Numerous universities have promoted a sustainable university's brand by offering sustainability curricula, conducting sustainability studies, enforcing sustainable policies, etc. As such, sustainable universities take advantage of the opportunity to market these activities to attract potential students. This research explores international students' perception towards the sustainable brand of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and choosing a sustainable university. The study further examines the influence of factors in choosing USM regarding being USM a sustainable university. A survey was conducted involving 391 international students, using a self-assessment questionnaire followed by collecting and analysing the data using PLS-SEM. The results discovered positive relationships between brand image and brand meaning of USM as a sustainable university regarding students' intention in choosing USM. Aside from that, USM's credibility, informativeness, entertainment, and irritation of information affected students' intention to study at USM. In contrast, the study found that both the perception of USM as a sustainable university and the brand identity of USM as a sustainable university had an antagonistic relationship towards students' intention to study at USM.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the relationship between a sustainable university brand and the intention of international students to study at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), one of Malaysia’s premier universities. Moreover, the study explored the moderating effect of opinion leaders on the intention of international students to study at USM. Design/methodology/approachA survey involving 391 international students was conducted using a self-assessment questionnaire, data from which were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. FindingsEmpirical data show that USM’s sustainability brand had a positive impact on international students’ intention to study at the university, but opinion leaders had no significant sway in influencing this decision. This finding could be attributed to USM’s established reputation as a sustainable university, which helps cement its standing as the top choice for international students. Research limitations/implicationsThis research only focussed on international students at one Malaysian university. Hence, the findings are not generalisable, in particular, to illuminate the experiences of students at non-Malaysian institutions, whose contexts are inevitably different than Malaysia’s. Practical implicationsThis study offered a dimensional insight into the university management on the pivotal branding of sustainability as one of the important tools for attracting international students to study at the university. In light of the findings, it is suggested that universities magnify their efforts to support the sustainable agenda, to help create a sustainable university brand that adds value to the interests of stakeholders. Originality/valueUniversities are continuously faced with challenges in terms of branding. Besides, not many universities are branded as sustainable universities despite the high involvement in sustainability-focused activities. Research has scarcely focused on the influence of the “sustainable university brand” on the marketing effort of the university to international students. In studies where this topic was highlighted, they focused on the opinion leader as the moderating influence of the choice of university amongst international students.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of illegal gold miners and gold mining stakeholders in Zamfara, Nigeria, on the efficacy of a stakeholder collaboration in reducing illegal gold mining (IGM) activities. The study was conducted between 8 September 2020 and 16 March 2021, using a multilevel convergent mixed methods research design. Illegal gold miners identified in seven communities within Anka, Bukkuyum and Mara were invited to participate in a paper and pen survey, resulting in 605 returned questionnaires. Equally, eight stakeholders were sampled for interview. A joint display comparison of the results from the illegal gold miners and the stakeholders indicated mixed reactions in their perceptions. Both the illegal gold miners and stakeholders perceived that the short collaboration between the media and other stakeholders affected the prevention of IGM behaviour. However, compared to the miners, the stakeholders were more satisfied with the short media collaboration.

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This study examines blog coverage (October 2018 to October 2019) and its engagement with citizens regarding internally displaced persons in Nigeria. Approximately 85 stories of internally displaced persons were covered on Naija.com . This study found a significant difference in the appearance of internally displaced persons’ stories on the blog, appearance of the stories in the headline, length of stories used in describing internally displaced persons and the tone used. Most of the internally displaced persons’ stories appeared in the blog’s headlines, suggesting that blogs in Nigeria give prominence and importance to the stories of internally displaced persons. A large number of the stories were described in 400–600 characters, and most of such stories described the internally displaced persons’ situations via a negative tone. Surprisingly, there were very few stories of governmental support, but stories that demonstrate the internally displaced persons in a vulnerable state and exposed to various diseases, prone to attacks, raped, fed inadequately and in need of humanitarian assistance were predominant. As such, a significant association between the frames used and users’ comments and views online was found. Stories that framed the internally displaced persons in a vulnerable state had a greater number of views and comments and those that had more realistic still/graphic images attracted more comments and views.