PSY6412 - Psychology and Advertising

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

(1) Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the function and purpose of advertising.
(2) Critically evaluate how advertising phenomena may be explained within the context of theories and concepts from social and cognitive psychology.
(3) Evaluate the application of cognitive psychological principles to the definition and measurement of advertising effectiveness.
(4) Demonstrate a critical understanding of the historical context of the psychological investigation of advertising.

Content:

This module applies theories and concepts from social and cognitive psychology to aspects of advertising. The following is indicative of the content:

Background Information
Myths and common misconceptions about advertising and how it works. The history of the psychological study of advertising. Early applications of psychological concepts of advertising

Advertising and Cognition
Memory-based measures of advertising effectiveness: recall and recognition. The role of attention: Surreptitious advertising, subliminal advertising, implicit memory and product placement. Forgetting and false memory effects in advertising. In-game advertising. Does sex sell? Sex and gender representations in advertising. Advertising to children. Endorsement by celebrities, experts and 'DIY celebrities'. Central and peripheral routes of persuasion (eg. Elaboration Likelihood Model, petty & Caccioppo, 1981).

Learning and Teaching Information:

The module delivery will be based upon a combination of lecture-based teaching and problem-based learning, with relatively greater emphasis on the latter. The week sessions will incoporate activites and discussion. Additional materials will be available on the VLE.

This 20 credit module is deigned to be delivered in one semester.

Lecture/workshop
Contact Hours: 30 (3 hours per week)
Number of Groups: no limit has been set

Assessment:

001 Unseen paper 1 x 1.5 hours (end semester 1) 50%
002 Unseen paper 1 x 1.5 hours (end semester 1) 50%


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