Curriculum: Online Master of Science in Marketing

Curriculum: Online Master of Science in Marketing
11.15.2025
32-39
01.12.2026
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curriculum icon Curriculum at a Glance

Our Master of Science in Marketing program focuses on four key pillars to equip professionals for success in today’s dynamic marketing landscape. The curriculum emphasizes mastering Consumer Psychology & Strategy, Planning & Design, Build & Execution, and Analytics. Students delve into human emotions, decision-making processes, and buyer journeys, craft compelling messages, create strategic digital content, leverage digital platforms, and cultivate data-driven decision-making skills. This comprehensive approach ensures graduates are well-prepared to excel in the competitive field of marketing.

Our program also utilizes experience-based learning as an integral component. Real-world field-study experiences provide students with the opportunity to acquire practical, hands-on knowledge to establish or further their careers in the marketing profession. With credit hours consisting mostly of elective opportunities (18 credits), you can design your own experience with courses across the renowned Lindner College of Business that apply to your career aspirations.

For a breakdown of the credit hours needed, please see below or view the major map.

Basic Business Knowledge Courses* 7 Credits
Required Courses 14 Credits
Elective Courses 18 Credits
Total Credits 32-39 Credits

*Basic Business Knowledge Courses are required of students who do not have an undergraduate degree in business. Some or all of these credits can possibly be waived with demonstrated previous undergraduate coursework and/or professional experience. To find out if you qualify, contact your Enrollment Advisor.

Basic Business Knowledge Courses

7 Credits
Course Title / Description Credit
ACCT 7000
Foundations in Accounting
Course: ACCT 7000
Credit: 2
This course educates students in the fundamentals of finance and accounting. The methods covered are used extensively throughout the MBA program. Topics include: the accounting process that results in the preparation of financial statements for external users, techniques for analyzing a basic set of financial statements, using accounting information to support management decisions, and using time value of money techniques to evaluate capital asset decisions. (MS Accounting students cannot earn credit by taking this course.) This course cannot be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs.
2
BANA 7011
Data Analysis
Course: BANA 7011
Credit: 2
Introduction to data analysis and statistical methods with focus on practical decisions using quantitative models in a spreadsheet environment. Topics include sources of data, descriptive and graphical statistical methods, probability, distributions, sampling and sampling distributions, estimation, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. This course may not be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs.
2
ECON 7000
Foundations in Economics
Course: ECON 7000
Credit: 2
This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of economics at the graduate level for students without previous economics coursework. Students will be exposed to the essentials of both microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics topics to be discussed include the supply and demand mechanism,how markets are affected by regulation and taxation, costs of production, and how market structure affects outcomes. Macroeconomic topics to be discussed include the fundamental measures of the aggregate economy, the sources of economic growth, explaining short-run fluctuations in economic activity, and how government policies can affect these fluctuations. A particular focus will be to understand how fundamental economic principles at both the micro and macro level can affect companies, investments, industries, and national economies. This course may not be used as an elective course for Lindner College of Business Master's programs.
2
MKTG 7000
Marketing Foundations
Course: MKTG 7000
Credit: 1
The purpose of this course is to provide students with a foundation in Marketing. Concepts such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, customer and market analysis, and basic marketing planning will be introduced. This course cannot be used as an elective for Linder College of Business master's students.
1
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Core Courses

14 Credits
Course Title / Description Credit
MKTG 7012
Marketing Research for Managers
Course: MKTG 7012
Credit: 4
Explores the role of marketing research in marketing management. Students do hands-on assignments to develop their understanding of methods for designing and implementing marketing research projects, including collecting, analyzing, and summarizing data pertinent to solving marketing problems. Developing experience in key aspects of marketing research is stressed.
4
MKTG 7015
Buyer Behavior
Course: MKTG 7015
Credit: 2
Consumer behavior is the study of human responses to products, services, and the marketing of these products and services. The topic is of critical importance to managers because the focus on the consumer is the key contribution of marketing to business practice; other business functions (e.g.,finance, accounting, production) ignore the consumer. Managers who really understand the consumer develop better products and services, and also market their products and services more effectively.
2
MKTG 7028
Marketing Ethics
Course: MKTG 7028
Credit: 2
This course is designed to provide MS/MBA students with a broad, practical overview of ethical issues in marketing. Drawing from moral philosophy and cognitive psychology, students will acquire and refine analytical and managerial decision-making skills through the application of ethical principles to moral dilemmas represented in case examples. The primary emphasis of this course is on managerial decision-making. A central theme of this course is that good decisions are informed by a thorough understanding of the subjective biases to which individual human judgments and group decisions are prone.
2
MKTG 7035
Marketing Strategy for Managers
Course: MKTG 7035
Credit: 2
This course aims to develop a conceptual framework for strategic planning and introduce a handful of analytical tools. Importantly, strategy involves wrestling with knotty problems and testing solutions in a group context. Therefore, we develop descriptive familiarity and some analytical prowess around real problems and develop vital points of reference we can utilize in future, analogous circumstances. We analyze marketing cases that pivot on substantial, contemporary issues involving branding, market selection, business definition, program development and management, among others.
2
MKTG 7099
Master of Science in Marketing Capstone
Course: MKTG 7099
Credit: 4
At UC's College of Business, the MS/Marketing Capstone faculty supervisor solicits proposals for projects from organizations (for-profit and not-for-profit) based on participating students' general areas of interest. After the project proposals are previewed and rated by students, the faculty supervisor assigns each student to a project for a five-month learning experience in which students address real marketing problems provided by various client organizations. The scope of these projects centers on any of the following: marketing planning, marketing research,branding and brand architecture initiatives, distribution or channel assessment/ alignment, customer relationship management (CRM) strategies and implementation, analysis of potential marketing initiatives, marketing for non-profits, healthcare marketing, new product development initiatives, and sports marketing. The prime objective of this course is to produce a "win-win"situation for students and clients: these assignments should prove to be valuable "real-world" learning experiences for students, and it is expected that each student will provide a valued output for the client organization.
4
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Elective Courses

