Marketing, Advertising and the Media – (M.A.)

The University of Essex is one of the UK's leading academic institutions, ranked ninth nationally for research excellence following the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

We are surrounded by advertising, marketing and media campaigns in a hugely competitive world-wide marketplace and these areas form an important commercial function within businesses and organisations. The study of advertising and marketing is an established and important area within business and management studies and the sociology of consumption and consumer culture. MA Marketing, Advertising and the Media will investigate key theoretical and substantive debates in the critical study of advertising, marketing and media.

You will analyse the advertising industries in Britain, North America and newly emerging economies like India, examine the use of branding and developing brand cultures and examine the wider concept of advertising, marketing and consumption. You will also look at recent developments from actor network theory on market devices. You will be introduced to primary research materials, like market research data. You will explore debates about the historical rise of marketing-orientated businesses and the growth of the advertising agency and broader expansion of marketing-led innovations in economic life.

As part of the course you will have the opportunity to work at CREDOS, the think-tank for the Advertising Association, for a one- or two-day internship. Your dissertation is a key part of the course and will be linked to the new master's thesis award scheme run by CREDOS. This new course brings together expertise from our top-rated Department of Sociology and Essex Business School.