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Contemporary thought in higher education marketing

Article  in  Journal of Marketing for HIGHER EDUCATION · July 2017

DOI: 10.1080/08841241.2017.1406255

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 Journal of Marketing for Higher Education

ISSN: 0884-1241 (Print) 1540-7144 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wmhe20

Contemporary thought in higher education

marketing

Chris Chapleo & Helen O’Sullivan

To cite this article: Chris Chapleo & Helen O’Sullivan (2017) Contemporary thought in
higher education marketing, Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 27:2, 159-161, DOI:
10.1080/08841241.2017.1406255

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2017.1406255

Published online: 07 Dec 2017.

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JOURNAL OF MARKETING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, 2017
VOL. 27, NO. 2, 159–161
https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2017.1406255

EDITORIAL

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-com-
mercial 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 glob-
ally. 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

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

160 EDITORIAL

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 iden-
tity 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, con-
trary to trends in practice, it may actually be beneficial to hold firm on key aspects of the insti-
tutional 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 stake-
holders construct the place brand concept in the HE context. The authors offer the broad con-
clusions 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 quan-
titative study concludes that stakeholder marketing theory may allow better student engage-
ment 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 univer-
sity 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
 JOURNAL OF MARKETING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION 161

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 pro-
duced 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.

References
Becher, T., & Trowler, P. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines.
Buckingham, UK: McGraw-Hill Education, UK.
Chapleo, C. (2007). Barriers to brand building in UK universities? International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary
Sector Marketing, 12(1), 23–32.
Hemsley-Brown, J., & Goonawardana, S. (2007). Brand harmonization in the international higher education market.
Journal of Business Research, 60(9), 942–948.

Chris Chapleo
Department of Marketing, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
cchapleo@bournemouth.ac.uk

Helen O’Sullivan
Department of Marketing, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK

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