A communication and marketing psychologist uses the psychological sciences to improve how businesses, institutions and social organisations provide promote themselves, their products/services and the values they aspire to. Among the many professions in psychology, it is certainly one of the most practical and interdisciplinary, in “the front line” in the world of manufacturing, publishing and politics.
Over the last few decades, the communication industry has really boomed, driven along by the development of new digital technology and intertwined with profound socio-cultural changes. The marketing industry has undergone a similar boom in everything from market research studies and, in general, studies of phenomena linked with consumerism and services. These are now such key factors in economic-social life that nobody can ignore them. The gradual expansion of the communication and marketing industry has resulted in a simultaneous increase in scientific studies into the psychological processes involved in communication and in how we actually use goods and services. A communication and marketing psychologist specialises in these fields and must have a solid grounding in the conventional domains of psychology combined with expertise in other social sciences and economic-humanistic subjects.
Qualifications required for becoming a communication and marketing psychologist
A psychologist of communication and marketing will have a master’s degree in psychology, have passed the board examination and be licenced in category A of the Association of Psychologists. People aspiring to this kind of career often focus their studies on relevant subjects right from the start, including courses like the psychology of communication, economic psychology, consumer psychology and marketing psychology. A firm grounding in statistics is also extremely important. Other conventional fields of study include advertising, methods of communicating effectively, and consumer behaviour. Here again, it is important to train as an intern in the appropriate kind of business: for example, the business office of a major company or consultancy agency specialising in communication. After graduating, it is advisable to take a master’s degree in a relevant subject: there are plenty available in faculties of psychology and economics.
Career opportunities for a communication and marketing psychologist?
A communication and marketing psychologist operates in places where work involves business-institutional communication, advertising, marketing, market research and the planning of marketing campaigns.
They will often work for rather large and carefully structured businesses with their own study-business centres and their own strategic market vision and target group. They may also work for communication and consultancy agencies that plan and carry out market research/campaigns for both private and public clients. Once they have gained their own reputation, communication marketing psychologists can, of course, work freelance, making their expertise directly available to clients.
Scientific research is another field in which they may be employed, most frequently on studies applied to the real world of economic production and publishing.
Job description of a communication and marketing psychologist
A communication and marketing psychologist studies psychological processes and behavioural patterns associated with the flow of communication and workings of consumerism, intervening to improve the projects either public or private clients are planning in these domains.
For example, they may help plan an effective advertising campaign for a company, carry out a psychosocial study on markets targeted by specific products or services or be involved in the design of a technological interface that consumers can easily comprehend. Alternatively, they may work on improving an organisation’s internal communication or help an institution gain or regain the general public’s trust.
A particularly important aspect of a communication and marketing psychologist’s work is collecting data to be analysed by means of statistical methods of multivariate analysis, such as discriminant analysis, factorial analyses, canonical correspondence analyses, conjoint and cluster analyses.