Promoting Higher Education Institutes: Issues and Practices

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine how universities promote themselves. In particular, it explores why these institutions engage in promotional activities, the promotional strategies they adopt, the challenges they face in promoting themselves, as well as the outcome of the promotional activities. The literature review examined each of the elements of promotion mix (advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, digital marketing/social media and public relations) in the context of universities. Most of the studies conducted earlier were theoretical in nature. This study enriches the existing literature by empirically examining all of the elements of promotion mix together in the context of universities. The methodology used was qualitative. Data was collected by interviewing eight departmental staff members who are directly involved in the promotional activities of their respective departments within a university. The findings suggest that the universities engage in promotion activities to promote their ranking as well as to establish their positioning as a reputable brand which helps to increase student enrollment and revenue either in the form of more tuition or in the form of non-governmental funding. Implications for practice are discussed, highlighting the advantages as well as the challenges practitioners may face while executing a promotion mix strategy. For example, research highlights the advantages of TV advertising in reaching a wide range of audiences, yet it also tells the practitioner to be careful of the high cost of TV advertising which may not be suitable for one’s budget. Similarly, while social media marketing is very effective in reaching a wide audience, marketers need to be careful of the user generated content which may or may not be suitable for an organization’s promotional efforts. Lastly, directions for future research are also discussed guiding the readers on how to further enhance research on this topic by either conducting a quantitative study and/or developing an international study to enhance generalizability of this research.