Key information
Duration: 1 year full time
Institution code: R72
Campus: Egham
UK fees*: £14,100
International/EU fees**: £22,800
The course
Marketing (MSc)
The Royal Holloway MSc Marketing is a unique inter-disciplinary one-year course, providing cutting-edge insights into consumer markets, aimed at developing your professional and practical skills as a marketing manager.
This course is certified by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and taught by one of the largest marketing departments in the Greater London area, with world-class expertise in areas such as digital marketing, data analytics, services marketing, consumer psychology, consumer culture, tourism and sustainability. The course is aimed at students who have a keen interest in developing a deep and reflective understanding of marketing practice from a multiplicity of perspectives. Through our unique inter-disciplinary approach, you will develop your knowledge of marketing’s contemporary challenges, from the advent of artificial intelligence to the climate crisis. You will build a sound knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues based on state-of-the-art research and practical case materials, giving a well-rounded, challenging and innovative insights into marketing and consumer behaviour.
As a student in the School of Business and Management you will join an intellectually stimulating, friendly and supportive research environment and, through working closely with our expert and experienced academic staff, you will be in a position to realise your full potential.
- Distinctive from traditional marketing programmes by focusing on marketing and consumer culture from critical and creative perspectives.
- Flexibility to tailor your studies to suit your specific areas of interest, such as: arts marketing, marketing communications and marketing ethics.
- International profile created from regularly hosting visits by leading international marketing academics who present their research to faculty and students.
- Accredited by CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing). On completing this course you'll be able to apply for exemptions.
From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.
Course structure
Core Modules
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This module offers an advanced level of marking as a strategic function and critical evaluation of marketing strategy. Contrasting with normative marketing management, the module engages with critical theory and the critical literature in the field of marketing, which sees marketing not only as a practical field but also as a discipline strongly associated with managerialism, neoliberalism, and consumerism. The module will critically examine the practical utility, intellectual claims, ethical status, and political impact of marketing. The critiques are illustrated in relation to historical paradigms of marketing knowledge as well as the practical application of marketing in, amongst others, market relationships and cultures, marketing work, and consumer activism.
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This module shall give an overview of a wide range of topics which are relevant to the study of consumer behaviour and brands. This will consist of exploring such subject areas as materiality, iconic brands, postmodernity, consumer collectives, how value is produced and consumed, neoliberalism, celebrity culture, human brands, and consumer tribes as well as consider and critically reflect on wider societal issues relating to ethical debates, sustainability and gender.
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The purpose of this module is to provide you with an intuitive understanding of methods that will help develop a critical understanding of empirical research. This module will present an overview of many of the key methodological aspects of studying marketing and consumption. The aims are to impart a critical understanding of the different methodological perspectives on research design; provide students with the ability to use a variety of research techniques; teach students how to generate, manage and analyse research data; enable students to identify the key ethical issues posed by particular research designs; and, provide students with the ability to outline a research plan.
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The dissertation provides you with an opportunity to learn and practise researching and writing skills for your future career. You will apply the analytical and problem-solving techniques you have acquired throughout your studies to explore a specialist interest in greater depth. You will critically evaluate academic literature, collect data systematically, organise your findings, and present your research results in a clear and logical and manner. To help, your research proposal will be read by the programme director, who will select an appropriate member of staff to act as your dissertation supervisor. Your final submission will be between 12,000 and 15,000 words in length.
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This module will describe the key principles of academic integrity, focusing on university assignments. Plagiarism, collusion and commissioning will be described as activities that undermine academic integrity, and the possible consequences of engaging in such activities will be described. Activities, with feedback, will provide you with opportunities to reflect and develop your understanding of academic integrity principles.
Optional Modules
There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.
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The marketing environment is constantly changing and it is very important for marketers to keep up-to-date with contemporary trends and debates. This module explores current ideas within marketing scholarship and practice. It provides a vehicle to ensure that students stay abreast of theoretical advances and emerging organisational issues. Students will be able to critically evaluate areas of specific interest to them and further develop understanding and skills for marketing management. The aim of this module is to discuss some of the major issues that are currently impacting on marketing, such as environmental movements, the impact of new technologies and gender/diversity implications.
- Marketing Data Analytics
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The primary theme of this module is that service organisations require a distinctive approach to marketing and management strategy, both in their development and execution. More specifically, this module will address a number of central issues in the marketing of services, including identifying differences in service and product marketing; understanding how customers assess service quality/satisfaction; identifying and evaluating important elements of an organisation's service offerings; and understanding how loyal relationships are built and maintained with service customers.
