New PhD student at MGMT - Josephine Ruders

Hi everyone!

My name is Josephine. I am 25 years old and from Denmark. I started as a PhD student on 1 February. Prior to that, I worked as a research assistant at the MAPP Centre and on a research project about the organic market.

My PhD project title is “Sustainability in Retail: The impact of sustainable packaging communication on national brands versus private labels”. My PhD project investigates how to communicate sustainability through packaging. I do this by examining the effectiveness of different sustainability communication elements on consumers’ attention and evaluation of sustainable packaging. In other words, the aim is to elicit cognitive mechanisms of information processing of different sustainability communication elements related to, for example labelling, size, shape, material, and colour of packaging. Also, since retailers use and have various brands in their assortment, I will also examine differences in consumer response to national and private brands in communicating sustainable packaging. This will provide recommendations for differentiation strategies for sustainability communication through packaging design for private and national brands. My supervisors are Anne Odile Peschel and Sascha Steinmann.

Getting to know me: I did my bachelor's and master's degrees here at Aarhus University. I completed my bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Administration in 2020, and last summer, I graduated with my master's degree in Commercial and Retail Management. I live in a small apartment with my boyfriend in Aarhus. Otherwise, in my free time, I like to spend time with my family and friends. I also like to work out in the gym and go on long walks near the sea.

You can find me in my office in building 2622-213. Feel free to drop by for an informal chat or a cup of coffee.