The department of Marketing at the Amsterdam Business School (University of Amsterdam) invites applications for a PhD position in Marketing (Consumer Behaviour), with a content focus on responsible marketing (degrowth, deconsumption, sustainability and minimalism) and a methodological focus on experimental and survey research (possibly also some qualitative approaches like expert interviews). We are looking for candidates with the ambition to work and succeed at the highest international academic level.

What are you going to do?

The PhD position is a full-time position for a period of four years starting 1 September 2021 (or sooner). The first year will consist of PhD-level coursework, after that the candidate will start working on his or her own research agenda under the supervision of the supervisors. The third or fourth year of the PhD position typically involves a half-year visit at another internationally renowned school.

The PhD student will work in close collaboration with the supervisory team and other faculty on tasks that include:

• identifying novel research questions based on real-world phenomena or extant theory;
• understanding the theoretical foundations and prior literature relevant to understanding the phenomena;
• identifying the fundamental variables and relationships that are most important to studying the phenomena, and formalizing them in a measurement model or set of experimental hypotheses;
• gathering experimental or observational data to test hypotheses or measure phenomena;
• identifying the critical assumptions needed to draw inferences from empirical results;
• writing computer code (typically using SPSS, R) to analyse experimental or secondary data;
• presenting research findings at international conferences;
• writing up findings for publication in international journals;
• attending classes and seminars (including those offered at other universities) to further develop thinking and research skills;
• participating in and contributing to departmental research functions (PhD Day, research seminars, research meetings);
• teaching-related activities (to a limited degree), including undergraduate tutorials and the supervision of MSc and/or BSc thesis projects.

The actual project will be defined by the student and the supervisory group and thus requires creativity, self-direction, and passion for top-notch scientific research. The research will be in the broader field of responsible marketing with a focus on degrowth, deconsumption, sustainability and minimalism.

The PhD student will generate research that can be published in top-tier peer-reviewed journals in marketing, such as Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, and Journal of Marketing. The research group has a strong record publishing in these and other top journals in related fields. The final results of the PhD project are published in a PhD dissertation, and most marketing PhD dissertations at ABS aim to be published in top-tier academic journals.

What do we require?

F ormal requirements:

• Masters’ degree (preferably a Research Master´s or MPhil degree) in Marketing or a related field (candidates with a degree in psychology are encouraged to apply);
• GMAT or GRE score of no more than five years old (for students with a Master degree obtained from a non-Dutch university). An indication of the minimum score required is 85%.;
• proof of English proficiency through a TOEFL test (score of at least 100 on the internet based test and 600 on the paper based test) or IELTS test (minimum score of 7.5), where the scores were obtained no more than two years before the application.

Task-related requirements:

• excellent speaking and writing ability in fluent English, ideally with experience writing for a scientific audience;
• willingness and motivation to independently formulate research projects and carry them through to completion;
• excellent organizational skills;
• experience conducting experimental research;
• statistical skills and command of standard software packages for analysing experimental data (e.g., R, SPSS, SAS, Stata), and a strong willingness to develop these skills further;
• command of empirical software packages (e.g., Qualtrics) and a strong willingness to develop these skills further.

Additional requirements:

• strong motivation to pursue an international career as a leading scholar;
• strong commitment to methodological rigor and scientific integrity;
• energy and passion for consumer behaviour, consumer psychology, and marketing, with a special interest in socially-oriented topics (i.e., shown by choice of thesis topic or course specialization);
• intellectual curiosity, eagerness to learn, and openness to criticism;
• proof of 'good citizienship' beyond academic achievements (i.e., volunteering experience).

Our offer

We offer a full-time position (38 hours per week) for a period of four years starting 1 September 2021 (or sooner). The employment contract will be for an initial period of 18 months, with an intermediate evaluation after 18 months with a possibility to extend it for 30 months (in total 4 years). End-result should be a PhD thesis. An educational plan will be drafted that includes attendance of courses and (international) conferences.

The gross monthly salary will range from €2,395 in the first year to €3,061 in the last year. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

What else do we offer?

The Marketing section of the Amsterdam Business School focuses on research in a wide range of topical areas and methods in marketing (consumer behavior, marketing strategy and quantitative marketing).

The members of the department have published their research in the top-tier academic Marketing journals, such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, International Journal of Marketing, Journal of Concumer Psychology, etc.

Members of the department are also involved in teaching in undergraduate and master level programs, as well as in executive education, and uphold strong relationships to business, NGOs and governmental organizations.

As a section, we strongly commit to the University of Amsterdam’s research vision to create closer links of academic research with the broader needs of society and to contribute to a more sustainable society, environment and planet.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Economics and Business – Marketing Section

Education and Research at UvA Economics and Business (EB) provides academic courses for more than 7,000 students in Economics, Business, Actuarial Science, Econometrics, and a variety of courses in the Executive Master’s programs. The Faculty also conducts research programs in many specialist areas and employs about 400 people. The EB has an internationally acclaimed profile and is located in the heart of Amsterdam. EB consists of the Amsterdam Business School (ABS) and the Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE)

The Amsterdam Business School provides an inspiring and truly international research environment. This manifests itself in the ties its members have with major schools around the globe, and its international seminar program.

Business school researchers have access to excellent facilities, including an experimental behavioral lab, and a behavioral lab (including sound-insulated cubicles, group labs, video labs, virtual reality, and facilities for eye tracking, EEG/ERP). High-performance computing is available to researchers via SURFSara (a Dutch consortium for scientific computing). The Amsterdam Business School focuses on high quality research while it fosters diversity in terms of research topics and methods.

A Financial Times ranking places Amsterdam Business School (ABS) at number 7 among European business schools in terms of research output focusing on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Amsterdam Business School is also the only Dutch institution to be listed in the top-10.