Simone de Droog

With a PhD in Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam (2013), Simone specialized herself in the influence of media and marketing on the well-being of young target groups. She prefers to use her knowledge to make the world a better place by working on topics such as health, education, happiness, empowerment and play. Together with companies, she develops various interventions, in which the design is well tailored to the skills and preferences of specific age groups.

Within the media domain, Simone has a specific interest in how we interact and relate with non-human actors such as animated characters, avatars and robots. Due to digitization, the deployment of these actors is increasing in various domains for commercial, social, educational and health purposes. Because the success of these actors often depends on the quality of the interactions and relationships, these are specifically investigated within her non-human communication line, and translated into knowledge, application protocols and products for practice.

Fields of expertise

• Non-human communication (e.g., with robots, animated characters)
• Engagement, interactions, relationships
• Young target groups