Digital Challenges in Marketing and Big Data

Fast-paced advances in digital technologies – ranging from web 2.0, big data, social media, the Internet of Things to machine learning and artificial intelligence etc. – have brought about profound transformation in how we communicate with others, how we learn about or introduce new fashions, how we process and filter information, and how we work and do business. They have indeed transformed virtually all areas of social life, drastically remodeling consumption and marketing practices.

In order to address such complex transformation resulting in a contemporary digital marketplace, this course brings together technology-focused, marketing-focused, consumer-focused as well as society-focused perspectives. First, it seeks to provide a practice-focused overview of the current main digital marketing practices, tools and activities, focusing primarily on the essential principles and underlying logics that currently govern digital marketing strategies. Second, it offers a reflection on a range of the latest technological advancements that open numerous opportunities to create, communicate and deliver value to consumers. Finally, it will focus on the interplay between technology, business objectives and consumer wellbeing across a range of current digital marketing practices.

Additionally, as part of the in-depth module (3+3 ECTS), the course will broaden understanding of data-driven digital marketplace practices by drawing attention not only to the cases when digital marketing practices result in rewarding and empowering consumer experiences, but also to a wide range of circumstances under which consumers (as well as marketers themselves) are, or can be, rendered vulnerable. More specifically, it will dedicate special consideration to:

1. consumer groups victims of digital divide who are systematically at-risk and/or under-represented within digital marketing strategies (e.g., children, elderly, impaired, bottom of the pyramid, low literacy etc.);
2. (potentially) negative effects of individual digital life events and experiences (e.g., threat of privacy, data surrender/data loss, choice overload, algorithmic stereotyping and/or discrimination, mistrust in platforms, cyberbullying, technology dependence etc.); and 
3. technological infrastructures and contexts (e.g., data-driven management culture, surveillance, recommendation engines, conversion-focused choice architecture, systems of persuasion and manipulation, extreme automation, artificial intelligence, de-materialization, programmed obsolescence, etc.) that create disempowering conditions for personal and/or social well-being.

Consumer-centric digital marketing practices and their underlying logics, which could be rewarding or, on the other hand, challenging or even highly problematic under certain circumstances will be scrutinized throughout the course via traditional lectures, presentation of real-life cases and in-class discussions, thus bringing students’ attention to the need to address digital challenges in marketing in an informed and responsible manner.

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