PhD Position in Business Administration / Management & Economics with a focus on Social Influence for Social Impact 80 %

The position is supported by the Chair of Marketing for Social Impact and the interdisciplinary project “Advancing social sensing to trigger the large-scale diffusion of environmental action”, recently approved by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The candidates will complete their doctoral studies at the Graduate School of Business (GSB: http://www.gsb.uzh.ch).

How can we diagnose and overcome resistance to change across individuals, organizations, and societies? How do the effects of social impact programs spread through social systems, and under what conditions do they achieve large-scale, lasting impact? How can behavioral and complexity science be integrated to design pro-grams that are both effective and socially accepted?

These are some of the questions motivating our research. The PhD project will develop quantitative empirical studies to understand how social influence processes affect behavioral change at the individual and population level. Ultimately, the research aspires to inform how organizations aiming to achieve positive social impact – whether companies, NGOs, or public institutions – design and implement their actions.
Zurich provides a unique ecosystem combining world-class academia with strong industry connections, allowing you to work on impactful research embedded in real-world contexts.