Students must complete 18 credit hours of electives, of which 12 must be in the graduate marketing discipline. The remaining six hours can be fulfilled with any Lindner College of Business (LCB) graduate course, excluding the Basic Business Knowledge Courses : ACCT 7000, MGMT 7000, BANA 7011, ECON 7000, FIN 7000, MKTG 7000, and MKTG 7011. Graduate courses outside of LCB require prior approval of the academic director.

18 Credits
Course Title / Description Credit
MKTG 7014
Systematic Innovation Tools
Course: MKTG 7014
Credit: 2
This course focuses on how to create value and growth through innovation in new and existing markets. Students will learn the skills of innovation and how to apply those skills within the context of a marketing strategy framework. Students will apply innovation methods across the entire marketing management continuum including strategy, segmentation, targeting, positioning, and the 4P's. The course will be taught using interactive workshop methods and techniques throughout. Students will first experience these facilitation techniques while learning innovation. They will then learn and practice these techniques so that they can apply them routinely throughout their graduate experience and beyond.
2
MKTG 7019
Product Management
Course: MKTG 7019
Credit: 2
Examining the strategic decisions and tactical elements of managing a product throughout its lifecycle.
2
MKTG 7020
New Product Development
Course: MKTG 7020
Credit: 2
Students will study the process of market analysis, customer needs assessment, new product concept development, and market launch strategy.
2
MKTG 7021
Design Thinking for Business
Course: MKTG 7021
Credit: 2
This course introduces design thinking as a business problem solving approach. It overviews design thinking techniques and has hands on practice applying these to classic business challenges. It fosters creativity and teamwork in the increasingly ambiguous business world in which today's business leaders must compete.
2
MKTG 7025
Advertising and Marketing Communication
Course: MKTG 7025
Credit: 2
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to elements of advertising and promotion.The course is designed from the perspective of managers who will need to make decisions about marketing communications programs. Topics covered include: setting objectives, positioning, target audience selection, creative strategy, media strategy, advertising research and evaluation. The marketing communications program is seen as one part of the overall marketing mix. The material covered in the course is relevant for all types of organizations (large, small, public, or private).
2
MKTG 7026
Influence Strategies
Course: MKTG 7026
Credit: 2
Social influence refers to the attempt of one party to gain compliance from another party. It is a universal feature of human existence and widely practiced by sellers. This course will examine principles of social influence and their applications in marketing. Based on noted psychologist Robert B. Cialdini's authoritative book "Influence: Science and Practice" students will learn the psychological secrets underlying powerful persuasion techniques used by advertisers, sales professionals, direct marketers, politicians, religious cults, and others.
2
MKTG 7027
Digital Marketing Tools
Course: MKTG 7027
Credit: 2
This course explores use of digital technologies as they are used for the marketing, selling, and the distribution of goods and services. New developments unfold rapidly in this arena, hence course content changes as appropriate. The goal is to develop an understanding of the opportunities and limitations of digital tools for marketing and how these tools support marketing strategy.
2
MKTG 7030
Branding Strategy
Course: MKTG 7030
Credit: 2
This course will explore a range of issues related to the strategic management of Brands including an overview of Brands and Brand Management, brand equity/brand positioning, designing and implementing Brand strategies, and managing Brand Equities across geographic boundaries. Emphasis will be on applying the Strategic Brand Management theory to practical application/case studies. The class will focus on Strategic Brand Management principles which are relevant across a wide range of Branding situations (consumable and non-consumable products, services, retail outlets,people, organizations, places, and even ideas like a political or social cause).
2
MKTG 7031
International Marketing for Managers
Course: MKTG 7031
Credit: 2
MKTG 7031 is a text, case, and country-based exploration of key aspects of international marketing: foreign entry, local marketing and global marketing.
2
MKTG 7032
Sales Management Strategy
Course: MKTG 7032
Credit: 2
In the 50s and 60s Marketing was perceived to be largely a Sales function. As Marketing permeated the way it has, in the past twenty years, the Sales function has merely become a component of Marketing. It is considered an integrative component of Marketing since it is the one that translates plans/programs into results/revenues. It converts the potential into actual. As a focal point, Sales Management is considered indispensable particularly to those who wish to develop a marketing career. Sales people benefit first, from the implementation of the marketing programs to achieve goals and, second, from the exposure to the "customer"- the market. So, therefore, experience in Sales is essential not only for better understanding the market and the various tools of marketing but also for developing a solid background necessary for climbing up the latter to the corporate executive ranks.
2
MKTG 7033
Retailing Strategy
Course: MKTG 7033
Credit: 2
