stakeholder mapping
- The impact of macroeconomic objectives and policies on marketing, advertising and PR agencies.
- Sourcing key industry reports and data relating to marketing and communications.
- Assessment of the marketing industry using PESTLE framework, opportunity matrix and       threat matrix; prioritising potential opportunities and threats (e.g. AI-powered content creation and curation, IOT, voice search, chat bots, augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality, CAP code, BCAP code, GDPR, ESG, etc.)
- Behavioural economics, the consumer and marketing organisation.
- Microeconomic factors that affect the marketing environment: Demand and supply analysis, markets and concepts of elasticity; how do advertising and marketing affect elasticity of demand? How are short run profits and long-run profits related to advertising?

Analysis and interpretation financial information for marketing decisions (LO2-LO4)
- Explore the finance functions that support marketing activities
- Understanding and application of the marketing mix in a financial context.
- Introduction to cost behaviour and product/service costing techniques applied to marketing
- Contribution analysis, Cost-Volume-Profit analysis, break-even, product pricing. Effective planning based on customer lifetime value metric.
- Lead times and the use of the critical path in the product development process and supplier management. Critical path and identification of tasks in product production
- Online/offline revenue models of marketing and communications organisations.
- Measuring costs of marketing programmes and media vehicles (e.g., traditional, digital, social, mobile, email, etc.)
- Sales forecast: Time series analysis including B2B marketing and sales scenarios and the contribution of marketing to each stage of the B2B sales cycle.
- Capital and marketing investment decision making models - Payback period, NPV, ARR, and IRR.
- Alternative approaches to budgeting and budget allocation for marketing programmes.
- Approaches to marketing and brand valuation

 

The module will be taught over a 12-week period and consists of 2-hour lecture and 1-hour seminar sessions each week.  In most weeks the 1-hour seminar will take place in the ICT labs to provide students with the practical experience of using Excel as appropriate to compute, analyse and interpret accounting and consumer data. The lectures adopt an applied problem-based approach to learning and introduces students to the marketing environment with a particular focus on interpretation of economic and financial information to inform marketing decisions. Whilst the lectures are used to deliver core content, students will be expected to actively contribute to the sessions.

The seminars sessions are designed to facilitate learning through group-based practical activities, interpretation and reporting exercises, discussions, role-play and presentations, and student-tutor feedback. The computer-based seminars introduce learners to Excel for financial and economic data analysis and offer further opportunities for developing interpretation skills.

The module uses a blended learning and teaching approach including lectures, seminars, video case studies, research projects, Weblearn interaction, guest lectures and class discussions.
The use of Weblearn facilities is central to the delivery of module handbook, case studies, journal articles, external web links and student feedback. Other more specialised approaches such as ‘flipped teaching’ and ‘role playing’ are also used.

Independent and group learning is supported through the module's virtual learning environment hosted on Weblearn. Here students can access resources such as lecture notes, exercises and activities, study guides, data sets, videos, coursework briefs, guidelines and feedback, as well as links to further resources. Learners are also encouraged to actively engage with the subject, their peers, and the tutors through the module's online discussion threads and blogs, and chat room facility.

Upon completion of the module, the students will be able to:

LO1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of contexts and aspects of business and economic environments which have impact on marketing practices and decision-making processes.

LO2. Apply the PESTLE framework, opportunity matrix and threat matrix to evaluate the context of firms and prioritise potential opportunities and threats.

LO3. Review and interpret the marketing mix in an economic and financial context relevant for marketers.

LO4. Analyse and interpret economic and financial information to inform marketing decisions

Library Reading link
https://rl.talis.com/3/londonmet/lists/DB85D5F9-C8A1-A837-43F4-A8D7C85EBA7D.html
Core reading

- Sloman, J., Garratt, D., Guest, J., & Jones, E. (2023) Economics for Business. 9th edition. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited. (Available as an E-book).
https://catalogue.londonmet.ac.uk/record=b2725402~S1

-Atrill, P. and McLaney, E. (2022) Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists, 12th Edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. (Available as an E-Book)
http://catalogue.londonmet.ac.uk/record=b2403986~S1.

