Postdoctoral: Effects of Advertising for Non-Alcoholic Beverages on Drinking Behaviour

Are you excited to conduct research on non-alcoholic marketing and its relationship with drinking behaviour in young people? Do you want to join an interdisciplinary team including members from academia, policy, and practice? Are you exceptionally interested in using innovative methodologies in your research and enthusiastic about handling and analysing big data? We would like to get to know you!

The BRAND Project
We have started an exciting project to explore the effects of (online and offline) marketing for alcohol-free beverages on cognition and behaviour. Given the relatively recent emergence of alcohol-free beverages, there is limited understanding of their impact and how their marketing influences alcohol consumption. In this project we would like to gain insight into the exposure of non-alcoholic marketing and its relationship with drinking behaviour among young people.

Marketing for alcoholic products is known to lead to earlier and increased consumption, resulting in (partial) restrictions. However, regulations for alcohol-free product marketing are less strict. The presentation of alcohol-free beverages often closely resembles that of alcoholic drinks, potentially influencing alcohol consumption patterns. This postdoc project is part of a larger project that has the main aim to answer the questions: a) How much are young people exposed to alcohol and alcohol-free marketing (both offline and online)? b) Do young people drink more alcohol as a result? and c) What are the conditions/explanatory mechanisms? To answer these questions, advanced methods and analysis will be used, such as data donation and diary data.

For this project, the program group Developmental Psychology of the Faculty Social and Behavioural Sciences is looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher who is interested to participate in this ZonMW funded alcohol prevention project.

Information on the larger project can be found here

What are you going to do
You will become part of a team working on a ZonMw funded alcohol prevention project ‘BRAND - Exposure to advertisements for non-alcoholic beverages and the effects on drinking behavior’ directed by Dr. Martine Groefsema (Radboud University Nijmegen) and Dr. Helle Larsen (University of Amsterdam). You will be employed at the University of Amsterdam but will work closely with the PI Martine Groefsema and the research team at Radboud University Nijmegen.

As part of this team consisting of interdisciplinary researchers and societal partners, together with a PhD student,

you will play a central role in this project. You will work on a wide array of research tasks, that include contributing to the study protocol of social media data donation and diary study. Together with the PhD student, you will manage and supervise data collection, data preparation, develop and conduct data analysis and draft articles for journal publication. There will be ample room for your own contributions and creativity and for writing grant applications together.

Moreover, your tasks will include the following:

• Develop social media data donation protocol;
• Prepare, combine and manage the datasets;
• Conduct (big) data analysis and prepare results for publications;
• Draft articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals;
• Contribute to the program group Developmental Psychology and collaborate closely with researchers from the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University Nijmegen, attending conferences and workshops.

The anticipated start date is 15th May 2025. The Postdoctoral position is for a duration of two years.

What do you have to offer
You are an enthusiastic and conscientious researcher who remains calm under pressure. You enjoy working collaboratively in a team and have a passion for research and big data analysis. An interest in data donation is a plus, and you are eager to further develop your knowledge and skills in this area.

Your experience and profile:

• A PhD degree in one of the social or behavioural sciences, such as psychology, communication, sociology or a related field;
• Experience in managing (large) datasets;
• Methodological skills (quantitative analysis, machine learning, computational modelling);
• Experience with conducting longitudinal data analysis and/or data analysis on repeated measures data;
• Affinity with Open Science, such as pre-registrations and data sharing;
• Independence, but also a strong capacity for teamwork;
• Full professional working proficiency in English (speaking, writing, reading).

International candidates are encouraged to apply but must be willing to relocate to the Netherlands for the duration of the position.

What else do we offer you
The position concerns (temporary) employment of 22.8 (0.6FTE) hours a week for a maximum term of two years. The initial employment is for one year with a two-month trial period. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances your appointment will be extended for another year. We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events.

The UvA offers excellent possibilities for further professional development and education.

What also offer...

• a position in which initiative and input are highly valued;
• an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues;
• an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam and collaborating closely with Radboud University Nijmegen.

You will work in this department
You will work with dr. Helle Larsen and be embedded in the program group Developmental Psychology where we conduct research in areas such as addiction, psychopathology (e.g., personality disorders, anxiety), mild intellectual disabilities, dyslexia, math anxiety, and aging-related diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Furthermore, we explore topics such as social media and development, the development of attention in infants, computational modelling of social learning and decision-making during childhood and adolescence, as well as the influence of social factors on development and identity. You will also work with dr. Martine Groefsema and her team is part of the Behavioural Science Institute, Communication Science conducting research on risk-taking and the influential roles of media and marketing. Both teams are warm and collaborative, ambitious about scientific contributions and value scientific integrity (open science, transparency) as well as education and mentorship (teaching, training, and mentoring junior researchers).

For questions about the vacancy, you can contact:

Helle Larsen: H.Larsen@uva.nl

If you recognize yourself in this profile and are interested in the role, we look forward to receiving your motivation letter (max 800 words), CV (including publications) and two references. You can apply via the red button until March 2nd 2025. Interviews will take place on March 14th 2025. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be given preference over external candidates.

No agencies please.

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22.8 hours per week

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