Anna Zinn

Dr. Anna Zinn is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Business, Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, The University of Queensland, specializing in social identity applications for sustainable tourism and hospitality behavior change.

Education:

• Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, University of Exeter
• Masters (Coursework) of Research Psychology, University of Exeter

Her research centers on environmental psychology and social identity theory, with pioneering work on reducing buffet waste, promoting towel reuse through anthropomorphism, and optimizing hotel sustainability practices. She employs computational-linguistic methods, experimental designs, and field studies to develop practical interventions that balance environmental goals with guest satisfaction in tourism contexts.

Analysis of her 14 publications (2021-2025) reveals a consistent trajectory toward interdisciplinary solutions for sustainable tourism, integrating psychology, hospitality management, and environmental science. Key trends include leveraging social identity salience for pro-environmental behavior, refining pre-testing protocols for field interventions, and addressing implementation challenges in real-world hospitality settings.

Dr. Zinn actively collaborates with Professor Sara Dolnicar's research group and has served as Principal Advisor for one PhD project ('Using Gamification to Inspire Sustainable Tourist Behaviour') and Associate Advisor for three others. Current funding includes an ARC Discovery Project (2025-2028) on behavior change mechanisms and an Energy Queensland grant (2024-2025) for electricity usage segmentation.