Horst Complex

dr.ir. M. Mulder - Nijkamp (Maaike)

Assistant Professor
ET-DPM-PMR
Horst Complex W252
m.mulder-nijkamp@utwente.nl
+31534894414
Business card

Maaike Mulder‑Nijkamp is an assistant professor at the University of Twente, specialising in brand identity, sustainable transitions and consumer behaviour. 

As part of the Product Market Relations research group, Maaike builds bridges between science and practice. Her work consistently demonstrates how thoughtful design shapes behaviour, enabling more sustainable consumer choices.

Research focus
Her work explores how a designerly approach can drive innovation in brand strategy and sustainable transitions. Central to her research is the idea that the artefact is the connecting force: the place where design decisions, brand meaning and user experience meet. By altering an artefact’s form, cues or narrative, designers can intentionally influence consumer perception and market behaviour.

Her PhD examined how design can play a major role in the acceptance of  brand extensions, revealing how product semantics could lead to adoption of new technologies in balancing between typicality, novelty and brand fit.

In parallel, she researches transdisciplanairy collaboration in sustainable packaging. She developed an educational programme on sustainable packaging that was launched at three Universities of Applied science and founded the transdisciplinary learning community Packalicious (Comenius Senior Fellowship), uniting academia, industry and society to co‑create solutions — again with the artefact as the mediator between system ambitions and consumer action.

Expertise

  • Computer Science

    • Design
    • Education

  • Psychology

    • Research
    • Novelty
    • Sustainability
    • Case Study

  • Social Sciences

    • Packaging
    • Success

Organisations

Address

University of Twente

Horst Complex (building no. 20), room W252
De Horst 2
7522 LW Enschede
Netherlands

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