Psychology of Communication and Marketing

The course is divided into a part of lectures (3 credits) and a laboratory part (3 credits). Frontal lessons (about 24 hours): The course offers an introduction to some of the contributions that psychodynamic models provide for the investigation of communication, marketing and prediction of consumption behavior. Starting from the historical link between propaganda and psychoanalysis (in the figure of E. Bernays, nephew of S. Freud), the course includes three thematic modules: the first on the psychodynamic interpretation of advertising messages, the second on the socio-cognitive and psychodynamic models of brand personality, and the third on the role of implicit social cognition in the prediction of consumption (and voting) behavior compared to the explicit one. As regards the first module, the distinction between manifest content and latent content of the advertising message will be introduced (Forest, 2015), the affective symbolization of the brand / product as the target of the message, collusive dynamics and local cultures as elements to be considered in the analysis of demand of the message. Furthermore, a series of categories useful for the psychodynamic interpretation of the advertising message will be introduced such as Lichtenberg's motivational systems and social mentalities (Brasini et al., 2020), narcissism (Vecchione et al., 2018), and value orientations ​​(Vecchione and Alessandri, 2017). As regards the second module, the following will be illustrated: 1) a socio-cognitive model of brand personality based on the theory of the five big factors (Model Prospect; Caprara and Barbaranelli, 2000) and on the circumflex structure of Schwartz's values ​​(Vecchione and Alessandri, 2017 ); 2) a psychodynamic model based on the Jungian theory of archetypes (Archetypal Branding: Mark and Pearson, 2001). Finally, in the third module the research tradition of implicit social cognition will be introduced (Kurdi and Banaji, 2021), highlighting the differences between associative and propositional models, and illustrating the role of implicit measures (compared to explicit ones) in the context of marketing (Dimofte, 2010) and voting behavior (Gawronski, Galdi and Arcuri, 2015). Laboratory part (about 36 hours): Three laboratory modules will be conducted, one for each frontal lesson module. In the first, students (divided in small groups) will be invited to make a psychodynamic evaluation of the advertising message that will include: 1) the selection of specific advertisements for each group; 2) the use of a special psychodynamic interpretation sheet of advertising in order to identify the targets, the affective symbolizations, the cultural collusive dynamics, the motivational and value patterns potentially stimulated in the selected spots; 3) Presentation of the works for each group with the aim of evaluating the process of analyzing the demand that was at the basis of the creation of the selected spots. In the second laboratory module, groups of students will have to develop a questionnaire to assess the personality of a brand using, as part of the prospect model, the typical items of the five factor model and the Schwartz values ​​model. In addition, they will have to identify to what extent the brand they have selected falls within the archetype models proposed in the context of archetypal branding. Finally, there will be a final plenary discussion on the scales developed. In the third and final laboratory module, the different groups of students will have to conceive and develop an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a Relational Responding Task (RRT) designed to measure some theoretical concepts of interest for communication and marketing psychology. . Each group of students will have to: 1) select the construct of interest; 2) develop specific items, adapting the relative instructions; 3) implement their measures on Inquisit program. Finally, there will be a final plenary discussion on the work carried out.

The course requires the knowledge of the basic psychodynamic categories acquired during the three-year degree. A brief summary of the fundamentals of dynamic psychology will allow students to recall the contents useful for the program and to improve learning processes.

