Contemporary thought in higher education marketing

The global increase in the demand for higher education, an escalation in student consumerism and an increased focus on the ‘end product’ in a revenue-generating market has led to a shift in the HE landscape and a corresponding marketization of the way universities operate. With increased global competition, universities are searching for a unique definition of what they offer in order to differentiate themselves and attract students (Chapleo, 2007; Hemsley-Brown & Goonawardana, 2007).

An incremental shift in funding from government to graduates has changed university debates on learning, teaching and issues of ‘the student experience’, as students continue to develop a strong voice within the sector. These fundamental changes have underpinned a rapid evolution in the nature of management of higher education and have forced universities to adopt many commercial practices and implement them in what are increasingly quasi-commercial organizations (Becher & Trowler, 2001).

This marketization of HE is, however, often contentious and for some challenges the very essence of what HE is for. Simply adopting the principles and approaches of the market may be theoretically and practically uncomfortable, and refined bespoke approaches are frequently called for. Some argue that sector specific marketing understanding has struggled to keep pace with the rapid change in the sector. Indeed, taking an overall view of the submissions in this special edition it may be argued that ‘traditional’ marketing theory and approaches no longer have sufficient capacity to explain the behavior and decisions of students in particular, and that models to help provide a holistic offering that meets evolving needs are lacking.

Clearly, the issues and challenges of twenty-first century HE are significant. Universities operate in an increasingly uncertain environment, with macro forces moving with increasing speed, complexity and risk. The interactions between changes in academic identity, teaching and the curriculum; and secondly, on student identities and their impact on teaching and assessment, and their consequent learning outcomes, underpin fundamental challenges on the HE sector. Universities also continue to face increasing cost pressure across all areas of activity and investment is needed if they are to continue delivering the same standard of education.

The debates around marketing of HE are therefore timely and significant. Discussions around many issues including branding, corporate communication, identity, the student voice and reputation take place at the most senior levels in universities across Europe and globally. There is a need for identification and evaluation of latest theory and best practice. This issue of Journal of Marketing for Higher Education therefore focuses on ‘Contemporary Thought in Higher Education Marketing’ and comprises papers that explore issues of current and future relevance in this ever-changing sector.

The papers in this special edition span a number of issues that are at the heart of all that is contemporary in higher education marketing. The core themes that emerge at a macro level are brand (inevitably linked with reputation and image), application of models that allow greater understanding or new marketing approaches, aspects of consumer behavior in the HE context, and discursive thought that challenges the reader to evaluate perceptions or assumptions around the marketization of HE. Within this, it is pleasing to see the application of concepts such as place marketing, stakeholder marketing and social marketing to the HE context. These concepts are widely discussed in broad marketing theory and practice and evaluation in education marketing is welcome and often enlightening, although it does seem that, in general, applicability may be limited or partial.

The International context of the body of work in this special edition is welcome; whilst there is a UK focus on several papers (as would be expected), there are also papers that deal with the United States, Spain and Portugal. It is evident that HE faces the same challenges and issues in most markets and we can hopefully learn from best practice on a global scale.

As is logical, a variety of methodologies are evident, from conceptual arguments drawing on literature, through qualitative insights based on interviews and cases to quantitative approaches that allow measurement and evaluation. These in turn lead to conclusions that often call for further or related investigation and it is hoped that these calls will be heeded.

Summarizing the papers; Brand, reputation and image are ongoing fundamental issues for HE marketing and this is reflected in the papers in this special edition. Alcaide-Pulido, Alves and Gutierrez analyze the literature to develop a model of university image and argue that image comprises four key constructs: external communication and values, national and international recognition, economic value and facilities. They combine these to suggest model that can measure university image.

The evolving and adaptive nature of image and the related concept of organizational identity are discussed by Hoskins and Brown in their paper that compares the strategy of Liberal Arts Colleges to top research universities in the United States context. They conclude that, contrary to trends in practice, it may actually be beneficial to hold firm on key aspects of the institutional identity. They also identify best strategic practices for managing identity in Liberal Arts Colleges, and the contribution to practice is a common theme with many papers in this edition.

Polkinghorne, Roushan and Taylor's paper also explores areas relevant to image, but the authors argue that teaching quality is key in potential student's evaluation of institutions. More specifically, it is Learning Gain as an indicator or teaching quality that is examined, and the paper concludes on how this could be effectively evaluated.

Brand and image can of course encompass many constructs, and Winter and Thomson-Whiteside examine the role of location in building a distinct identity, linking this to the field of place marketing. The paper is exploratory in nature and seeks to understand how key stakeholders construct the place brand concept in the HE context. The authors offer the broad conclusions that most institutions portray certain values (around reassurance and excitement) that dissipate most differentiation through location to the point where little real differentiation is apparent or indeed possible.

The above papers offer links into new models and insights around HE marketing, and this theme continues with Huempfner and Kopf who apply stakeholder marketing theory to the new product decision process (in this case an integrated business- Spanish major). Their quantitative study concludes that stakeholder marketing theory may allow better student engagement and as such better targeting of growing Hispanic markets.

Robson, Farquhar and Hindle continue the theme of greater insights in consumer behavior in HE by investigating students as vulnerable consumers and concluding that understanding and attitudes may be problematic. These implications are important in a time when concern for the student experience is significant and increasing, and scrutiny of the value of the university experience is widespread in the media.

A really key consumer behavior insight that has significant implications for HE marketing is proposed by Cownie in her paper, where the role of feelings of gratitude in final year students is examined, with the finding that this is driven by helping behaviors, care, perceived effort and environment and the clear advice that academic student interactions should more closely inform HE marketing strategies.

The editors believe that the wide variety of papers in this special edition are indeed linked around key contemporary issues around HE marketing and marketization of HE, and offer insights and often challenging discourse. It is hoped that other researchers will take many of these themes up as we seek to understand challenges around modern HE marketing.

It only remains for us to offer our sincere thanks to the reviewers who have given their time and knowledge to support this special edition, and without whom it could not have been produced in such a timely manner. We would also like to thank Professor Jane Hemsley- Brown for her invaluable support in her role as Journal Editor.