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  3. Marketing, Society and Sustainability

Marketing, Society and Sustainability (MKTG90049)

Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

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Semester 1
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This subject explores the role of marketing and consumption in a world facing significant social and environmental challenges. What is the role of marketing and marketers in climate change, digital privacy, or the obesity crisis? Does marketing actually improve consumers’ wellbeing? Many ‘ethical’ consumers now integrate their concern for society and the environment into their purchasing decisions. And many ‘ethical’ brands now promote their social and/or environmental credentials. So, can we market and consume our way out of these crises? This subject will address the criticisms of marketing’s role in sustainability issues, and then equip students with the strategic and ethical direction to respond proactively to the opportunities these challenges provide.

Intended learning outcomes

On successful completion of this marketing subject, students should be able to:

  • Appreciate the variety of social, political and economic forces affecting marketing organisations at the global and local level
  • Identify and analyse current public issues in the interplay between marketing and society, such as advertising to children, junk food, materialism and climate change
  • Critically evaluate the debates around the ethical, social and sustainability responsibilities of marketers
  • Identify the different sustainability frameworks for engaging in those debates; and understand how marketers can respond to calls for ethical, social and sustainability responsibility
  • Apply the above learning to real world cases and situations

Generic skills

On successful completion of this subject, students should have improved the following generic skills:

  • Critical thinking about societal and sustainability issues in marketing settings
  • Oral and written communication
  • Problem solving and collaborative learning
  • Synthesis of data and other information

Last updated: 5 December 2024