Research on promotional behavior within higher education has exploded over the last two decades, spurred on by the intensification of student recruitment. To date, studies have focused on mapping the content of conventional promotional texts (e.g. viewbooks, web sites), to identify how institutions depict themselves through them. By comparison,…

The last two decades have witnessed an explosion in the growth and sophistication of post-secondary education (PSE) marketing. Education scholars have taken notice, both decrying such developments and studying its emerging characteristics. However, to date, empirical studies of PSE marketing have focused on mainstream secular organizations. Few…

Recent economic pressures have demanded higher education institutions respond with strong, authentic brand promises. This mixed method multi-case study explored the authenticity of common brand promises at three Universities in Canada through Twitter and Facebook postings from February to April 2016 using a cloud-based text and network analytic…

The purpose of this research is to explore international student recruitment at higher education institutions (HEIs) by examining the development and implementation of international recruitment activities. There is little research regarding the internal operations of HEIs, how HEIs conduct international recruitment efforts, and the challenges that…

This study empirically examines how for-profit career colleges in Ontario, Canada market themselves to prospective students. It uses a mixed-methods approach to review the content of 489 online promotional profiles representing 375 unique for-profit colleges. It finds that for-profit colleges adopt several distinct marketing strategies, including…

Branding is about delivering on desired outcomes. The importance of positioning program offerings on the basis of outcomes sought in the education market is illustrated in this study of choice of an MBA program by prospective students. MBA fair attendees were surveyed and multiple methods were employed to determine the importance of desired…

A survey of 194 adult community college students and potential students in Ontario (Canada) investigated factors in education decision-making, for purposes of student recruitment. It was found that the Latent Variable Partial Least Squares model of analysis highlights best the important factors. (MSE)

A telephone survey of 328 graduates of a major Canadian university strongly supports continuation of the alumni newspaper, and found that: features are popular with specific subgroups; willingness to pay for the publication shows support for the paper but not a subscription fee; paid advertisements are acceptable; the university is popular in…

Analyzed the ranking of Canadian universities by "Maclean's" magazine. Found that while the data and general criteria appear conceptually reasonable, their inconsistencies, together with associated problems in the interpretation of rank data, show that they cannot be logically or empirically useful to students in the matter of university…

Interviews with 96 higher education administrators in Alberta (Canada) revealed that most view marketing to be activities used in attracting resources. Only a few Alberta institutions engage in marketing research or comprehensive marketing planning. Funding was considered a major constraint, but respondents predicted more institutions would adopt…