Psychology of Advertising

An advanced understanding of concepts, models and theories relating to advertising and marketing, in addition to general skills in the critical analysis of theoretical concepts will be covered in this module.

Students will develop their knowledge in a broad range of areas within marketing, such as advertising strategy and positioning, integrated marketing communications, brand equity, global marketing and advertising and the importance of planning. In addition to developing a critical awareness of cultural issues and global marketing, students will learn how to critically evaluate theories and models relating to advertising. Regularly assessed coursework will enable students to engage in writing critical analyses of theoretical concepts and learn the process of synthesising points, ideas and arguments into a structured narrative.

Expanding upon previously taught skills, students will delve deeper into theories which they may already be familiar with, whilst harnessing new skills that are crucial to role of marketing and the essence of advertising, including an advanced understanding of how advertising works. Marketing communication such as brand promotion and general advertising will also be explored throughout the course.

A range of analytical techniques, both written and practical, that are standard in professional practice in psychological research will be taught. With emphasis on quantitative observation, students will explore a core set of analytic methods through a combination of lectures and practical workshops, and will learn how to apply statistical tests, such as ANOVA, correlation and regression, and t-tests, in a variety of settings. Problem solving skills will be honed by learning how to define the link between observed outcomes and psychological effects in a wide range of contexts.

Students with be equipped with the capacity to confidently identify the appropriate technique for analysing data across a wide range of investigation types, applying the R statistical software to their own research. They will reinforce decision making and evaluation skills through examining different forms of evidence, and gain experience in presenting and interpreting findings effectively in a journal-style short report.

This module offers an exploration into a wide range of research approaches used in contemporary psychological research. It enables students to expand their existing knowledge of theoretical ideas, emphasising research techniques as well as their implementation. Students will develop a professional writing style in accordance with the American Psychology Association, learn how to write an ethics proposal associated with a particular research design and gain a working knowledge of how to implement different types of research procedure. In addition, the module will enhance students’ ability to differentiate between the benefits of qualitative and quantitative design, as well as understanding the staples of psychological research, including reliability and validity, importance of ethical issues and research methods such as oculomotor, questioning and observation.

All elements of this module are assessed through a range of coursework, with a large portion deriving from article writing. Due to its literary nature, participation in this module will help increase the student’s probability of becoming a published author in psychology.

Students will apply and enhance their quantitative and qualitative research in a real-world environment, with potential to explore areas of ethical sensitivity and issues associated with advertising research, such as catering for vulnerable audiences, sensitive markets, regulation, codes of conduct and the collection and use of behavioural data.

The writing process will progress in stages, where students will be able to communicate views and opinions in both writing and discussions, and support these views and opinions with well-reasoned arguments. In addition to this, students will develop the ability to conduct and manage an advertising project throughout all of its key stages and demonstrate skills in quantitative and/or qualitative research methods by addressing research questions as part of a real-world advertising project.

Assessment will be both through focused practical work (market analysis and research, in addition to strategy development) and expert review sessions, offering professional feedback and advice from tutors and commercially based practitioners.

Paired lectures and seminars will cover a wide range of indicative topics, including auditory and visual languages, psycholinguistic programmes and the subliminal power of advertising such as non-conscious effects, persuasion and emotional appeals.

Students will advance their skills in the critical examination of empirical evidence and theoretical arguments. They will examine the main cognitive psychological factors that impact on advertising success, ranging from lower-level perceptual, attentional and memory processes through to higher-level interpretational and inferential processes.

In addition, this module provides an understanding of the psychology of advertising from both a developmental and adult perspective, while also examining methodological issues associated with the study of child and adult cognition.

This module builds on 'Analysing and Interpreting Psychological Data I' by further developing the ability to conduct and present quantitative data analysis techniques through a combination of lectures and workshops, using R statistical software. Practical exercises will draw upon observations taken from real psychological data to develop flexibility and the capacity for critical thinking in the application of analytic skills. Statistical techniques will include modelling approaches such as (general) linear models and (generalised) linear mixed-effects models due to their power, flexibility and accuracy across the widest range of applications in psychological science.

This module involves a self-directed literature review, undertaken by the student on a psychological topic of their own choosing, under expert supervision. Students will be encouraged to develop an in-depth knowledge of a specific area of psychological research. This will include both classic theories and studies in the area, as well as up-to-date knowledge of current approaches and recent research findings.

Students will engage and develop skills in literature searching, in addition to the understanding they will gain in evaluating evidence, summarising findings from primary sources, and drawing conclusions on the basis of existing research. Students will obtain the practical knowledge and experience required to use electronic and other forms of library resources to identify published research in psychology, and will be aware of different traditions of theory and research in their chosen topic area.

A range of contemporary theories in social psychology will be explored, with students gaining familiarity with key methods and debates concerning core social psychological constructs. They will develop an understanding of the ways in which social psychological theory, findings, and methods can be applied to contemporary social problems. The aim is to get students thinking like independent researchers,by encouraging them to engage critically with issues relating to the practicality, ethics and political issues of real-world application. Students will be empowered with the ability to address social psychological questions in the real-world via applied work in social psychology.

This module will equip students with the skills required to critically evaluate social psychological theory and research, with a view to questions of methodological adequacy, theoretical integrity, and the quality and quantity of empirical evidence.