Persuasive Business Communication - Live Case

This course examines how businesses excel (or stumble) based on how well they tap the widening power and reach of persuasive communication nationally and across borders in today's digital age.


Students explore how different theories of persuasion and communication strategies and tools based on them are implemented in companies’ increasingly multimodal and transmedial marketing communication and other communicative efforts to engage consumers, B2B partners, and other stakeholders. This includes understanding the potential impact of different sorts and mixes of communicative messages and resources (words, texts, pictures, films, colours, immediate sensory experiences) across a variety of media and channels. It also includes corporate storytelling, relationship building, leadership, advocacy, negotiation and other strategic elements applied to strengthen companies and brands, building positive reputation, driving sales and enhancing customer loyalty.


Lectures, readings, and video clips also provide insight about communicating persuasively when developing new markets, managing ongoing business issues, and dealing with controversies and cognitive dissonance among target groups.

Course leader

Viktor Smith - Department of Management, Society and Communication

Target group

This is a bachelor level course. CBS Summer University courses at Copenhagen Business School is open to all and welcomes domestic and international students as well as professionals.

Course aim

Apply theories, models, best practices, and tools associated with persuasive communication on a live business case

Demonstrate strategic insight into setting and pursuing commercial goals and uncovering and analysing competitive or stakeholder challenges that could be alleviated with persuasive communication

Understand how a company can engage its audiences through a variety of persuasive communicative means and techniques. This includes understanding the basic psychological mechanisms that underlie consumers’ attitude formation and decision-making and the potential impact of different sorts and mixes of communicative resources across a variety of media and channels

Recognize the extent to which present-day consumers scrutinize companies’ businesses and communicative practices, also on issues well beyond their products/services and how communication can heighten customer satisfaction. This includes how a company communicates its values through CSR, issues management and stakeholder relations

Credits info

7.5 EC
This is a 6-week course. You can combine up to two 6-week courses making 15 ECTS in total.
Find more information on our website.

Fee info

DKK 6000: Tuition fee for Open University students (EU/EEA/Swiss citizenship)
DKK 12000: Tuition fee for non-European students.