Higher Education Marketing: Is it Working?

IntroductionHigher Education Institutions in Ireland are under pressure to attract and retain students in an increasingly competitive environment (Walsh and Cullinan, 2017). The competitive nature within the industry has... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction

Higher Education Institutions in Ireland are under pressure to attract and retain students in an increasingly competitive environment (Walsh and Cullinan, 2017). The competitive nature within the industry has highlighted the role that marketing plays in increasing student numbers. The aim of this paper is to explore accountability for marketing in HEIs. The paper reviews the literature on higher education marketing with an emphasis on whether the marketing techniques higher education institutions (HEIs) use to attract students, are adhering to contemporary marketing metric measurement practices such as those outlined by Bendle et al (2016). The objectives are to collect, document and analyse the current research literature on the role of marketing in higher education and marketing techniques used in HEIs. This process leads to a discussion regarding the implications of HEIs adopting commercial practices, how changing media consumption habits are effecting higher education marketing, and the challenges and expectations they pose to HEIs’ management regarding accountability for marketing in HEIs.

Higher Education Marketing

The importance of higher education marketing is growing (Washburn and Petroshius, 2004; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006), particularly in Ireland where Irish government policy is centred on increasing overall participation and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all who wish to progress into higher education (Walsh and Cullinan, 2017). As the Irish government may not be in a position to sustain substantial increases in higher education spending, HEIs must allocate scarce resources towards student recruitment so as to maintain and improve their position within this increasingly competitive environment (Szekeres, 2010). Similarly, since the re-designation of polytechnics to universities in 1992, marketing has grown in importance for UK universities (Durkin et al., 2012). Political changes in Ireland and the UK have led HEIs to adopt a professional market driven approach, which allows them to create distinct brand identities to attract domestic and international students. Three factors have contributed to recent shifts in the way HEIs operate: a global increase in the demand for higher education, an escalation in student consumerism, and an increased focus on the end product generating revenue (Chapleo and O’Sullivan, 2017).

The marketing of education remains a relatively new concept and the literature lacks theoretical models to reflect the higher education context (Durkin et al., 2012). Critiques of this literature have identified that much research over the past two decades has focused on the application of business marketing frameworks and questions their relevance where the features and processes of HEIs differ to those of industrial or commercial businesses or services (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006; Szekeres, 2010). For example, a successful company is usually associated with high sales, however, in higher education a successful, prestigious higher education institution, may restrict its student numbers in order to drive demand (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006). These seminal reviews reveal the higher education setting is unique and highlight a significant area for further research as to whether marketing techniques appropriate for a commercial business are effective for HEIs.

It is known that marketing can create value, in this scenario it is among higher education institution stakeholders including; prospective students, current students, alumni, employers of graduates and financial supporters (Lewison and Hawes, 2007). If value can be created through marketing efforts, then benefits for HEIs may transpire in the form of increasing student numbers or prestige. And while there are many external factors that HEIs have little control over such as the cost of education or the allocation of funds, they can control their marketing strategy, so their communication of benefits is critical in attempting to attract more students (Washburn and Petroshius, 2004). For this reason, HEIs today are adopting commercial marketing practices, because they are now in a position where they have to.

Higher Education Marketing Techniques

In the late 1990’s there was much debate about who the customer was in the higher education scenario; the students, whereby the course itself was the product, or the providers, whereby the students are the products. It was later recognised that higher education should be considered a service rather than a product (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka, 2006). Another key area for debate surrounded who should be the target of marketing directed by HEIs. Indeed, marketing messages can be tailored to various stakeholders in the decision making journey. This is particularly prevalent in higher education institution marketing, where traditionally marketing communications were focused on trying to target other key influencers than the end customer itself such as school teachers or family members (Durkin et al, 2012). Historically, HEIs in Ireland were not overly concerned with marketing themselves, but as marketing has grown in importance, they now have to engage in it. HEIs have to communicate the benefits of higher education as if it were similar to any other product or service. It could be said the HEIs in Ireland are in a transition phase.

Today marketing messages are tailored for many different audiences within the higher education setting including prospective students, peers, siblings, parents and school guidance counsellors (Cullinan and Walsh, 2017; Szekeres, 2010). In light of this a number of both traditional and contemporary marketing techniques are being used by HEIs.

Durkin et al (2012) point out that the practical outcome for many HEIs marketing activity has been on promotional and recruitment activity such as open days, advertising campaigns or alumni events. They suggest that efforts should perhaps be focused on more holistic or strategic aspects of marketing.

Changing Media Consumption Habits

While businesses and marketers worldwide grapple with changing media consumption habits and the amount of data available to them to enhance their marketing strategies, HEIs also have to take heed of the changing media consumption habits of their target audiences and make use of contemporary marketing techniques available to them. That is not to say that the more traditional marketing techniques should be forgotten, but that the allocation of resources such as funds and marketing staff should bear in mind which marketing efforts are returning more on their investment. This is particularly important given that most higher education institution money derives from government funding models. Bendle et al (2016) claim that all aspects of marketing can be measured. They do acknowledge that the availability of data can vary between industries, but hold strong that the days where marketers were unaccountable for their decisions are gone. Bendle et al (2016) maintain that if marketers could agree on their definitions of the marketing metrics which are available then results could be comparable within the industry. Thus traditional and contemporary marketing techniques could be measured and compared. However, there is a distinct lack of reference to contemporary marketing techniques such as search engine optimisation, Google AdWords, social media advertising, mobile marketing or email marketing being used in higher education marketing.

The widespread availability of data to marketers results in lower barriers to measuring the success of marketing techniques executed. This is certainly the case for commercial organisations where marketing metrics are continually under scrutiny (Bendle et al, 2016). Thus if higher education is undergoing a marketization phase and HEIs are adopting commercial practices, (Chapleo and O’Sullivan, 2017) the question arises; should this not also be true for them? While the literature cites many marketing techniques that are being used by HEIs, not all address the measurement of their success or the level of accountability that exists. The literature also offers advice to marketing managers in HEIs, but there is little to show this advice has been taken on board.

Challenge of Higher Education Marketing

There are many questions associated with the marketing of higher education for management. The first relates to the appropriateness of marketing techniques HEIs use. Should HEIs continue to abide to the traditional open day and prospectus in order to attract new students or should they embrace digital marketing and tracking data? If higher education is to become more marketing oriented, then HEI marketers should not only implement contemporary marketing tools, but also be accountable for the results these marketing techniques produce.

There is a lack of literature relating to the effectiveness and related accountability of marketing techniques employed in higher education marketing, which may be due to: the outcomes not being measured; success is measured, but findings are not shared due to the competitive higher education landscape; and/or there is a gap in literature for researchers to address.

Research Limitations and Originality/Value

The literature reviewed for this paper is limited in its scope due to a lack of available data relating to HEIs marketing activity in Ireland. There is a lack of prior research studies relating to marketing practices used in Irish HEIs, which in turn highlights an opportunity.

This paper questions if marketing in HEIs is working effectively and offers value from a practical perspective. In doing so it raises important questions relating to the accountability of marketing practices in HEIs and highlights a relatively unexplored territory in Ireland.