Additional reading

- Boardman, R. et al. (2020), Fashion Buying & Merchandising: The Fashion Buyer in a Digital Society, Oxon: Routledge.
https://www.routledge.com/Fashion-Buying-and-Merchandising-The-Fashion-Buyer-in-a-Digital-Society/Boardman-Parker-Strak-Henninger/p/book/9781138616325?srsltid=AfmBOooUq00foikWkGW2XtqB-uvHO3YvwM9nvivHosMtkGn48HdLkjAu

- Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F.  and Abedrabbo, M. (2025). Digital Marketing strategy, Implementation & Practice 9th Edition. Pearson Education.
https://www.pearson.com/en-gb/subject-catalog/p/digital-marketing/P200000012456/9781292470061

- Chaffey, D. and Smith, PR. (2023). Digital Marketing Excellence: Planning, Optimizing and Integrating Online Marketing, 6th Edition. Routledge. (Available as an E-book).

https://catalogue.londonmet.ac.uk/record=b2406735~S1

- Dyson, J. R. & Franklin, E. (2020) Accounting for Non-Accounting Students, 10th Edition, FT Prentice Hall, Pearson. (Available as an E-book).
https://catalogue.londonmet.ac.uk/search~S1?/tAccounting+for+Non-Accounting+Students/taccounting+for+non+accounting+students/1%2C1%2C3%2CB/frameset&FF=taccounting+for+non+accounting+students&3%2C%2C3/indexsort=-

- Evans, N., Jeffrey, M. and Craig, S. (2020) Costing for the Fashion Industry, Second edition, Bloomsbury Publishing.
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/costing-for-the-fashion-industry-9781350078895/

- Horner, D. (2020) Accounting for Non Accountants, 12th Edition, Kogan Page.
https://www.koganpage.com/accounting-finance-banking/accounting-for-non-accountants-9781789664300

- Katz, H. (2022) The Media Handbook- A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection, Planning, Research, and Buying, 8th Edition, Routledge.
https://www.routledge.com/The-Media-Handbook-A-Complete-Guide-to-Advertising-Media-Selection-Planning-Research-and-Buying/Katz/p/book/9780367775568?srsltid=AfmBOoriC60hr73_nuZRWGzi4n9yARbxwk7l4dVVdnmJUXSff1_Bx5_U

- Oakshott, L. (2020) Essential Quantitative Methods: For Business, Management and Finance, 7th Edition., Red Globe Press. (Available as an E-book).
https://catalogue.londonmet.ac.uk/search~S1?/tEssential+Quantitative+Methods%3A+For+Business%2C+Management+and+Finance%2C/tessential+quantitative+methods+for+business+management+and+finance/1%2C1%2C4%2CB/frameset&FF=tessential+quantitative+methods+for+business+management+and+finance&4%2C%2C4

- Worthington, I. and Briton, C. (2023) The Business Environment: A Global Perspective 9th Edition, London: FT/Prentice Hall. (Available as an E-book).
https://catalogue.londonmet.ac.uk/search~S1?/tThe+Business+Environment%3A+A+Global+Perspective+/tbusiness+environment+a+global+perspective/1%2C1%2C2%2CB/frameset&FF=tbusiness+environment+a+global+perspective&2%2C%2C2/indexsort=-

Journals:
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Journal of Consumer Research
The International Journal of Market Research
European Research on Management and Business Economics
Harvard Business Review
International Journal of Management and Economics

Electronic Databases/ Websites:

Resources for business assignments, projects
https://libguides.londonmet.ac.uk/business-school-subjects/eresources-companies

Advertising and Marketing - Professional Associations  https://libguides.londonmet.ac.uk/business-school-subjects/useful-websites

UK GDPR guidance and resources-
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/

The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code)
https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes/broadcast-code.html

The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) https://www.asa.org.uk/codes-and-rulings/advertising-codes/non-broadcast-code.html#:~:text=Non%2Dbroadcast%20Code-,The%20UK%20Code%20of%20Non%2Dbroadcast%20Advertising%20and%20Direct%20%26%20Promotional,marketing%20communications%20(marketing%20communications)

The economist
https://www.economist.com/
https://www.economist.com/feeds/print-sections/79/finance-and-economics.xml

Results from UK government surveys
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/

Office for national statistics 
https://www.ons.gov.uk/

The economics network
https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/links/data_free#Office_for_Budget_Responsibility_OBR
OECD data
https://data.oecd.org/united-kingdom.htm
The Sloman Economics News Site
http://pearsonblog.campaignserver.co.uk/
Please note that during the semester, other books, articles and other resources would be recommended as need be.