D.Phil. (Marketing Management) / Despite the extensive research undertaken in the subject area of prospective students’ university decision-making processes when selecting a university, much is still unknown about the interrelationships between the choice factors they consider when choosing a university, the perceived value they expect to derive from their choice, and their intention to enrol at their chosen university. This study attempted to address this gap by developing a theoretical model to test the possible interrelationships of three main constructs namely, choice factors, perceived value and intention to enrol. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) such as universities, realise the need to embrace marketing related ideas and practices to attract the ‘right’ students in an increasingly competitive Higher Education (HE) landscape. The ‘right’ students are those prospective students with potential to succeed, and the top performing students. Competition is evident as universities need to compete with a number and variety of universities and HEIs and prospective students have choice. Prospective students are also more mobile, and better informed to make judgements about a range of potential universities at home and abroad. It is therefore important for universities to understand what students desire and expect from them, and to engage in consumer behaviour research to grasp prospective students’ decision-making processes and the choice factors that are most influential in selecting a university. Choice is further a function of prospective students’ perceived value they believe they will derive from their chosen university and understanding the concept of value is important as it drives consumer decision-making. Perceived value is furthermore an accurate indicator of the student’s intent to enrol. In order to test the theoretical model that can possibly guide universities in determining choice factors, perceived value and the intention of prospective students to enrol, an empirical investigation was conducted. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was followed where the researcher made use of the survey research technique. A drop-off self-administered questionnaire was designed and distributed. For the purpose of this study, a non-probability sampling technique was employed where the researcher used the judgement of an experienced individual to select the sample units. A letter of approval was obtained from the Department of Education to approach these schools and fieldworkers were used to deliver questionnaires. Only those grade 12 scholars who were considering studying at a university/university of technology were targeted. Of the 1 733 questionnaires received, 1 476 could be included for analysis and interpretation purposes. Multivariate statistical techniques were used to analyse the data; including an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to reduce the data, a second-order exploratory factor analysis (2nd order EFA) to verify the data, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to refine the data, and structural equation modelling (SEM) to determine and measure the interrelationships between the main constructs of the study. A number of inferential statistical techniques were further employed to test hypotheses formulated for the study. The results indicate that six of the initial seven choice factors as confirmed through CFA, influence prospective students’ university choice. The seventh choice factor namely accessibility-price was removed during SEM because of multicollinearity. The six remaining choice factors include reputation, cultural acceptance, accessibilitylocation, physical evidence, prestige/prominence and future employability influencing prospective students’ university choice. The results furthermore reveal that there are interrelationships between the choice factors prospective university students consider when choosing a university, the perceived value they expect to derive from their chosen university, and their intention to enrol at their chosen university. The study indicate that universities should implement marketing related strategies with equal effort into understanding the choice factors influencing prospective students’ university choice, and the perceived value prospective students expect their chosen university offers, as interrelationships exist.

The marketing concept is posited as the philosophical foundation of the marketing disciplines and market orientation invariably refer to the operationalisation of the marketing concept into a management orientation. Engaging in marketing activities may be important but market orientation is a vital ingredient in determining an institutional success, despite inherent barriers towards its successful implementation. A higher education institution (HEI) can be market oriented only if it understand its market. This study was conducted with the main objective of seeking to establish Universities of Technology (UoTs) implementation levels of market orientation, possible barriers to market orientation and their influence on university performance. A non-probability sampling method (convenience sampling) was used in the study. The sampling frame for the study included full-time employed academics in all six UoTs in South Africa. Pre-testing and a pilot study preceded the main survey and reliabilities were measured using the Cronbach alpha coefficients. Out of 1250 questionnaires sent to participating institutions, a total of 528 responses were received and this resulted in a return rate of 42.24% for the main study. The statistical analysis of the collected data included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to test the posited hypotheses. The findings of the study supported the predetermined theoretical and the empirical objectives as well as the hypotheses of the study. The findings further indicated that the market orientation of UOTs in South Africa was determined by seven fundamental factors within the institutions being market intelligence generation, interfunctional coordination, customer orientation, market intelligence dissemination, intelligence response design, intelligence response implementation and interdepartmental dynamics. Furthermore, three key barriers to market orientation were identified, namely internal, external and organisational environmental factors. In addition, the study also found a significant impact of market orientation on university performance as consistent with previous market orientation studies undertaken in other contexts. Recommendations emanating from the study will address various concerns on effective incorporation of the market orientation paradigm. Commitment and communication from top management to all units to support market orientation is critical. The support of those making strategic decisions is needed to garner the necessary support of other employees in UoTs, especially top and senior management buy-in and support. Marketing information generation should be a starting point when developing or adapting marketing strategies. HEIs should realise that marketing information dissemination is an effective way to reach prospective students and to create credible and persuasive communication channels. The development of a marketing strategy should also involve the inter-functional coordination and interdepartmental dynamics that enables HEIs to meet students’ needs and enhance service delivery to all its stakeholders. Key aspects that need to be prioritised includes: establishment of structures for marketing coordination, marketing efforts to be driven by teams to bring about synergy and cross fertilisation of ideas across departments and marshalling of resources in order to improve performance of all business units. Managers in different HEIs can also enhances performance of their instituions by implementing these key recommendations. This study will significantly contribute to the critical challenge facing HEIs, being to create the combination of the culture and the climate that maximises organisational learning, resources and capabilities to create superior university performance that is prescribed by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET). Other HEIs could learn from this study and utilise the research to diagnose and remedy barriers within their operational spheres.

