Research on digital communication and networks / Research on digital communication and networks

The Academic Board of Business Administration, Odense
Teaching activity id: 9267201.
Teaching language: English.ECTS / weighting: 10 ECTS / 0.167 full-time equivalent.
Examination language: English.
Exam activity id: 9267202.Approved: 03-11-17.
Period: Spring 2018.
Grading: Internal grading.
Assessment: 7-point scale.
Offered in: Odense.
Subject director:
Associate Professor Edlira Shehu, Department of Marketing and Management.

Prerequisites:
B.Sc.


Purpose:
This course offers insights on how digital communication in networks and virality develop on social media. Digital networks are a large part of consumers’ everyday life. Every day, consumers engage with social networks and like, share content, recommendations or product experiences, leaving a digital data track that can be used to understand and predict market performance of new products. By this, social networks provide a new and valuable information source for companies to understand how consumers adopt new products, and how word-of-mouth effects influence adoption processes in the market.

The purpose of this course is to enable students to understand how consumers’ engagement in digital networks affects adoption patterns of new products. The course provides theoretical models on initiation and evolution of new ideas and trends, as well as social network structures. In addition, the course provides methods on harvesting and analyzing digital data as well as statistical models on how to incorporate information from social networks in adoption models to forecast performance of innovative products in the market.


Content - Key areas:
In this course, the students combine theoretical knowledge with group work, where they get hands-on experience in accessing and working with social network information. The course has three main areas:
  • Theoretical models on social networks: Formation of consumer attitudes, social network structures, contagion in digital network.
  • Communication within digital networks: Effects of word-of-mouth and social network interaction on new products success, seeding strategies, spatial diffusion, virality of content in digital networks.
  • Digital network applications and tools: data types, social network data visualization, tools to analyze social network data

Goals description (SOLO taxonomy):
After taking the course, the student should be able to define a case study relevant to the class, extract data with methods learned in the course and apply relevant models from the syllabus to self-collected real world data from digital networks, derive and discuss managerial implications of specific word-of-mouth strategies for a firm, identify opportunities to use digital networks as platforms for enhancing new product success, and communicate findings and present results in a clear and academic manner.

The goals can be summarized as the student’s ability to:

  • demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the structure of social and digital networks
  • identify options and possibilities that virality and social media networks has for marketing
  • describe the role of social network communication and how this can be used by firms for marketing in social media
  • analyze how companies can use social networks for the research problem described in the case study
  • apply theoretical models discussed in class on specific managerial problems
  • develop a research design on how to analyze a specific problem with help of social networks basing on a theoretical model discussed in class
  • select appropriate methods to collect social media data, explain why these methods are appropriate and use them in the setting of the case study
  • analyze social media data by applying relevant methods discussed in class to analyze the research question of the case study to build insights appropriate for the case study


Clearly outlining the academic and managerial implications of working with social network data to an academic and a practitioner audience.


Literature:
Examples of literature:
  • Boyd, d. & Ellison, N. (2007) Social Network Sites: Definition, Hisoty, and scholarship. Journal of mediated Communication, 13 (1) 210-230
  • Lewis, K.J., Kaufman, M. Gonzalez, A. Wimmer & Christakis, N. (2008) Tastes, ties and time: An new social network dataset using Facebook.com. Social Networks, 30(4) 330-342
  • Duncan J.W./ Dodds, P. (2007). Influentials, Networks and Public Opinion Formation, Journal of Consumer Research, 34 (4), 441-458.
  • Garber, T./ Goldenberg, J./Libai, B./Muller E. (2004). From Density to Destiny: Using Spatial Analysis for Early Prediction of New Product Success. Marketing Science. 23 (3) 419-28.


Time of classes:
Autumn (August, summer school)


Scheduled classes:
9.15-13.00 eight times during August 2018.


Form of instruction:
Individual studies as preparation for the interactive seminars in the classes and a total of 30 hours in class. Project work in groups. The readings for the course will be outlined by the end of June so that the students can commence the preparation well in advance of the teaching period.

The workload of the course is, on average, distributed as follows:

Class teaching: 30 hours
Group work beyond classes – before the lectures start: 40 hours
Preparation for teaching: 40 hours
Preparation for exam: 160 hours.
Total: 270 hours.


Time of examination:
Exam: August.
Re-examination: September / early October.

Examination conditions:
None

Form of examination for the certificate:
Report (in group).


Supplemental information for the form of examination:
The report must be written in groups of 3-4 students. The teacher can grant deviations from this number based on reasonable cause. To enable individual grading, it must appear for which parts each student is responsible.

The exam is an outline of how to create knowledge on a relevant network and develop a campaign targeting that network. The report should present an outline of a marketing campaign of a new product based on digital networks. The campaign should be based on insights developed using methods and theories from the class as for example accessing relevant social network data and analyze them using open source software.

Duration: Deadline for handing in will appear from the examination plan.
Location: Home assignment.
Internet Access: Necessary.
Hand out: Course page in Blackboard.
Hand i: Via SDU-assignment.
Extent: 15-20 standard pages.
Exam Aids: All exam aids allowed.

Grading: 7- point scale based on to which extent the contents of the report meets the learning goals.


Programmes:
cand.merc. Communication Management and Leadership
2nd semester, elective subject. Offered in: Odense
cand.merc. Brand Management and Marketing Communication
2nd semester, elective subject. Offered in: Odense
cand.merc. Marketing, Globalization and Communication
2nd semester, elective subject. Offered in: Odense
cand.merc. International Business and Law
2nd semester, elective subject. Offered in: Odense
cand.merc. International Business and Management
2nd semester, elective subject. Offered in: Odense