PhD Defence: Elizabeth Cooper


Monday, December 11, 2023 - 11:00 to 13:00

Elizabeth Cooper

In order to obtain the PhD degree, Elizabeth Cooper has submitted her thesis entitled:

Tourists on the Edge: Understanding and Encouraging Sustainable Tourist Behaviour in Greenland

The phenomenon of tourism creates significant impacts that are both positive and negative. In destinations like Greenland, located ‘on the edge’ of the tourist world, these impacts can be particularly dramatic. This article-based PhD thesis addresses some of the destination-level tensions triggered by tourism, with an aim to understand and encourage sustainable tourist behaviour in Greenland. Paper 1 is concerned with understanding the context of sustainable tourist behaviour in Greenland, taking an inductive approach to explore local interpretations of sustainable tourism. Paper 2 shifts to the tourist perspective, employing a mixed-methods research design to uncover some of the psychological antecedents of (un)sustainable tourist behaviour. Paper 3 designs and tests an intervention to encourage a specific sustainable behaviour and uses a survey experiment to reveal the psychological mechanisms driving the intervention. The thesis produces theoretical contributions to literature on sustainable tourism, tourist psychology and consumer behaviour, as well as concrete recommendations for tourism industry professionals.

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk

Primary Supervisor:

Associate Professor Meike Janssen

Department of Management, Society and Communication

Copenhagen Business School


Secondary Supervisors:

Associate Professor Szilvia Gyimothy Mørup-Petersen

Department of Marketing

Copenhagen Business School


Assessment Committee:

Associate Professor Adriana Budeanu (Chair)

Department of Business Humanities and Law

Copenhagen Business School


Professor Xavier Font

School of Hospitality & Tourism Management

University of Surrey


Associate Professor Malin Zillinger

Department of Service Studies

Lund University


Date: 11 December 2023

Time: 11:00-13:00

Online: Zoom

Meeting ID: 688 9392 7004

*Please note that the microphone and camera of all spectators must be turned off.

Location: Dalgas Have

Room: DHØ089

Reception: DH.V.2.88

*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence.

The page was last edited by: Department of Management, Society and Communication // 12/01/2023