Purpose – In today's complex and highly competitive marketplace, universities and colleges, realizing a need to develop sustainable strategies, have turned to branding as a solution. However, because of unique service characteristics, universities’ branding attempts may not always result in success. The purpose of this paper, utilizing the concept of brand equity as a foundation of understanding, is to present a framework and scale measurements of university brand equity and its dimensions. Design/methodology/approach – Because no prior measurement scales for university branding have existed, the scale measures for this study are compiled from the literature on brand equity measurements identifying the core and supporting value-creation factors for higher education. For this exploratory study, several pretests and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to ensure that the scale items are comprehensible and clearly measure the intended constructs. Students are considered as the target population for this study. Data for the main study were collected at a comprehensive university in the Midwestern USA. A total of 30 classes with varying sizes provided 439 usable surveys. Findings – Empirical results from the survey research suggest that some of the brand equity dimensions are more important in developing strong university brands. Of the core dimensions, perceived quality of faculty is the most important brand equity dimension, followed by university reputation and emotional environment, brand loyalty, and brand awareness dimensions for creating a strong university brand. Among the supporting brand equity dimensions, library services was the most important for creating a strong university brand, followed by student living (residence halls and dining services), career development, and physical facilities (e.g. gym, classrooms, labs). Research limitations/implications – Although the target population was students, as a first step, the survey was administered to students at one university. Administering surveys to students at different universities and comparing the results would improve the reliability of the brand equity scales. The significant correlations found among the brand equity dimensions suggest the interconnectedness of these dimensions. The findings have implications for developing and implementing university brand strategies. The authors suggest serious consideration to be given to a holistic approach to branding efforts. Originality/value – The branding literature offers no prior research that develops and tests a scale or examines the issues and factors that are important for developing strong university brands and brand equity for higher education institutions. This study develops the scale measurements through a comprehensive literature review, tests the validity of the measurements, and takes the brand equity theory one step further by identifying the core and supporting-value creation factors suggested sporadically in the literature. The framework suggests that both core and supporting value-creating activities are dynamically interrelated and work jointly in creating student learning experiences, and ultimately, a strong university brand.
Purpose -In today's complex and highly competitive marketplace, universities and colleges, realizing a need to develop sustainable strategies, have turned to branding as a solution. However, because of their unique service characteristics, universities' branding attempts may not always result in success. The aim of this paper is to present a brand ecosystem framework in order to develop branding strategies for colleges and universities. Design/methodology/approach -The key elements of the framework include: student experiences as the driving force of the university branding strategies, academic services as the core value creation activities in delivering student learning experiences that are co-created with students and faculty, and supporting activities that are important in creating the core value. Findings -The framework suggests that both core and supporting value-creating activities are dynamically inter-related and work jointly in creating student learning experiences, and ultimately, a strong university brand. Originality/value -The paper presents the crucial elements and the relationships among them for building successful brands in higher education.
PurposeIn response to global competitive challenges, universities recently started developing better strategies for branding. Branding has been used as a differentiation strategy for higher education institutions. As the number of universities (public and private) has increased, so has the competition for students, the universities in Turkey have faced similar challenges. The main objective of this study is to investigate, from the students' perspective, the role of interactions of brand equity dimensions in creating a strong university brand.Design/methodology/approachCompiling from the literature, the study used a survey instrument to collect data at a comprehensive public university in Turkey. To assure representation of students across the campus, the sample included students at freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior and graduate levels from all major colleges.FindingsBased on 1,300 usable surveys from students across all colleges of a major state university, the PLS-SEM model revealed significant relationships among the brand equity dimensions of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, learning environment, emotional environment, brand trust, brand loyalty and university reputation. These brand dimensions collectively and/or individually influence the students' university learning experiences that may result in creating strong university brand equity.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was conducted at a government-owned university in Turkey capturing only students' perceptions. Future research could benefit from perceptions of other stakeholders like faculty, staff, alumni, and parents and testing the relationships for different types of universities. This study discusses the implications for developing university branding strategies.Originality/valueThe study empirically tests the validity and effects of the university brand equity dimensions with Turkish university students using structural equation modeling (SEM). It confirms that the measures of brand equity dimensions are also applicable in a different country.
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