For release: March 1, 2012
For press information, contact Dr. Marla Stafford, 901-678-2499

This fall the University of Memphis will launch a degree minor in social commerce through the Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management in the Fogelman College of Business & Economics. Using core and emerging social technologies built on established marketing and communications principles, students will learn how to engage consumers effectively through technology-centric channels.

Concepts taught in the program will include online listening, online influence, virtual trust, social principles, digital currency, e-engagement, adoption drivers, and e-value chain.

A key focus of the minor will be a required internship/practicum during which students will actively apply skills learned in the classroom. They will gain hands-on experience with a variety of firms, including small businesses, larger corporations, community non-profits, and government organizations.

Business majors will need just 12 hours to complete the minor; students with a major outside of the Fogelman College will need 18 hours. Courses will include principles of marketing, principles of social commerce, social commerce and analytics, consumer behavior, advertising and sales promotion, and website development. Students will also choose one of two electives, either “Social Media Practices” or “Media 2.0: Production & Distribution in the Internet Age.”

“We developed this minor because so many businesses of all sizes and from different industries were looking for help in the area of social media,” said Dr. Marla Royne Stafford, First Tennessee Professor of Marketing and chair of the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management. “By developing a minor, we are able to create a program that covers a unique set of skills that can be utilized in a wide range of businesses. We believe that this minor will prepare students for effectively utilizing social media in their careers.”

For more information, contact Stafford at mstaffrd@memphis.edu or Dr. Eric Brey at ericbrey@memphis.edu