30376 - COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL CONSUMPTION DECISIONS

Our course will be covering a very important area of a company's management which is communication, this topic will be then specifically applied to the cultural consumption industries. In the main part of the course students will have the chance to learn how to develop and a communication campaign. We will cover the fundamentals of communication activities and then we will focus attention on specialized communication skills for cultural, experiential and luxury consumption. The course will also offer the opportunity to focus on the study topic of cultural consumption decisions with a seminar shaped final part in which to learn to apply the study of consumer behavior to cultural and creative industry contexts.

• Integrated marketing communications
• Advertising for culture and arts
• Public Relations, events and Sponsorships
• Focus on Luxury communication and the relationship between luxury and art
• Learning by doing: Writing a press release
• Learning by doing: Naming as a communication tool
• Special focus on Cultural consumption decisions

• Understand the basics of a communication strategy and tools 
• Describe the consumer decision-making process (in particular, how consumers recognize a need, search for information, evaluate different options, and make purchase decisions).

• Identify the best communication tools to influence and persuade consumers in the experiential, luxury and cultural sectors.
• Analyze the behavior of consumers. Develop and simulate plans for influencing consumers' behavior in the marketplace.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities on campus/online (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

In each assignment, students work in teams. Groups will apply one of the topics discussed in class to a cultural/creative brand, product, or service. In some cases brands and product/services will be assigned, in other cases students will have the option to freely choose the preferred area on which to apply their analysis. Groups might also be asked to present their results/ideas with a short pitch.

Attending students are evaluated based on individual assignment (tentative), group assignments and a final written exam at the end of the course.

• The exam determines 60% of the final grade while the assignments account for the remaining 40%. 
• The written exam is an individual written test (with open end and multiple choice questions) that covers materials from the course’s slides and additional readings.

Non-attending students are evaluated based on a final written exam at the end of the course. The exam determines 100% of the final grade. 

Study material for exam will consist in lecture slides, lesson notes and readings that will be uploaded on the course platform.

Course material consists in textbook and/or a set of readings (tentative) that will be made available as a Course Reserve from Bocconi Library.