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Professor Tom van Laer: storytelling, persuasion and understanding how messages shape behaviour
A specialist in storytelling and persuasion mechanisms, Tom van Laer has joined SKEMA Business School as Professor of Marketing on the campus of Lille. Attached to the Academy for Transformation and the SKEMA Research Centre for Marketing Interactions (MINT), he studies how narratives influence perceptions, attitudes and behaviours. In this short interview, he looks back at his background, his research field and the way he approaches teaching.
Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us about your background?
My name is Tom van Laer and I recently joined SKEMA as Professor of Persuasive Language & Storytelling. Before coming to France, I worked as Deputy Head of the marketing department at the University of Sydney, where I taught and conducted research in marketing and communication.
My work focuses mainly on storytelling and the ways narratives shape how people think, feel, and act. More broadly, I am interested in how communication influences consumer behaviour and social reality.
Storytelling sits at the intersection of culture, psychology, and communication, which makes it both intellectually rich and highly relevant in practice
You teach persuasive language and storytelling: what interests you most in this field?
What fascinates me most is that persuasive language and stories do not merely describe the world; they help shape it. I am especially interested in why some messages move people, change attitudes, or inspire action, while others do not.
Storytelling sits at the intersection of culture, psychology, and communication, which makes it both intellectually rich and highly relevant in practice.
In your view, why does persuasive language matter today, including beyond the classroom?
Persuasive language matters because we live in a world saturated with messages about anything from climate to finance and from healthcare to peace, coming from brands, politicians, media, and now increasingly AI.
Understanding how persuasion works is therefore essential not only for marketers, but for anyone who wants to communicate responsibly, think critically, and navigate public discourse more effectively. It is as much a civic skill as a professional one.
What would you like SKEMA colleagues and students to know about your teaching approach?
I try to combine academic rigour with enthusiasm and practical relevance. My teaching is research-informed, interactive, and designed to encourage students to think critically about the messages that surround them. I want students not only to learn concepts, but also to develop a sharper eye for how communication works in the real world and how they can use it thoughtfully and ethically themselves.