Abstract not available

Thesis (D. Phil. Communication Management)--University of Pretoria, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 222-233).

As the competition increase in the Higher Education industry, marketing departments of Higher Education Institutions view students as consumers and market their institutions. At the mean time, universities around the world encourage their international offices to increase the foreign student enrollments. This research investigates the factors influencing international students’ choice of enrolling at Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) via the internet: international students’ Internet use to facilitate information search and decision making. This survey of international students from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) explored the Internet’s role in marketing international education. Based on this exploratory research, NMMU educational institutions gain insights of online customer service for successfully recruiting students. The results show that prospective overseas students do indeed use the internet. Overall evaluation of the factors influencing the use of the internet for enrolling at HEIs was determined by four factors: namely, perceived usefulness, consumer involvement, perceived ease of use and opinion leadership.

[Truncated abstract] The Australian higher education sector has changed markedly in the last two decades. The size of the sector has swelled in size as new universities have been created from former Colleges of Advanced Education and Institutes of Technology, and succeeding governments have introduced policies that have embedded increasingly corporate and commercial practices into university administration. This has caused the creation of what are becoming known as ‘enterprise universities’. This thesis examines hypotheses arising from two fundamental questions. (i) Given the increasingly market-oriented higher education environment in Australia, will a model developed from the study of services marketing (which has developed since the 1970s as a distinct sub-branch of the Marketing discipline) show itself to be applicable to universities operating in the Australian sector? (ii) If so, are there demonstrable differences in the way in which ‘student customers’ respond in terms of the antecedents of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty within different types of university? . . . The study found that the model tested was highly appropriate for indicating the major antecedents of satisfaction and loyalty in this setting. It showed that the institutional image was a relatively stronger antecedent of perceived value and customer satisfaction than were elements of service quality, and that the model was effective in accounting for a large proportion of the variance found in students’ loyalty to their institution. It also found that there was relatively little difference between students attending different types of university in these matters. It argues that there is an important imperative for Australian universities to take a strategic image management approach to their marketing initiatives, and also issues related to the nature of higher education as a positional and public good.

Thesis (M. Tech.) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2009

Market orientation is generally defined as the implementation of the marketing concept within organizations. It has been operationalized by such dimensions as customer orientation (the pursuit of customer satisfaction), Competitor Orientation, Inter-functional Coordination, and Responsiveness. According to a growing body of literature, this strategy is likely to help higher educational institutions in their effort overcome the challenges and pressures of their changing environment (these are: massification, professionalisation, budget constraints, the rise of stakeholders’ requirements in terms of quality control and accountability… In this research, I first object that those researchers who are suggesting market orientation as the suitable strategy have said nothing as for its content or definition. I also contend that empirical works using higher educational setting to operationalize the market orientation strategy are just conceptual transpositions, which do not consider the specificities of higher education institutions as compared to private firms. These shortcomings are the theoretical justification of my research. Hence, after showing the origin of the market orientation rhetoric in higher education, I develop a new conceptualization of the strategy and suggest a new scale for its measurement. The following dimensions composed my suggested scale: Stakeholder orientation (Students, policy-makers, and organizations), Competitor Orientation, Collaboration, Inter-functional Coordination, and Responsiveness. The empirical validation of these dimensions was enriched by a quantitative assessment of the place of the market orientation strategy within the mission statements of higher educational institutions. This research is one attempt in a whole ongoing trend towards research on how to relevantly import private sector strategies into public and nonprofit sector organizations, among which, higher education/<p><p>L'Orientation-Marché est généralement définie comme étant l'implémentation du marketing dans les organisations. Une revue de littérature permet de l’opérationnaliser par les dimensions telles que l'Orientation clients qui consiste en la poursuite de satisfaction des clients, Orientation concurrents, Coordination inter/intra fonctionnelle, et la Réponse organisationnelle. Cette stratégie est de plus en plus évoquée comme pouvant aider les institutions d'enseignement supérieur à faire face aux défis tels que la massification, la professionnalisation, la réduction des financements, la montée des exigences des parties prenantes en termes de qualité. Dans cette thèse, je constate d'une part que certains chercheurs se limitent à proposer cette stratégie sans en définir le contenu, et d'autre part que les travaux empiriques existants sur l'Orientation-Marché dans l'enseignement supérieur se limitent à des transpositions conceptuelles, sans tenir compte des spécificités des institutions d'enseignement supérieur. C'est pour cette raison qu'après avoir démontré l'origine des discours sur l'Orientation-marché dans ce secteur, je développe une échelle de mesure susceptible d'Opérationnaliser cette stratégie. L'échelle comprend l'Orientation vers les parties prenantes (Etudiants, Décideurs politiques, Entreprises), l'Orientation Concurrents, la Collaboration, la Coordination Interfonctionnelle, et la Réponse organisationnelle comme principales dimensions. La validation empirique de ces dimensions a été enrichie par une évaluation quantitative de la place de l'Orientation-Marché dans les missions des institutions d'enseignement supérieur, telles que déclarées dans leurs différents documents. Cette recherche est une première ébauche dans tout un courant de recherches sur l'importations des stratégies de gestion privée dans les institutions à but non lucratif. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished