PhD Position: Creating a circular economy for consumer electronics

Have you ever wondered why consumers tend to replace their electronic devices instead of repairing them? Are you motivated to delve into the psychological processes underlying consumers’ decisions regarding the repair (or not) of their owned products? Are you enthusiastic about developing and empirically testing innovative (marketing) ways to motivate consumers towards repair? If so, then we have the perfect opportunity for you!

The Marketing and Consumer Behaviour group of Wageningen University is looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious PhD candidate to fulfil an essential position in the NWO funded project “Tackling fixophobia: Improving repair practices for consumer electronics”. The project aims to develop a circular economy for consumer electronics.

In today’s linear economy, the rapid replacement of consumer electronics leads to CO2-emissions, resource scarcity, e-waste and pollution, thereby providing important environmental and societal challenges. Extending the lifetimes of consumer electronics is essential to tackle these challenges. A repair economy in which all value chain actors (incl. consumers) adopt repair practices can lead to such extended product lifetimes. Yet, currently all relevant actors experience barriers that withhold them from trusting, accepting, and adopting repair practices, leading to ‘Fixophobia’.

In general, the “Tackling Fixophobia” project aims to provide the much-needed scientific theories, societal tools, and repair system innovations to encourage a multi-actor system change and enhance trust, acceptance and adoption of repair practices for consumer electronics. To achieve societal impact, we collaborate intensely with a unique consortium, including all actors in the consumer electronics value chain: Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), (design) consultancies, retail, repair organisations, consumer organisations, network/trade organisations, and waste organisation. Three PhD students will work on this project (for more information, see:  About – Tackling Fixophobia and Tackling ‘Fixophobia’: Improving repair practices for consumer electronics | NWO).

In the current PhD position, you will work together with all project partners, and investigate the consumer perspective. Your responsibility will be to examine the factors that influence consumers’ repair behaviour, to develop a taxonomy of marketing and service innovations for repair, and to develop interventions that stimulate consumers to engage in repair practices. This will result in the development of a marketing repair tool and a thorough understanding of the consumer perspective. Moreover, in the final project you will intensively collaborate with the design (TU Delft), value chain (University of Maastricht) and law partners (Erasmus University) to together develop an integrated framework on repair. Interdisciplinary research is thus a valuable part of the project.

You will work here

The Marketing and Consumer Behaviour group is one of the leading research and teaching groups in the fields of marketing (research) and consumer behavior related to food, sustainability, and agribusiness. The research is led by Prof. Dr. Ilona de Hooge. You will be co-supervised by Prof. Dr. Ir. Ruth Mugge (Delft University).

As a PhD candidate, you will be enrolled in the Wageningen University Graduate School (WASS). The Graduate school provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff, and a mentor. You will also participate in a Doctorate Education Programme, in which you further develop your research, teaching, and interdisciplinary skills.

You are/have:

• a completed  MSc University degree;
• background in consumer behavior (e.g. consumer science, marketing, social psychology, behavioral economics). Other backgrounds will not be considered;
• a high level of and interest in sustainable/circular marketing/consumer behavior and in consumer electronics;
• statistical/ modelling skills and experience with quantitative data collection (survey research, lab and natural experimental research are parts of this project);
• openness and willingness to collaborate with people from other scientific disciplines, and the ability to interact effectively with both academic and diverse stakeholder audiences;
• clear scientific ambition in making theoretical and empirical contributions to research (the project is expected to result in a PhD thesis and scientific publications);
• an ability to work independently as well as in a team, take initiative, and work towards results in a systematic way;
• the curiosity and motivation to address important real-world problems through rigorous and ambitious academic inquiry;
• an interest in student-focused teaching (10%-20% of your position will include teaching);
• fluency in English language and preferably also in the Dutch language (not a prerequisite).

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• Partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 3.059,- per month rising to € 3.881,-  in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well. 

We encourage development and internal mobility within our organisation. Our recruitment and selection policy sets out the conditions that apply specifically to you as a (former) employee. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. 

Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. 

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family. 

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval. Only applications submitted through our website will be considered.

To apply, please send the following documents:

• Complete and up-to-date curriculum vitae;
• Motivation letter;
• A document demonstrating your writing skills (e.g. a master thesis or your research vision for this position)

This vacancy is open till May 4th, 2026. The first job interviews will take place between May 11th and May 27th, 2026. Second round interviews (if applicable) will take place between June 8th and June 11th, 2026. The starting date for the position is negotiable, but no later than September 2026.

Welcome, safe, and valued
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) highly values diversity and inclusion because we believe that different insights lead to innovative solutions. We create a work environment where everyone feels welcome, safe, and appreciated, regardless of background, identity, or experience. Together, we are building a culture where everyone's unique contribution adds to the success of our organization.

​The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.

​