Fred Bronner finished in 1971 his study political science at the University of Amsterdam, specializing in methods and techniques of research. After his study he is starting to work at the market research agency Veldkamp. He became General Director of Veldkamp from 1987 to 2002. The ties with the University remained and he graduated with Prof. Dr. Rob Mokken as supervisor on a dissertation with as subject how people decide (Politieke Voorkeur: oordelen en beslissen, 1978). He listened to the request ' the Academy calls’ and end 2002 he was appointed as Full Professor of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam (Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences) with specialism Media and Advertising Research.
His inaugural lecture was titled "Gezinspraak" (Family speak) and is about the consequences of the increasing democratisation in families for commercial communications. He presents the family today as a decision making unit (DMU), in which all members including children have attained a more equal say and a greater ability for persuasive communication. This state of affairs would suggest that individual preferences are no longer the best indicators to predict purchasing habits.
He is emeritus professor since 2012 at the University of Amsterdam and Honorary Fellow at ASCoR (Amsterdam School of Communication Research).
He tries to bridge the gap between theory and practice. In line with this view was his valedictory speech titled "Postillon d'amour between science and practice", in which he attempts to explain why the interaction between the worlds of science and practice sometimes is successful and sometimes fails. In his lecture he explores the relationship between these two worlds and imagines himself as bridge builder or ‘postillon d’amour’, in the hope that they will one day live happily ever after. He has published in many Dutch and international magazines. Published e.g. in Public Choice, Journal of Economic Psychology, Acta Psychologica, International Journal of Market Research, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Traumatic Stress, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Annals of Tourism Research, International Journal on Media Management, Journal of Advertising Research.
Many years chief editor of the Yearbook 'Developments in Market Research'.
Won three times the Hans du Chatinierprijs (AMMA-award) for the most innovative media research: 1998 Media-brand experience with PTT Post, 1999 Media experience with Platform ' 95 and in 2004 concerned the price the project "the Polder family" that he ran for the publisher Sanoma. In 2006 he won the Best Paper Award at 5th ICORIA (International Conference on Research in Advertising) in Bath for a paper titled "In the mood for advertising”. Got in 2012 Coq Grand Honneur of the advertising world as well as the MOA (Market Research Association) Science Prize.
In 2017 he received the Market Research Association (MOA) Oeuvre Award for his commitment and dedication in the domain of market research. June 2018 in Miami recipoent of the 2017 Charles R. Goeldner Article of Excellence Award for his best empirical research article published in the Journal of Travel Research in 2017: " Tourist demand reactions: symmetric or asymmetric across the business cycle?" .
Participated many years in the Board of SWOCC (Foundation scientific research commercial communications) and advises several companies about market research.
Currently performs various investigations into eWOM = electronic Word-Of-Mouth and its impact on consumer behaviour. Another area where he currently is publishing is the role of conspicuous consumption in consumer decisions about experiential goods like holidays and cultural visits. He speaks in this context about conspicuous leisure. A third specialism subject is multimedia synergy, multimedia usage in the purchase process and media experience.
see cv above