Your career prospects 

The desire to influence people's behaviour exists at many levels in society: the government wants to make sure its citizens abide by the law and, for example, complete tax returns truthfully or adhere to traffic regulations. Municipal institutions want to encourage citizens to separate their waste or to help care for the elderly. Commercial organisations want to encourage their target group to purchase specific products or use services, whereas charitable organisations want to encourage potential donors to donate or become volunteers, and medical organisations want to encourage patients to comply with the prescribed medication regimen. 

To achieve these goals, these organisations often call upon the expertise of advertising or marketing agencies as well as research and consultancy firms. Some organisations even have such specialised departments in-house, such as strategy, communication or marketing departments. Other examples include the many governmental or semi-public institutions involved in monitoring and enforcement, such as the Authority for the Financial Markets, the Authority for Consumers & Markets and the Advertising Code Committee, etc. 

Where do our graduates work?

Graduates of this Master’s track often go on to work as: 

• Strategists/Researchers at advertising agencies and consultancy firms. 
• Behavioural influence consultants (e.g., the Nutrition Centre, patient associations, electricity companies, large municipalities). 
• Policy and research positions at governmental institutions such as ministries, educational settings and municipalities. 
• Applied researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP or commercial market research agencies such as Motivaction, TNO, and Kantar TNS. 
• Consumer behaviour advisors/researchers.  

Skills

Graduates of the Social Influence Master’s track are able to develop evidence-based interventions using the Intervention Mapping approach; can do applied research into the determinants of human behavior from a social-psychological perspective; and are able to translate scientific knowledge to the applied context in order to achieve organizational goals more effectively. 

UvA Student Careers Centre

The Student Careers Centre is there to help with your career development. You can contact them to discuss your options, ambitions and doubts at any time during your studies.

Your diploma is not a farewell

After graduating, you don't have to say goodbye to the University of Amsterdam! We are happy to help you develop your career. You can join the young alumni programme, which will assist you in mapping out your career. And as an alumnus, you can also still use the Student Careers Centre.