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The module explores issues at the interface of marketing and moral philosophy; to foster ethical reasoning and decision-making; to equip students with appropriate frameworks for approaching ethical problems that may arise in day-to-day marketing practice; to develop links between the various ethical dilemmas in marketing mix decisions and marketing management more broadly; to assess the range of responses to ethical marketing issues on behalf of businesses, regulatory bodies and consumers/citizens.
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In this module you will examine the principal means of marketing communications – advertising, promotion, public relations, direct marketing and sales teams. You will develop an understanding of the contemporary media environment and how this impacts on marketers' efforts to communicate with stakeholders. You will examine how communications must be tailored to the market segment, and look at the impact of communication cultures, particularly overseas, on market entry.
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Digital technology is transforming the world of business and marketing creating a demand for marketers with sophisticated digital media and IT skills”. This module combines marketing and technology to prepare you for work in this exciting and developing area. You will examine how digital technology can be used for marketing by both commercial and not-for-profit sectors, gaining an excellent reinforcement of both basic marketing principles and an understanding of specialist areas such as brand management, international business, marketing ethics, and cutting edge developments such as digital media and netnography.
Teaching & assessment
Assessment is carried out by a variety of methods including coursework, examinations and a dissertation.
Entry requirements
2:2
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Normally, we require a UK 2:2 (Honours) or equivalent in relevant subjects. Candidates with relevant professional qualifications or professional experience in an associated area will also be considered.
International & EU requirements
English language requirements
All teaching at Royal Holloway is in English. You will therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start. Find out what scores we require.
Country-specific requirements
For more information about country-specific entry requirements for your country please see here.
Your future career
On graduating you will join an internationally diverse cohort of alumni that work in various sectors of the marketing industry, from artificial intelligence agencies to branding consultancies. You will have acquired the generic skills needed in order to build a versatile, in-depth and practical understanding of a world increasingly defined by consumerism and the role played by marketing activities.
You will gain an in-depth understanding of consumer markets, be able to analyse and respond strategically to the constantly changing marketing and consumer environment, which both challenges and builds upon traditional marketing concepts. In addition, you will have acquired a range of specific skills covered in our specialist marketing modules, from marketing data analytics to digital marketing, specifically designed for this degree and chosen for their relevance to contemporary marketing practice. Altogether, you will develop your professional skills as a marketing manager at the very cutting edge theory and practice.
As a student in the School of Business and Management you will join an AACSB accredited, intellectually stimulating, friendly and supportive research environment and, through working closely with our expert and experienced academic staff, you will be able to realise your full potential.
- Distinctive from traditional marketing programmes by focusing on multiple disciplines of marketing and consumer research, from creative and cultural studies to experimental psychology.
- Flexibility to tailor your studies to suit your specific areas of interest, such as: marketing analytics, consumer experiences, digital marketing, marketing communications and marketing sustainability
- International profile created from regularly hosting leading international marketing academics and practitioners who present their work to faculty and students.
- Accredited by CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing). On completing this course you'll be able to apply for exemptions.
“My degree from Royal Holloway helped me get this role at Microsoft, thanks to the valuable insights into the digital marketing world I gained, it also taught me how to work as part of a team in an international environment. An experience I can only highly recommend to prospective Marketing students.”
Vera Hoelscher, Sales Solutions Specialist at Microsoft
Fees, funding & scholarships
Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £14,100
EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £22,800
Other essential costs***: There are no single associated costs greater than £50 per item on this course.
How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries.
* and ** These tuition fees apply to students enrolled on a full-time basis. Students studying on the standard part-time course structure over two years are charged 50% of the full-time applicable fee for each study year.
All postgraduate fees are subject to inflationary increases. This means that the overall cost of studying the course via part-time mode is slightly higher than studying it full-time in one year. Royal Holloway's policy is that any increases in fees will not exceed 5% for continuing students. For further information, please see our terms and conditions. Please note that for research courses, we adopt the minimum fee level recommended by the UK Research Councils for the Home tuition fee. Each year, the fee level is adjusted in line with inflation (currently, the measure used is the Treasury GDP deflator). Fees displayed here are therefore subject to change and are usually confirmed in the spring of the year of entry. For more information on the Research Council Indicative Fee please see the RCUK website.
** The UK Government has confirmed that EU nationals are no longer eligible to pay the same fees as UK students, nor be eligible for funding from the Student Loans Company. This means you will be classified as an international student. At Royal Holloway, we wish to support those students affected by this change in status through this transition. For eligible EU students starting their course with us during the academic year 2023/24, we will award a fee reduction scholarship equivalent to 30% of the difference between the UK and international fee for your course. This will apply for the duration of your course. Find out more
*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2022/23 academic year, and are included as a guide. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included.
