The role of branding in higher education institutions
- Indian Journal of Training and Development
- 53(1-4), Jan-Dec, 2023: p.72-77
The importance of brand image is all-pervasive. It has a direct impact on the decision-making of the stakeholders. The education sector, one of the most imperative parts of service sectors is also sensing the importance of brand image in attracting its most explicit stakeholders like students. Selection of university is the first and foremost step in a student’s career. There are many factors that can affect the decision-making of students while selecting the university but brand image or reputation of a university/ institution is one of the most important factors. The present study has reviewed the available literature in an attempt to understand the students’ perception about the role of brand image in the selection of a university and understand the challenges faced by educational institutions in building the brand image. The present study is based on secondary data, the tabulation method is used to depict the conclusions and findings of previous studies. Thematic and Content analysis are used to extract the patterns and perceptions drawn by the previous researchers on the role of brand image in the university selection. The analyses also aid in establishing and extracting the implicit and explicit relationships between previous qualitative and quantitative studies. The reviewed literature proved that there is a positive and direct impact of the brand image of the university on the decision-making of the students when they select the university for higher education. Based on previous studies, an attempt has been made to prepare a conceptual model depicting the relationship between various dimensions. The present study would contribute to the literature on Higher education institutions in the context of importance of brand image. It would aid educational institutions in taking decisions regarding brand building. – Reproduced