Undergraduate Course: Marketing & Climate Change (BUST10160)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The field of marketing is commonly perceived as the antithesis of sustainability given its association with fostering consumerism and unsustainable economic growth. With a focus on the climate crisis, this course encourages students to engage with these criticisms of marketing and explore the challenges marketers are facing in the context of climate change, as well as the potential strategies available to them to address these challenges in a responsible manner. In doing this, the module aims to encourage students to develop their own, well-informed understanding of, and position on, being and becoming a sustainable marketer and consumer. |
| Course description |
Tackling the climate crisis appears at the top of the agenda for many organisations and marketing tools, techniques, and strategies are increasingly used by businesses, charitable organisations, and governments in order to influence stakeholder behaviours towards more sustainable outcomes, such as becoming net zero. This course focuses on the issues and challenges posed by the climate crisis and the role of marketers and consumers in this context. It aims to develop students understanding of the role of marketing and consumption in driving the sustainability agenda.
The course gives students the opportunity to develop a range of transferrable skills through an innovative piece of assessment in the form of a podcast. Skills developed include communication and debating skills, technological and digital literacy skills
The course is divided into 4 sections:
Section 1: Context and theoretical foundations
Section 2: Consumption & climate change
Section 3: Contemporary marketing practices, questions, and challenges in the context of climate change
Section 4: The future of marketing in the climate crisis
This course will be delivered mainly through interactive lectures wherein active participation is highly encouraged. These will include a combination of lectures, case studies, class discussions, videos, debates. Several workshops will also form part of this course to support the assessment and skill development. As the course is designed to look at both marketing and consumption practices in relation to climate change, reflexivity on the students' own consumer behaviour is a central aspect of this course. It is expected that students engage with readings in advance of each class and actively contribute to, and participate in, classroom debates; the aim is to foster a collaborative, non-judgemental, and inclusive learning environment.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Marketing (BUST08004)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Business Honours entry |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 100 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 3,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment: 100% Coursework
Assignment 1: Group Podcast episode (40%), including peer assessment of 20%.
Assignment 2: Individual Poster (60%) |
| Feedback |
Formative feedback will be given in class during the discussion sessions, as well as on all submitted coursework.
Feedback on coursework, together with individual marks, will be available on Learn. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of climate-related issues and challenges in marketing and consumption.
- Apply relevant concepts and theoretical frameworks to critically evaluate a range of real-life (ir)responsible and (un)sustainable marketing and consumption problems.
- Critically analyse the roles that marketers, consumers, and policymakers can play in promoting and advancing sustainable practices.
- Develop the skills necessary to act as sustainable marketers and consumers.
- Demonstrate presentation and communication skills and engage in reflexivity when addressing climate issues in marketing and consumption.
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Reading List
Emery, B. (2021). Sustainable Marketing. Pearson.
Peterson, M. (2021). Sustainable Marketing: A hollistic approach. SAGE.
Martin, D. & Schouten, J. (2014) Sustainable Marketing, Pearson New International Edition
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Practice: Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Work with a variety of organisations, their stakeholders, and the communities they serve - learning from
them, and aiding them to achieve responsible, sustainable and enterprising solutions to complex problems.
Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Convey meaning and message through a wide range of communication tools, including digital technology
and social media; to understand how to use these tools to communicate in ways that sustain positive and
responsible relationships.
Critically evaluate and present digital and other sources, research methods, data and information; discern
their limitations, accuracy, validity, reliability and suitability; and apply responsibly in a wide variety of
organisational contexts
Practice: Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Apply creative, innovative, entrepreneurial, sustainable and responsible business solutions to address
social, economic and environmental global challenges
Knowledge and Understanding
After completing this course, students should be able to:
Demonstrate a thorough knowledge and understanding of contemporary organisational disciplines;
comprehend the role of business within the contemporary world; and critically evaluate and synthesise primary
and secondary research and sources of evidence in order to make, and present, well informed and transparent
organisation-related decisions, which have a positive global impact.
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Kristina Auxtova
Tel:
Email: kristina.auxtova@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Eilean Deane
Tel: (01316) 513758
Email: edeane@ed.ac.uk |
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