Marketing Research with Purpose

July 21-25, in Zuidas, Amsterdam 

Faculty 

Prof. Dr. Ir. Peeter Verlegh is Professor of Marketing at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and editor-in chief of the AMA’s Journal of Interactive Marketing. He is an expert in branding and consumer behavior, with a focus on social impact. 

Meet the Lecturer

Content

Marketing is an academic discipline with its own traditions and standards, drawing from psychology, economics and other disciplines. In this course we zoom in on consumer behavior. While some of the work in this area is very fundamental in nature, the focus of this course is on research that translates directly into policies for brands, organizations, NGOs and other stakeholders, including governments. The course revolves around  key insights and recent advances in marketing, with a focus on the societal impact – or, as we like to call it at VU School of Business and Economics: Marketing with Purpose. This course will draw on academic papers from leading journals. It is built around interactive discussions about recent articles in the field. But it is not only about reading and analyzing existing research. We will also help you generate and develop ideas for your own research, so that after the summer you will be able to launch or revamp your own research in this area.

Participants are expected to read & present assigned papers, and to actively participate in class discussions and exercises.  We will dissect the ideas, writing and set up of recent papers, and use our learnings to generate and develop new research ideas.

Learning Objectives 

This course should be particularly helpful for students who are in the orientation or early phase of their PhD trajectory, and who want to start doing research projects on societal impact in marketing, including topics like sustainability, inequality, diversity, human rights, (brand) activism 

It aims to develop and growth participants’ ability to

• Understand key concepts and ideas on the societal impact of marketing and consumer behavior (“marketing with purpose”)
• Critically analyze and evaluate current research
• Formulate new research ideas in this area
• Communicate (present and discuss) these ideas

Topics

Societal impact of consumer behavior (e.g., sustainability, inequality, diversity, human rights, (brand) activism), research idea generation, set up and design 

Literature

Recent and forthcoming papers in major marketing journals (final list will be made available before the course starts)

Schedule 

The summer school offers a comprehensive, full-time schedule over 5 days, with both engaging lectures and tutorials throughout the mornings and afternoons. This structure ensures a rich, immersive learning experience.

Example Schedule 

• 10.00-12.30 Lecture
• 12.30-13.30 Lunch
• 13.30-16.00 Lecture & Tutorials 

Level

The course welcomes (research) master students, PhD students, post-docs, and starting assistant professors who want to develop their research ideas and abilities.

Admission requirements

Students currently pursuing a MSc, MPhil or a PhD degree, and postdocs or junior faculty who seek to extend or refresh their knowledge in this area. Participants should be able to read and understand academic research on consumer behavior (when in doubt, look up recent papers in Journal of Consumer Research, and see if you can understand them).