Explore our knowledge

Se­basti­an Zen­ker

Professor

Emner
Branding Turisme Forbrugeradfærd Bæredygtighed Co-creation Serviceledelse Kunstig intelligens

Primary research areas

Place Brand­ing
How can places be branded to at­tract res­id­ents, tal­ent, com­pan­ies, and vis­it­ors? How can place brands be meas­ured, man­aged, and aligned across di­verse stake­hold­ers? This has been my cent­ral re­search in­terest for more than 20 years.
Crisis and Crisis Com­mu­nic­a­tion
We are liv­ing in multi-crisis times: geo­pol­it­ic­ally, the cli­mate-crisis, tal­ent short­age, over-tour­ism, pan­dem­ics, etc. How does this change our con­sump­tion (e.g., travel be­ha­viour)? What could or­gan­iz­a­tions do to deal with these chal­lenges?
Con­sumer, Tour­ist, and Ser­vice Be­ha­viour
How are per­cep­tions of products, ser­vices, and places formed, and how do they shape be­ha­viour? I study how con­sumer and tour­ist be­ha­viour can be in­flu­enced to­wards more sus­tain­able, re­spons­ible, and be­ne­fi­cial out­comes across re­tail, tour­ism, and ser­vice set­tings.
Sus­tain­able Places and Pos­it­ive Change
How can places im­ple­ment sus­tain­able changes that work for both res­id­ents and tour­ists? My re­search ex­plores the value chains be­hind sustain­ability trans­itions and how pos­it­ive nudges can en­cour­age pro-en­vir­on­ment­al be­ha­viour by mak­ing sus­tain­able choices more at­tract­ive.
Re­spect in Ser­vice En­vir­on­ments
How is re­spect cre­ated, main­tained, or un­der­mined in em­ploy­ee-cus­tom­er in­ter­ac­tions? My re­search ex­am­ines how ser­vice en­vir­on­ments and work­ing con­di­tions shape em­ploy­ee well-be­ing and cus­tom­er ex­per­i­ence, es­pe­cially where front­line ser­vice in­ter­ac­tions are cent­ral.
Hu­manoid Ro­bots in the Ser­vice In­dustry
As hu­manoid ro­bots enter ser­vice set­tings, I study how cus­tom­ers per­ceive ro­bot-de­livered ser­vice and how co-work­ers ex­per­i­ence work­ing along­side them, fo­cus­ing on trust, com­fort, role ex­pect­a­tions, ser­vice qual­ity, and em­ploy­ee ex­per­i­ence.

I work with com­plex­ity to cre­ate pos­it­ive change

I am a professor in branding and tourism with a special focus on place branding, consumer (tourist) behavior, and service environments. My work examines how places – from cities to regions – can strengthen their identity and attractiveness in complex and competitive settings.

I am particularly interested in how positive change can be created within complex systems. Place branding, in this sense, is not only about tourism, but also about broader societal goals such as sustainability, talent attraction, and community development. Increasingly, my research also explores service environments: how respect and working conditions shape employee-customer interactions, and how emerging technologies such as humanoid robots and artificial intelligence are changing service interactions.

My research provides insights that support policymakers, businesses, and institutions in shaping strategies for growth, resilience, sustainability, and responsible innovation.

Research focus: Place branding, tourism, consumer/tourist behavior, sustainability, service environments, human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, crisis management, nudging, co-creation

Broader impact: Enhancing place attractiveness, supporting sustainable transitions, and improving service environments for employees and customers

Societal contribution: Helping communities and organisations navigate complexity and create positive change

Through teaching, publications, and collaborations, I work to translate research into practices that benefit both academia and society – and create positive change.

Outside activities

Speaker Event “City as Brand” in Greven, 2026

Key­note about place brand­ing for the City of Gre­ven.

Place Brand Schleswig-Holstein, 2025–current

Mon­it­or­ing the place brand Schleswig-Hol­stein for the Min­is­teri­um of Eco­nom­ics Schleswig-Hol­stein with PB Place Brands.