1) Five papers to introduce some psychodynamic and psychosocial categories for the interpretation of advertising message: a) Forest, (2016). Psychoanalysis of Advertising. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 13(4): 338–350; b) Carli, R. (1990). Il processo di collusione nelle rappresentazioni sociali. Rivista di Psicologia Clinica, 3, 282-296. c) Brasini, M., Tanzilli, A., Pistella, J., Gentile, D., Di Marco, I., Mancini, F., Lingiardi, V., Baiocco, R. (2020). The Social Mentalities Scale: A new measure for assessing the interpersonal motivations underlying social relationnships. Personality and Individual Differences, 167, 2-13. d) Vecchione, M., Dentale, F., Graziano, M., Dufner, M., Wetzel, E., Leckelt, M., & Back, M. D. (2018). An Italian validation of the Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ): Further evidence for a two-dimensional model of grandiose narcissism. Applied Psychology Bulletin, 281(67), 29–37. e) Vecchione, M., & Alessandri, G. (2017). Un contributo alla validazione italiana del Portrait Values Questionnaire-Revised (PVQ-R) [Validation of the Italian version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire-Revised (PVQ-R)]. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 44, 322-346. 2) Two book on brand personality, the first in a social-cognitive tradition and the second in a psychodynamic perspective: a) Caprara G. e Barbaranelli C. (2000). Capi di Governo, Telefonini e Bagni schiuma. Raffaello Cortina, Milano; b) Mark, M., & Pearson, C. (2001). The hero and the outlaw: building extraordinary brands through the power of archetypes. New York: McGraw-Hill. 3) Three research papers in the framework of implicit social cognition, with a particular focus on marketing psychology: a) Kurdi & Banaji (2021). Implicit social cognition: A brief (and gentle) introduction. in A. S. Reber & R. Allen (Eds.), The cognitive unconscious: The first half-century. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. b) Dimofte C.V. (2010). Implicit measures of consumer cognition: A review. Psychology and Marketing, 27 (10), 921-937. c) Gawronski, B, Galdi, S, Arcuri, L (2015). What can political psychology learn from implicit measures? Empirical evidence and new directions. Political Psychology 36(1): 1–17.

There are three teaching models: lectures, group discussion and active participation in laboratory activities in the field of consumption behavior research. I) Lectures (about 24 hours) will be used in particular in the first part of the course to introduce the classical models of dynamic psychology and the main themes of contemporary dynamic psychology useful to understand mental processes involved in consumption behavior. II) Group discussions on the psychodynamic interpretation of commercials spots under the supervision of the teacher will be used to complete the lectures and will be carried out mainly at the beginning of the laboratory module (about 10 hours). In particular, through the conceptual path proposed in the lectures will be introduced an instrument for the psychodynamic interpretation of advertising messages that will then be used in group discussions. III) Laboratory activities in the context of brand personality and consumer behavior will be carried out mainly in the second and third modules, with three different phases: a) Personal participation in the development of tools for assessing the determinants of consumer behavior and brand personality as theorized in the prospect model and archetypal branding; b) Participation in the development of implicit measures for the evaluation of automatic associations and implicit beliefs involved in the determination of consumer behavior; c) scoring and data interpretation of both implicit and explicit measures.

The frequency of the course is suggested, especially the group discussion activities of the commercials spots and the laboratori research activities on the determinants of consumption behavior.

The examination will be oral with questions that will cover: a) theoretical topics covered in the course (present in the exam texts) with possible applications for the interpretation of consumer behavior; 2) research procedures and techniques for the construction of scales in brand personality domain. 3) procedures and research techniques for the measurement of automatic associations and implicit beliefs involved in the determination of consumption behavior. The evaluation will be conducted using the following criteria: a) The questions on theoretical subjects introduced in the lectures may be for up to 20 points; b) Questions related to the techniques and research procedures in the context of planned in-depth behavior in the laboratory module may be for up to 5 points; c) The questions related to the research techniques and procedures on implicit social cognition explained during the laboratory activities may be for up to 5 points. The final grade will be the sum of the scores obtained in the questions related to the three previous points. The honors will be awarded to the students who, having taken the maximum in answering the questions, will have distinguished themselves for a high critical level of comprehension of the knowledge transmitted.

For a general overview on implicit social cognition: Gawronski, B., & Payne, B. K. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of implicit social cognition: Measurement, theory, and applications. New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.

There are three teaching models: lectures, group discussion and active participation in laboratory activities in the field of consumption behavior research. I) Lectures (about 24 hours) will be used in particular in the first part of the course to introduce the classical models of dynamic psychology and the main themes of contemporary dynamic psychology useful to understand mental processes involved in consumption behavior. II) Group discussions on the psychodynamic interpretation of commercials spots under the supervision of the teacher will be used to complete the lectures and will be carried out mainly at the beginning of the laboratory module (about 10 hours). In particular, through the conceptual path proposed in the lectures will be introduced an instrument for the psychodynamic interpretation of advertising messages that will then be used in group discussions. III) Laboratory activities in the context of brand personality and consumer behavior will be carried out mainly in the second and third modules, with three different phases: a) Personal participation in the development of tools for assessing the determinants of consumer behavior and brand personality as theorized in the prospect model and archetypal branding; b) Participation in the development of implicit measures for the evaluation of automatic associations and implicit beliefs involved in the determination of consumer behavior; c) scoring and data interpretation of both implicit and explicit measures.