dr. IE (Ilona) de Hooge

Ilona E. de Hooge is currently Associate Professor in Marketing and Consumer Behavior and (part-time) (interim) chair holder of the Marketing and Consumer Behavior group.

Research Topic: In general, her research centres around several interconnected topics, including emotions (e.g., shame, guilt, pride, gratitude), imperfections, food (waste), sustainability and climate change, consumer, marketing, and supply chain decision-making. By thoroughly examining and connecting these different research areas, her goal is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted dynamics between individuals, their emotions, their sustainable/food decision-making, and the broader socio-environmental context. By integrating these diverse yet interconnected areas, her research aims to generate valuable insights that can inform and guide individuals, organizations, and policy makers in their efforts to create a more sustainable and climate-resilient future. 

Background: Originally, Ilona studied the influences of shame and guilt on behavior. She extended her research to the influences of all types of emotions and the role of imperfection in sustainable and climate-related consumer and marketing decision making (e.g., food waste, imperfect products, product repair, online retailing, gift giving). Her research has been published in the top journals in marketing, social psychology, sustainability, and food journals.

Other activities: Ilona is interim chair holder of the MCB group (parttime, and when chair is unavailable), Associate Editor at Frontiers in Psychology, part of the Education Board of WUR, NWO and WUR selection committee member, and organizer of the MCB Inspiration series and annual PhD day. She teaches courses in CB, marketing, supply chain networks, sustainability, and food at the Bsc, Msc and PhD level and has been nominated repeatedly for the Best Teacher of the Year Award. 

Awards & Research projects: Ilona has been awarded the Data & Insights Marketing Scientist of the Year 2024 Award. In terms of grants, she has been awarded, among others, the NWO Aspasia grant for research on emotion dynamics, the NWO-KIC grants on "Tackling Fixophobia"( Tackling ‘Fixophobia’: Improving repair practices for consumer electronics | NWO) and on Re2Pack (Four projects awarded for research on trust, behaviour and acceptance in a circular economy | NWO), the KIDV/TIFN research grant for emotions in e-commerce, the EU SUSFOOD grant for research on imperfect foods (Welcome to COSUS - an ERA-Net SUSFOOD project | NMBU), the ERIM and WUR Excellence in Research Grants, and the WUR Science Shop Grant for research on emotional sustainability (Design for Emotional Sustainability: creating long-lasting consumer-product relationships - WUR).