Touchpoint Management City of Bocholt, 2023–current

Meas­ure­ment and brand strategy for the City of Bocholt to­geth­er with the Brand­mey­er Marken­ber­a­tung GmbH.

District Branding Seminar, 2023–current

Reg­u­lar place brand­ing sem­inars for the In­dus­trie und Han­del­skam­mer (IHK) Nord West­falen.

Place Brand Seminars, 2018–current

Reg­u­lar place brand­ing sem­inars for the Bundes­verb­and City- und Stadtmar­ket­ing e.V. (bcsd e.V.).

Keynote Deutsche Stadtmarketingbörse in Münster, 2025–present

Key­note about brand touch­point man­age­ment for the Bundes­verb­and City- und Stadtmar­ket­ing e.V. (bcsd e.V.).

Brand Evaluation Schleswig-Holstein, 2024–2025

Eval­u­ation and brand strategy for the place brand Schleswig-Hol­stein to­geth­er with the Brand­mey­er Marken­ber­a­tung GmbH.

Brand Analysis City of Jena, 2024–2025

Meas­ure­ment and brand strategy for the City of Jena to­geth­er with the Brand­mey­er Marken­ber­a­tung GmbH.

Keynote Gastro Update Event, 2024–present

Key­note about chan­ging cus­tom­er be­ha­viour with nudging at the Gastro Up­date event of the DE­HOGA Nordrhein-West­falen e.V.

Branding the City of Osnabrück, 2024–present

Be­ing part of the com­mit­tee for se­lect­ing an ad­vert­ising agency for the Mar­ket­ing Osnab­rück GmbH.

Speaker Event “Stadtgespräche” in Bielefeld, 2024–present

Key­note about chan­ging cus­tom­er be­ha­viour with nudging at the Stadtge­spräche event of the Biele­feld Mar­ket­ing GmbH.

Speaker Event “Branding Lichtenberg” in Berlin, 2024–present

Key­note about brand ar­chi­tec­ture for place brands for the Bezirk­samt Lichten­berg von Ber­lin.

Speaker Event “City meets Culture” in Uelzen, 2024–present

Key­note about place brand­ing for the Hans­estadt Uelzen.

Brand Analysis City of Osnabrück, 2022–2023

Meas­ure­ment and brand strategy for the City of Osnab­rück to­geth­er with the Brand­mey­er Marken­ber­a­tung GmbH.

Keynote & Panel Discussion on Place Branding (Malaga, Spain), 2023–present

Key­note about place brand­ing for the ESIC Busi­ness & Mar­ket­ing School.

Brand Analysis Destination Brand Schleswig-Holstein, 2022–2023

Meas­ure­ment and brand strategy for the des­tin­a­tion brand Schleswig-Hol­stein with the Brand­mey­er Marken­ber­a­tung GmbH.

Branding the City of Hamburg, 2022–present

Se­lec­tion Com­mit­tee for Brand Con­sultancy for the Ham­burg Mar­ket­ing GmbH (HMG).

Keynote Netzwerk Innenstadt, 2021–present

Key­note about place brand­ing for the IM­ORDE Pro­jekt- & Kul­turber­a­tung GmbH.

Keynote Sommerakademie, 2021–present

Key­note about place brand­ing for the Bundes­verb­and City- und Stadtmar­ket­ing e.V. (bcsd e.V.).

Keynote 7th Nationaler Radverkehrskongress, 2021–present

Key­note speech for the Event Con­sult GmbH & Bundesmin­is­teri­um für Verkehr und di­gitale In­frastruk­tur (Ger­many).

Brand Analysis City of Jena, 2020–present

The meas­ure­ment of the place brand City of Jena to­geth­er with the Brand­mey­er Marken­ber­a­tung GmbH.

Branding the City of Berlin, 2019–2020

De­vel­op­ment of the brand­ing strategy for the CIty of Ber­lin (The Gov­ern­ing May­or of Ber­lin – Sen­ate Chan­cellery).