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BUSI42415: Applied Marketing Science (FT)

It is possible that changes to modules or programmes might need to be made during the academic year, in response to the impact of Covid-19 and/or any further changes in public health advice.

Type Open
Level 4
Credits 15
Availability Not available in 2024/2025
Module Cap
Location Durham
Department Management and Marketing

Prerequisites

  • None.

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • To provide a comprehensive introduction to the specialised areas of market intelligence, marketing planning and strategic location management.
  • To consolidate and extend the advanced research methods training and statistical analysis skills acquired during the Core period of the MA in Marketing programme.
  • To equip the student with the advanced conceptual and practical skills needed to successfully complete a dissertation in Marketing and to provide a firm foundation for a successful marketing career.

Content

  • I. Business Location Analysis:
  • Marketing, location, and competitive advantage;
  • Inductive and deductive location selection strategies;
  • Trade area analysis and site evaluation techniques;
  • Territory management and intelligent network planning;
  • Spatial interaction modeling and spatial growth strategies.
  • II. Marketing Research and Intelligence:
  • The marketing research industry;
  • The commercial marketing research process;
  • Exploratory, descriptive, and predictive research;
  • Industrial and consumer test markets;
  • Analysing, reporting and managing marketing intelligence;
  • III. Marketing, Information and Technology:
  • Data, information and market intelligence;
  • Secondary and standardised data - official statistics, commerical data, bespoke services;
  • Understanding and managing spatially - referenced information;
  • Geographical information systems (GIS) and spatial data analysis;
  • Marketing intelligence systems (MkIS) and strategic knowledge management.
  • IV. Spatial Marketing Planning:
  • Segmentation, positioning, and the spatial planning process;
  • Population geography, geodemographic change, and market opportunities;
  • Market segmentation bases - geodemorgraphic, psychographic, lifestyle, etc;
  • Standardized segmentation systems - ACORN, VALS2, PRIZM, PYSTE, etc;
  • Modeling, simulation, and decision - support systems.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • a critical appreciation of the nature of marketing information and market intelligence, together with the geographical dimensions of that information and intelligence.
  • a critical appreciation of the spatially-referenced data underpinning successful marketing research, and of the technologies used in managing that spatially-referenced data.

Subject-specific Skills:

  • acquired the specialised skills needed to plan, implement, report, and manage a comprehensive and complex programme of market research for a new business venture and/or market diversification project.

Key Skills:

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • The learning outcomes will be achieved through a combination of lectures, guided reading, individual exercises and the group discussion of case studies, reinforced by IT-based practical classes in the use of statistical software packages (e.g. SPSS) and Geographical information systems (e.g. ArcGIS).
  • The summative assessment of the module - by practical project, group presentation and data analysis exercise - is designed to: Test the acquisition and articulation of knowledge and research skills; Test skills in managing and analysing spatially-referenced data; Test conceptual understanding and skills of application, interpretation and reporting within the business context.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Lectures6every 1 or 2 weeks2 hours12 
Practicals5fortnightly2 hours10Yes
Preparation & Reading128 
Total150 

Summative Assessment

Component: Data Analysis ExerciseComponent Weighting: 30%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
individual geodemographic data analysis exercise(equiv to)1000 words100 
Component: ReportComponent Weighting: 60%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
individual practical project report documenting group marketing project1000 words (max)100 
Component: Group PresentationComponent Weighting: 10%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
group presentation30 mins100 

Formative Assessment

Student presentations, case study preparation, performance in IT practical classes.

More information

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Current Students: Please contact your department.