Module Directory

Social issues are increasingly at the forefront of public and private discourse, with growing recognition that social marketing can help address challenges ranging from environmental sustainability to public health initiatives such as smoking bans. This module introduces students to social marketing as a specialised field, exploring how marketing principles and techniques can be applied to influence positive behavioural change and address societal issues. Students will develop the skills to research, plan, and implement effective social marketing campaigns using key concepts, case studies, and insights from practitioners.

The module begins with a critical examination of the origins of social marketing, assessing both its potential and its limitations through the perspectives of its advocates and critics. It then explores strategic considerations in campaign design, including message framing, relevance, and resistance to persuasion. Throughout, students will engage with real-world examples to understand how social marketing operates in practice and how it differs from commercial marketing.

By integrating the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the course, this module enables students to apply marketing concepts to both social and commercial contexts. It also encourages reflection on the ethical responsibilities of marketers and the potential of social marketing as a professional career path. Ultimately, this module equips students with the tools to use marketing as a force for positive social change.

The aims of this module are:

• To introduce the students to a specialized field of social marketing.


• To enable students to research, evaluate, plan, and implement effective social marketing programs.


• To provide opportunity to understand and apply their knowledge of marketing to help address social problems.

By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of marketing’s role in addressing contemporary social challenges.


2. Demonstrate an understanding of the evolution of social marketing theories, including their key challenges and critiques.


3. Critically evaluate social marketing programmes and their effectiveness in influencing behavioural and societal change.


4. Analyse contemporary trends in social marketing and their implications for practice and policy.

Syllabus information

• Introduction to social marketing.


• Theory and social change.


• The social marketing mix.


• Designing sound campaigns and messaging.


• Evaluating social marketing campaigns / Guest Lecture.


• Social Marketing Trends: Social marketing in the digital age.


• Social Marketing Trends: Anti-consumption.


• Social Marketing Trends: Sustainable consumption.


• Critical and ethical perspectives in social marketing.


• Group Presentations and assessment information.

This module will be delivered via:

• One 2-hour seminar each week, over a 10-week period.

Each seminar will include introductions to key concepts as well as opportunities for practice of the concepts using real-life examples. Guest lectures from prominent social marketing practitioners will be included to bring in real life perspectives. 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 work in groups to complete their group presentations by session 10.