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Dr Hela Hassen, Programme Director for the Marketing MSc

Dr Hela Hassen

Programme Director, Marketing MSc

A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Hela is a Lecturer in Marketing within the Department of Marketing at King’s Business School.

Following a successful advertising career in France, where she supported campaigns for well-known brands like Moët Hennessy and Laurent-Perrier, Hela obtained a four-year Graduate Teaching Assistantship contract with the University of Leicester as part of her PhD scholarship programme. She went on to work as a Teaching Fellow in Marketing at Leicester and as a Research Associate at the York Management School.

Research interests


Social media marketing

Exploring the use of social media and its role in contemporary society, in particular, individuals’ social and consumption practices.


Digital identity

Investigating how individuals and organisations curate and manage their digital personas across various platforms.


Social relationships

Focusing on social exchanges in both online and offline environments through the lens of reciprocal exchanges and social bonds.

Career highlights

  • Hela began her Higher Education in France, achieving a first-class honours degree in English and Media Studies at the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne. 
  • She obtained an MSc (First Class) in Marketing from the University of Leicester in 2013, receiving the coveted School of Management’s Bursary during her master’s studies.  
  • Hela completed her PhD in Marketing with the University of Leicester in 2019, exploring the processes through which digital exchanges create bonds, maintain social ties, display identities and reflect social status. 
  • She is currently working on an ethnographic research project in partnership with the universities of York in the UK and Auckland in New Zealand. It examines the changes in families’ food practices and habits during COVID-19. 

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