Effect of university heritage and reputation on attitudes of prospective students

Abstract

This study examines the impact of heritage and reputation of nonprofit universities on attitudes of prospective students. Data were collected from 208 community college (preuniversity) students in the USA. Results from structural equations modeling indicate that university heritage positively impacts university reputation, potential students' attitudes, and intentions to pay a tuition premium as well as to recommend the university. Students' nationality moderates the relationships between university heritage, reputation, and attitudes. International students from Asian nations with a longterm orientation exhibit stronger relationships between these variables than domestic students from the USA. These findings add to the nascent and emerging literature on branding of nonprofit higher education institutions and will be of interest to administrators and marketing managers of universities to nurture and extol their university heritage in student recruitment programs, especially in promotional materials targeting international students.

Market orientation: an option for universities to adopt?

“…The findings of the current study indicate a significant positive correlation between MO and student satisfaction, which is consistent with the findings from previous literature concerning the increasing importance of marketing in schools (Stokes, 2002;Bock, Poole, & Joseph, 2014), the relationship between branding strategies and student recruitment (Bock et al, 2014;Chapleo, 2015), the effect of university heritage and reputation on prospective students' attitudes (Merchant et al, 2015), and the pivotal role of marketing in corporate environment (Sanzo, Santos, Vázquez, & Álvarez, 2003;Narver & Slater, 1990). It seems reasonable to assume a positive relationship between MO and student satisfaction because, similar to a business, the university attempts to implement marketing strategies in order to fulfill students' needs, wants, and aspirations, thereby improving student satisfaction.…”

“…One of those solutions that schools can adopt is MO (Chapleo, 2015;Merchant et al, 2015). MO is a key driver of business profitability, innovation, employees' commitment, and performance of organizations (Kirca, Jayachandran, & Bearden, 2005;Noble, Sinha, & Kumar, 2002;Atuahene-Gima, 1996;Narver & Slater, 1990).…”

“…To this end, in recent years, the concept of MO has received a great deal of attention from marketing scholars. In fact, while much attention is given to discussions about how to improve educational quality at higher education institutions (i.e., universities) by policy makers, media members, academics, and practitioners, there is little research on the effects of MO within the university context (Chapleo, , ; Merchant, Rose, Moody, & Mathews, ). As Chapleo () maintains, marketing and branding remain key in an environment beset with sweeping changes.…”

The Effect of The College Reputation on Student’s Decision Making to Choose It

“…In the education sector, the research found that the reputation of the college has significant influence toward the attitude of the prospective student. However, the research did not explain the exact percentage of the college influence [6]. A prior study claimed that the interest to the major has become a crucial factor in determining student's decision-making.…”

Applying behavioural economics in education: study of undergraduate practices of selecting higher educational institutions

“…Simultaneously the behavioural economics gained popularity and it was applied to various fields including the education sector. A number of research was conducted on student behaviour to understand variables which impact the selection of higher education institution [6,7,8,9]. We can find certain similarities between student decision making behaviour and customer buying behaviour [10].…”