Interview with Flemming Hansen Award Winner Edith Smit

Matteo Rinaldi: Hello Edith, and first of all thank you for taking the time to schedule some of your busy time for this interview. Let’s start from congratulating you for your achievement, and for receiving the Flemming Hansen Award! It must feel like a  crowning, proud moment in your career.

Edith Smit: Thank you! And yes, it is indeed an achievement I am proud of, especially since I was nominated by a lot of my former PhD students.

Matteo Rinaldi: What does this award mean for you?

Edith Smit: It means that you arrive at a point in your career where you can look back, and realize everything that has happened in the field. I still remember the first ICORIA: I was there, and I gave a keynote lecture! So I would say it is a “looking-back” award that allows you to understand all the research you have done and how much research has been established in the area of advertising research.
I say this because ICORIA started when there was limited space for such a conference: everything was very much focused on American conferences, and the influence of American scholars was very profound. So I think we can look back at ICORIA as a way to state the importance of European research as well, together with all of us and Flemming Hansen. It makes me very proud.

Matteo Rinaldi: That is a very nice way of describing it. I also have noticed that you have quite an extensive research area of interest: social media, behavioral advertising, health communication, environmental communication…

Edith Smit: Yes, indeed. I started with advertising research, and nowadays is more health and environment-related research, but still in the field of persuasion.

Matteo Rinaldi: …and was there a moment where this passion for persuasion became very clear to you?

Edith Smit: I am not sure if I ever had a moment where I can say “there is where I discovered my passion!”. I definitely see myself more like a persuasion researcher, and advertising is a vehicle for persuasion. So I would say that I am passionate about the persuasion behind the advertising.

Matteo Rinaldi: I understand. And is there a specific area of persuasion you are passionate the most?

Edith Smit: I think the most satisfying research is the one I am doing currently. In the early stages of my career I tried to do what was more efficient and where there were more possibilities for research, and that was studying how people experience advertising on, say, television compared to traditional media. It was interesting but not really my passion. However, I loved being in academia. Today I have projects that are closer to my interests, and that I think are very important. For example, we are working in projects where we want to help people to choose more sustainable products, or how to change their behaviors towards a more climate-friendly attitude, so to break resistance to change. This is what I do today, and I love the fact that it is closer to my heart.

Matteo Rinaldi: That is very interesting! Talking about projects, any project you are particularly proud of that you are working on in this period of time?

Edith Smit: Well, I am proud of all of my PhD students, and all of the projects. Comparing would not give them justice. They are all special to me, but what I am especially proud of is that they are trying to help people in bettering their behaviors – from choosing healthier products, or solve their nutrition confusion given by the huge amount of information available on social media: it is very easy to get confused about what is healthy and what is not. So we work always in this triangle between social media and technology, people resistance, and difficult behavior. To buy a perfume is easy, but to buy what is healthy and good for you is more difficult. At the beginning of my career I always found it uncomfortable to explain why I was studying advertising as that is strongly associated with “selling something” in people’s minds. But my angle has always been the one of understanding people’s behavior to help them empower themselves, doing the right choices.

Matteo Rinaldi: So you think health-related communication is an area you especially fond of?

Edith Smit: Yes, I am especially fond of understanding complex behavior and answer the question: why are people reluctant to change? If walking is good for their health, why don’t they do it more? And can technology help? So, rather than a specific area of persuasion, we can say that as long as I can study complex behavior, that is where my passion lies.

Matteo Rinaldi: Thank you, now it is very clear! This brings me to the next question. You said this award is a “looking-back award”, and it allows you to reflect on your achievements. But what about the future? Where do you see your research going?

Edith Smit: I think that human behavior will be more and more tied to technology, and our behavior will be strongly shaped by it. It may be AI, it may be social media, apps… Especially for communication science, I think, the push and pull of technology will be the focus of the next generation of studies. And not only about how people connect to technology, but also how they disconnect. We have technology in our pocket and on our wrists, which can be extremely helpful, but maybe people would also want not to be connected all the time to it.

Matteo Rinaldi: Indeed, that is going to be also a very interesting avenue to study! And talking about the different choices that there are in research, would you say there is somebody who particularly inspired you during your time as a researcher?

Edith Smit: I think that, especially in the first part of my career, Peter Neijens, one of the former award winners, has been an inspiration for me. He influenced me the most, I would say. He used to be my supervisor through my PhD. After he retired, I had to, sort of, reinvent myself a little bit!

Matteo Rinaldi: And on the theme of reinventing oneself and understanding one’s path, I wanted to ask you: is there anything looking back that you would suggest to do or choose career-wise, as an academic? If you had to choose one advice to younger researchers, what would it be?

Edith Smit: Oh this is not an easy question! I think that, for me, at the beginning, I was unsure to stay in academia or work in the private, corporate sector. So I tried working in the corporate world, and then I came back. I think it was a very good experience. Maybe I lost some time, but on the other hand, I understood that I am an academic through and through. So I think it is good to try that out, to understand what you really want. I also understood that I could be a female role model. When you are becoming, or you are, a mother, you can still work and follow your passions. It is not a hindrance, it does not have to be. So maybe something I would like to show is the example that family life is important outside of academia, but the two things can and should coexist. It is advice I would give both to male and female colleagues.

Matteo Rinaldi: That is extremely important, it is always good to reinforce that message. Now we are coming to the last question of the interview. I wanted to ask you, what are the best memories you have of ICORIA?

Edith Smit: I saw ICORIA grow from the start. I have been to all of them. I remember the first one was in May, on my birthday, and I was pregnant while giving my presentation. It was a one-day conference, no parallel sessions. It really started with a small group, and I saw it growing and growing. And having it in summer always makes me connect ICORIA with a warm feeling!

Matteo Rinaldi: Thank you Edith for taking the time to answer my questions. It has been very interesting!