This course gives an overview of the retailing industry with an emphasis on the cutting edge strategies, technologies and success stories by major retailers originating in the U.S. and beyond. You will be introduced to retailing from both theoretical and managerial perspectives, with a special emphasis on the most current developments in the industry. Major topics covered include the basic principles of retailing, pricing and financial strategy, winning strategies of successful retailers (including use of store atmospherics, customer service, CRM and technology) and their success stories, as well as the rampant globalization and digitization of the retailing industry.
2
MKTG 7037
Digital Marketing Strategy
Course: MKTG 7037
Credit: 2
This course explores the use of digital marketing – the integrated use of demand generation digital platforms and multiple social channels – to create digital conversations that enable brands to send the right message, to the right person, at the right time. A digital conversation is a sequence of communications, or "touch points," that nurture a prospect through each of the marketing funnel stages. It is the execution of the brand’s storytelling in a digital format, addressing the prospect's “moment that matter” in each funnel stage, and progressively profiling the prospect to optimize content delivery. The goal is to quickly connect with the prospect, reduce the time it takes to convert them to customers, and create long term loyalty.
2
MKTG 7038
Digital Marketing Analytics
Course: MKTG 7038
Credit: 2
Digital Marketing Analytics refers to the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data associated with digital marketing touch points such as web sites, mobile sites, email, and mobile apps to improve the customer experience and drive desired outcomes. Digital marketing analytics has become an integral part of core business strategies and maintaining a competitive edge. Digital marketing analytics can help the manager determine how to best spend marketing resources.
2
MKTG 7040
Marketing Performance Metrics
Course: MKTG 7040
Credit: 2
There is an increased need for marketing managers to measure and justify marketing spending to CEO’s, CFO’s, Management Consultants and Investors. Companies are increasingly cautious about marketing spending due to the economy and the continued fragmentation of marketing channels, and the increasing importance of word of mouth. These changes make marketing resource allocation decisions much more complex. In addition, the increasing availability of data (“Big Data”) and techniques for dealing with it (i.e., machine learning, computational mathematics) has made assessing marketing performance more feasible. This course focuses on providing you with tools and approaches to gauge the impact of marketing actions – short and long term. More specifically, it provides an overview of currently available marketing metrics, how to determine the most appropriate marketing measures (Key Performance Indices-KPI) for a specific company, and whether that data is available or needs to be created, and how to construct a marketing measurement system or dashboard to enable return on marketing investment (ROMI). Students who will benefit from this course include those interested in current or anticipated positions in the following: • Marketing at either the firm or business line level • Planning and strategic planning, • Operating positions for a business line or firm • Entrepreneurs launching new businesses
2
MKTG 7041
Marketing for Social Change
Course: MKTG 7041
Credit: 2
A company's most important asset may be its reputation. A powerful way to enhance that reputation is by supporting a relevant and meaningful cause, one that aligns well to the company's brands and to the customers it serves. Marketing for Social Change is all about how to use marketing to further a worthy cause. A well-designed cause marketing program has many benefits which you will explore in this course.
2
MKTG 7043
Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Managers
Course: MKTG 7043
Credit: 2
MKTG 7043 is designed to provide the student with a cohesive understanding of how to use various artificial intelligence platforms across the entire continuum of marketing management through the exploration of marketing problems with an emphasis on qualitative and quantitative analysis, integrative marketing decision-making, and strategy formulation.
2
MKTG 7093
Marketing Special Topics
Course: MKTG 7093
Credit: 1-3
This course explores selected and timely topics in depth. Focus of this course will publicized prior to each offering.
1-3
MKTG 7071
Current Issues and Tools
Course: MKTG 7071
Credit: 2
This course explores selected and timely topics in depth. Focus of this course will be publicized prior to each offering.
2
INTB 8009
Study Abroad Italy: Luxury Innovation
Course: INTB 8009
Credit: 2
This is a portfolio development course that applies a capstone approach to solving a client’s business challenge. This course is designed to help students who are seeking a career in a consulting practice, or as a senior leader in a business development group, demonstrate competency in international marketing, luxury marketing models and the application of innovation techniques.
2
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Lindner Electives

Students can take up to 6 graduate credit hours of courses from the Lindner College of Business. However, MKTG 7011 and the Basic Business Knowledge Courses are excluded and may not count as electives.

0-6 Credits
Course Title / Description Credit
Course:
Credit:

ACCT6XXX+
BA6XXX+
BANA6XXX+
BLAW6XXX+
ECON6XXX+
ENTR6XXX+
FIN6XXX+
INTB6XXX+
IRM6XXX+
IS6XXX+
MGMT6XXX+
OM6XXX+
RE6XXX+

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