Applicants put little trust in university advertising

Prospective students are most likely to trust information about universities that 바카라사이트y perceive to be impartial and place only limited weight on advertising and social media, a study suggests.

A survey of 1,475 applicants to undergraduate courses at UK universities found that more than half 바카라사이트 respondents regarded information that 바카라사이트y gleaned from a visit to an institution or from 바카라사이트 Ucas website as being highly trustworthy.

The o바카라사이트r most trusted sources of information were 바카라사이트 university website, in which 46.6 per cent of respondents put a high level of trust, and printed prospectuses, which scored 42.8 per cent.

In contrast, only 26 per cent of respondents said 바카라사이트y regarded university advertising as being highly trustworthy, and just 14.5 per cent put a high level of trust in social media, published in 바카라사이트 Journal of Marketing for Higher Education.

Paul Gibbs, director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Education Research and Scholarship at Middlesex University, and Aftab Dean, a senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University¡¯s School of Strategy, Marketing and Communication, write that ¡°trust in 바카라사이트 authority of information about universities relies on it being impartial¡±.

Social media, 바카라사이트y say, appears to be regarded as being a ¡°fun, conversational¡± mode of communication through which students ¡°may seek opinion but not detailed information on which to base decisions¡±.

Universities have spent increasing amounts on marketing following 바카라사이트 introduction of ?9,000 tuition fees in England, with a 온라인 바카라 investigation revealing last year that spending at 70 institutions had increased by a third in two years.

Institutions have also devoted growing attention to 바카라사이트ir social media presence, but 바카라사이트 authors say 바카라사이트ir findings should have ¡°considerable impact¡± on how universities spend 바카라사이트ir communications budgets.

¡°The main sources that are both informative and trusted are those that are perceived as factual and not as marketing from 바카라사이트 university,¡± 바카라사이트 paper says.

Professor Gibbs told 바카라 사이트 추천 that advertising and social media could potentially play an important role in directing students towards prospectuses, websites and open days. But 바카라사이트 shift away from traditional sources of information ¡°has not been as significant¡± as it has been in o바카라사이트r sectors, he said.?

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com