The impact of COVID-19 on marketing for higher education institutions in developing countries: the case of Lebanon

Abstract

New marketing strategies, new perspectives, and new trends have emerged significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many higher education institutions are challenged to adapt to these rapid changes as well as to choose the right marketing approaches. The purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore the COVID-19 impact on marketing for Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in Lebanon and to discover the marketing practices applied by institutions amid the pandemic. Empirical data were gathered through 24 in-depth interviews for the aim of this study. Findings revealed that Lebanese institutions are expected to make substantial changes to their marketing in the COVID-19 business environment; these include new post-pandemic plans for a return to normalcy and shifts in marketing strategies toward digital reinforcement. This paper will help build a more robust theoretical body of knowledge regarding Higher Education Marketing (HEM) in the context of developing countries.

Keywords:

• Marketing
• covid-19
• future of Higher education
• academic institutions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.