Dr Steve van Riel started his career in politics and policy, working in Labour Party politics from 2003 to 2011, including stints as the party’s head of research, director of policy and research, and as a political advisor on work and pensions and foreign affairs.
Since 2011 he has advised some of the world’s most well-known brands on how they can measure, manage, and increase trust. He now works for the global communications agency, Edelman, as a senior strategy director and head of trust development for the European region. Edelman is well known for its sustained interest in trust, having published an annual ‘Trust Barometer’ poll for nearly 25 years.
Steve earned his doctorate working within the behavioural science group in Warwick Business School, and in his doctoral research he focussed on how ideas from behavioural economics can be applied to winning trust. His work on trust has been recently published in the peer reviewed scientific journal, the Journal of Consumer Behaviour. He is a member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists (GAABS).