Researchers examine role of communication in success of new Dutch pension system

Lisanne van Weelden, Hans Westerbeek, and Hans Hoeken receive a Netspar Grant for their research on the new Dutch pension system. The funding will allow them to appoint a PhD candidate. This PhD candidate will research effective communication strategies to help pension funds overcome challenges of the new system.

“Communication is crucial”

In the new pension system, people can make more choices than before, both during the accrual of their pension and about its payment. “So we all need to start thinking about what we want to happen to our money,” Van Weelden explains. “And to properly guide and inform people in this, strong communication from pension funds is crucial.”

A PhD candidate will identify challenges posed by the new pension system and develop communication strategies to overcome these. “So the project really plays into a current social issue. For example, the PhD candidate will explore how communication about the system can generate realistic expectations and explain its fairness. Hopefully, it will lead to concrete insights, that will help pension funds to know how to communicate comprehensibly and inclusively.”

Research design

Earlier research has been conducted in the healthcare and judicial context, on how communication can shape appropriate expectations and explain the fairness of proceedings. The new project will uncover these insights through systematic literature reviews. In addition, iterative design research and interviews with pension specialists and participants will determine to what extent the insights can be translated and applied in the (Dutch) pension context.

The grant is made possible by Netspar and funded by the Gak Institute.