dr. Ivar Vermeulen

Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Communication Science

Associate Professor, Network Institute

Associate Professor, Research Programmes - Social Sciences, Communication Choices, Content and Consequences (CCCC)

Personal information

Ivar Vermeulen is an associate professor in Communication Science, specializing in persuasion research. He obtained his PhD in 2003 at the Institute for Logic, Language, and Information (University of Amsterdam). Most of his current research is experimental in nature and focuses on the role of trust, biases, and affective cues (such as music) in persuasion processes. Other projects involve applications of computer-assisted research methods such as automated content analysis, network analysis of Web data, online testing, and formal modelling.

Ivar Vermeulen is the research manager of the department of Communication Science, and co-Director of the Digital Media & Behaviour Lab at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Research

Persuasion: Everything that has to do with changing people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. Current studies mostly focus on persuasion by disinformation and strong ("radical") persuasion effects.
Online trust: As social media increasingly facilitate information dissemination from non-institutionalized sources, trust becomes pivotal. Projects study trust cues, the relationship between disclosure and trust, and propagation of trust through networks.
Replication research: I make it a point to aim for a replication of a "classic" communicaton study each year.
Music and persuasion: Music affects (consumer) behavior in many different ways, through, e.g., conditioning, priming, synchronization, and affect induction. The aim of this project is to further sophisticate the use of music in a persuasive context.
Neuropsychological testing online: The aim of this project is to develop time and cost efficient methods to validly assess cognitive functioning by online computerized methods. As added value, data becomes available that can be analyzed at the item (as opposed to aggregate) level.
Online aggression and hate speech: in interdisciplinary projects, I work on the automated detection, and prevention, of verbal online aggression and hate speech.
Social science research methods: Working on several projects aiming to make quantitative social science research more rigorous and sound. Current projects include the development of an ethical platform for the recruitment of Dutch research participants.

Teaching