Advertisers keep looking for new opportunities to integrate their messages into content that adults and children are interested in. Think of embedding brands into movies, games, television programs, vlogs, and social media posts. I want to know why this is an effective way to persuade adults and children. Moreover, I would like to contribute to increasing the transparency of these embedded advertising formats and thereby aim for fair persuasive communication.

Eva van Reijmersdal is an Associate Professor of persuasive communication in the Amsterdam School of Communication Research, ASCoR at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on understanding the effects of embedded forms of advertising on adults and children and on how disclosures of sponsorship can inform the audience about the persuasive nature of these formats. For SWOCC (Dutch Foundation for Scientifc Research on Commercial Communication) she wrote a book on Influencer Marketing.

Van Reijmersdal currently holds an NWO Aspasia Grant and an Idea Generator Grant from the National Science Agenda (NWA). She is the chair of the Ethics Review Board of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam and serves as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Advertising.

She adviced the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on how to disclosure sponsored content to children online. She also adviced Dutch YouTubers and the Dutch Media Authority on sponsorship disclosure regulations and on the formulation of the Social Code: YouTube. 

Van Reijmersdal regularly appears in national and international media to talk about the impact of embedded forms of advertising such as influencer marketing, advergames, sponsored social media post and product placement.