Dr. Sebastian Zenker

Senior Researcher of City Branding

Department of Regional, Port and Transport Economics (RHV b.v.)
Erasmus University Rotterdam

Biography

Sebastian Zenker is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Regional, Port and Transport Economics (RHV b.v.) at Erasmus University Rotterdam / IHS.

After graduating in business administration at the University of Hamburg in the year 2007, he finished his doctoral dissertation about "Cities as brands: quantifying effects in place marketing" in 2010 at the Institute of Marketing and Media at the University of Hamburg. Furthermore, he worked for one year as a lecturer in marketing at the University of Hamburg. Since May 2011, he is a senior researcher at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, funded by the German Research Council (DFG).

Sebastian speaks English and German.

Main research interests

Sebastian is interested in the following research themes:

Place Marketing and Branding;
City Development;
Resident-City Identification.

Current research projects

(2011 - 2013) Resident-City Identification, funded by the German Research Council (DFG)
Comparison of Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and Hamburg (Germany)

Publications

Reviewed journal articles:

Schnittka, O., Sattler, H., & Zenker, S. (in press): Advanced Brand Concept Maps: a New Approach for Evaluating the Favorability of Brand Association Networks. In: International Journal of Research in Marketing.
Zenker, S., Petersen, S., & Aholt, A. (2012): The Citizen Satisfaction Index (CSI): Evidence for a Four Basic Factor Model in a German Sample. In: Cities, advanced online publication, doi:10.1016/j.cities.2012.02.006.
Zenker, S., Eggers, F., & Farsky, M. (2012): Putting a Price Tag on Cities: Insights into the Competitive Environment of Places. In: Cities, advanced online publication, doi:10.1016/j.cities.2012.02.002.
Zenker, S. & Seigis, A. (2012): Respect and the City: Resident Participation in Place Marketing. In: Journal of Place Management and Development, 5(1), 20-34.
Zenker, S. & Martin, N. (2011): Measuring Success in Place Marketing and Branding. In: Journal of Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 7(1), 32-41.
Zenker, S. (2011): How to Catch a City? The Concept and Measurement of Place Brands. In: Journal of Place Management and Development, 4(1), 40-52.
Zenker, S. & Berg, H. (2009): Standortwechsel: Wann Mitarbeiter mitziehen [Relocation: When Employees Will Move]. In: Personalmagazin, 12/09, 38-39.
Van Quaquebeke, N., Zenker, S., & Eckloff, T. (2009): Find out how Much it Means to Me: The Importance of Interpersonal Respect in Employees’ Work Values and Organizational Work Practices. In: Journal of Business Ethics, 89(3), 423-431.
Zenker, S. (2009): Who’s Your Target? The Creative Class as a Target Group for Place Branding. In: Journal of Place Management and Development, 2(1), 23-32.
Eggers, F., Farsky, M., & Zenker, S. (2009): Der Preis einer Stadt: Wie viel ein Spreewald im Kampf um Talente Wert ist [The Price of a City: What is a Spreewald Worth in the War for Talents]. In: Planung & Analyse, 1/2009, 49-52.
Van Quaquebeke, N., Zenker, S., Eckloff, T., & Giessner, S. R. (2009): Leadership is in the Eye of the Beholder: Cognitive Construction, Recognition, and Interpretation of Leadership. In: Personalführung, 1/2009, 35-41.

Congress papers (selection):

Braun, E., & Zenker, S. (2012): I am the City – Thus I own the Brand! The Problem of Ownership in Place Branding. Presentation at the 41st European Marketing Academy Conference, Lisbon, Portugal.
Zenker, S., & Seigis, A. (2012): Respect and the City: Resident Participation in Place Marketing. Paper presented at the Special Edition of the International Place Branding Conference: Roots – Politics – Methods, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Zenker, S., & Beckmann, S.C. (2011): Brand Perception and Brand Complexity: A Place Branding Perspective. Paper presented at the 7th Global Brand Conference 2011: Academy of Marketing Brand, Identity and Reputation SIG, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Braun, E., & Zenker, S. (2011): “We got Places all Over the Place” – A Conceptual Framework for Place Brand Management Strategies. Paper presented at the 2nd International Place Branding Conference “Branding Cities: The Search for Place Identity”, Bogotá, Colombia.
Zenker, S. (2011): How to Catch a City? The Concept and Measurement of Place Brands. Paper presented at the 2nd International Place Branding Conference “Branding Cities: The Search for Place Identity”, Bogotá, Colombia.
Zenker, S., & Petersen, S. (2010): Resident-City Identification: Translating the Customer Relationship Management Approach into Place Marketing Theory. Paper presented at the 50th European Regional Science Association Congress, Jönköping, Sweden.
Braun, E., & Zenker, S. (2010): Towards an Integrated Approach for Place Brand Management. Paper presented at the 50th European Regional Science Association Congress, Jönköping, Sweden.
Kavaratzis, M., Braun, E., & Zenker, S. (2010): My City – My Brand: The Role of Residents in Place Branding. Paper presented at the 50th European Regional Science Association Congress, Jönköping, Sweden.
Zenker, S., & Braun, E. (2010): Branding a City – A Conceptual Approach for Place Branding and Place Brand Management. Paper presented at the 39th European Marketing Academy Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Zenker, S., Knubben, E., & Beckmann, S.C. (2010): Your City, My City, Their City, Our City – Different Perceptions of a Place Brand by Diverse Target Groups. Paper presented at the 6th International Conference Thought Leaders in Brand Management, Lugano, Switzerland.
Zenker, S. (2009): Brand Image Effects of Flagship Projects for Place Brands. Paper presented at the 5th International Colloquium – Academy of Marketing: Brand, Identity and Reputation SIG, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Zenker, S., Eggers, F., & Farsky, M. (2009): Putting a Price Tag on Cities. Paper presented at the 38th European Marketing Academy Conference, Nantes, France.
Zenker, S., Gollan, T., & van Quaquebeke, N. (2009): Place Marketing: How the War for Talent is Won With Values. Poster presented at the 14th European Congress of Work and Organizational Psychology, Santiago de Compostela.
Zenker, S. & Aholt, A. (2008): Who’s Your Target? Profiling of Target Groups in City Branding. Paper presented at the International Conference of Marketing Cities: Place Branding in Perspective, Berlin, Germany.

Book chapters: