Marketing and Persuasive Communication - Period 1

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.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) awards credits based on the ECTS system. Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.