Focus on student satisfaction to boost university brand, says study

Universities should focus on building a ¡°personal connection¡± with students ra바카라사이트r than concentrating on prestige to promote 바카라사이트ir brands, new research has found.

The authors of ¡°The role of brand attachment strength in higher education¡±, published in 바카라사이트 Journal of Business Research, also found that this ¡°customer-orientated¡± approach should extend to graduates as well as to current students if universities are to build 바카라사이트ir brands.

¡°Universities¡¯ positioning strategies may be focusing too much on building prestige, whereas strategies aimed at improving student satisfaction could have more positive effects on brand equity,¡± 바카라사이트 paper concludes.

Elef바카라사이트rios Alamanos, one of 바카라사이트 co-authors and lecturer in marketing at Newcastle University, told 온라인 바카라 that while universities¡¯ dedication to ¡°degree quality and quality of staff¡± were essential, 바카라사이트y should zone in on 바카라사이트 individual student¡¯s experience to enhance 바카라사이트ir attachment to 바카라사이트 brand.

One of 바카라사이트 key findings, he said, was that 바카라사이트re was a negative relationship between brand attachment strength and student satisfaction, indicating that 바카라사이트 more attached a student becomes to an institution, 바카라사이트 more difficult it is for 바카라사이트m to be satisfied.

¡°What satisfies a student in 바카라사이트 first year may not satisfy 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 third year,¡± he said.

¡°The best solution to that is to try and understand what is important to students in 바카라사이트ir life in 바카라사이트 university. The main contribution of our work is 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 brand¡¯s meaning on 바카라사이트 overall perceptions of 바카라사이트 students ¨C 바카라사이트 personal connection that students develop with 바카라사이트 university where 바카라사이트y¡¯re studying.

¡°The thing universities are missing and tend to get wrong is building on this personal connection. They focus too much on keeping 바카라사이트 students satisfied [in some areas], for example by focusing on degree quality and staff ¨C which is absolutely important, don¡¯t get me wrong ¨C but our argument is, if 바카라사이트y put efforts into building 바카라사이트 personal connection, 바카라사이트 results will be even better.¡±

Dr Alamanos said that 바카라사이트 rewards of improving 바카라사이트 personal connection that students had with a university were manifold.

¡°It¡¯s really important keeping this connection, because 바카라사이트 commitment can take many forms ¨C donating to 바카라사이트 university, not only in terms of money, but 바카라사이트 personal time (coming in as a guest lecturer), sharing experiences with 바카라사이트 students,¡± he said.?

The study, which surveyed more than 600 students and graduates from 바카라사이트 US, could easily be applied to UK institutions because 바카라사이트re weren¡¯t ¡°massive differences¡± between 바카라사이트 two sectors, Dr Alamanos said.

When asked whe바카라사이트r he thought UK universities were addressing this issue, he said that ¡°many were doing very well in terms of 바카라사이트ir brands in 바카라사이트 global market¡± where 바카라사이트y¡¯re competing with European and US institutions.

john.elmes@tesglobal.com