MN6070 - Social Marketing (2026/27)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2026/27 | ||||||||||||
| Module title | Social Marketing | ||||||||||||
| Module level | Honours (06) | ||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||
| School | Guildhall School of Business and Law | ||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2026/27(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) | No instances running in the year |
Module summary
This module introduces you to a developing specialist new field associated with marketing. It provides you with the opportunity to build on your knowledge about marketing to apply it to situations where the aim is to help address social problems. Social marketing is a developing new science that makes use of several disciplines, in addition to marketing, to help improve the welfare of our societies. This field has been applied to many social ills ranging from obesity, drinking and driving to discrimination and domestic violence.
You will be first introduced to the history and concepts of social marketing and shown the procedures used by social marketers to address social problems. You will be encouraged to develop your critical as well as applied abilities during their studies. By the end of the module it is expected that you will not only be able to appreciate the benefits of social marketing but also learn very useful skills about how to apply it. The knowledge and skills will prove very useful to enable students to apply their marketing skills to both commercial and social situations. It will also help develop their social responsibility attitude and enable them to consider this great discipline as another career route to target.
The module will be delivered over a 12-week period (15 weeks with assessment period) consisting of a 3-hour delivery, with the final hour being devoted to practice. The module will use a blended learning delivery approach covering lectures/workshops, video demonstrations and student projects. We will use extensively Weblearn for both delivery of teaching and practice material as well as for the submission of assessment.
Prior learning requirements
NO
Syllabus
The syllabus will focus on the following topics to cover the key dimensions of the field: understanding the key principles of social marketing and developing skills for researching and designing a plan and delivering it to help replace self-destructive behaviours with healthier ones. Each seminar will include introductions to key concepts as well as opportunities for practice of the concepts using real-life examples. Students will be given the opportunity to prepare for sessions by encouraging them to undertake tasks before sessions.
During classes students will be encouraged to present their reflections about tasks so they may also develop their ability to speak confidently to audiences.
Students will also be encouraged to keep a learning log to help them see how they are developing and note any areas of difficulties which can be discussed with the tutor.
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
The module will be delivered over a 12-week period (15 weeks with assessment period) consisting of 3-hour weekly sessions. The module will use a blended learning delivery approach covering lectures/workshops, video demonstrations and student projects. We will use Weblearn extensively for both delivery of teaching and practice material as well as for the submission of assessment.
Each seminar will include introductions to key concepts as well as opportunities for practice of the concepts using real-life examples. Students will be given the opportunity to prepare for sessions by encouraging them to undertake tasks before sessions.
During classes students will be encouraged to present their reflections about tasks so they may also develop their ability to speak confidently to audiences.
Students will be encouraged to keep a learning log to help them see how they are developing and note any areas of difficulties which can be discussed with the tutor. The students' learning progress is assessed using formative and summative assessments. The formative assessment is used across the teaching period. The summative assessment is conducted using group presentation followed by individual coursework report of 1000 words.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students should be able to:
LO1. Critically appreciate the importance of Social Marketing (SM) as an effective tool in improving society. This means also understanding its history and how it came to be considered a specialist field of marketing.
LO2. Critically appreciate the challenges addressed by SM locally and globally and the concepts and models it may make use, taking into consideration social and environmental/sustainability responsibilities and using, where relevant, digital and AI tools to make a difference in our societies
LO3. Use a range of key social marketing tools, including digital/AI ones, to help understand a social problem and develop a strategy to change behaviour with a view to achieve healthier outcomes.
Bibliography
Please see online reading list at:
See reading list here: