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Potential of the social media as instruments of higher education marketing: a segmentation study

Author

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  • Efthymios Constantinides
  • Marc C. Zinck Stagno

Abstract

The importance of social media as platforms of social interaction, communication and marketing is growing. Increasing numbers of businesses in various industries have already integrated or plan to integrate social media applications into their marketing programs. Higher education institutions show increased interest in the potential of social media as a marketing tool. Particularly important is the potential of these tools to reach and attract future students. An important issue for research is to understand how potential students use social media and what their role is in the decision making process of choosing a program of study, a University, or College. This paper identifies market segments among future students based on the use of the social media and examines the impact of the social media on the choice of a higher education program and institution. The study is based on data collected by means of a national survey among future university students in the Netherlands. Future students are pupils from the last two years of secondary education. Market segmentation was carried out based on the use of social media, by means of a cluster analysis and a factor analysis; the latter proved to be the best choice since it produced more differentiated market segments. The findings indicate the existence of three distinct segments in the population of future students in the Netherlands on the basis of social media use. Another major finding of the study is that future students are mostly interested in social interaction and information seeking when using social media, while the content contributed by this group is limited to photo and video sharing. Compared to traditional communication channels social media still play a secondary role in the students' choice. While penetration of social media is extremely high among future students, the impact of these in the choice of study and institution is relatively low compared to more traditional forms of university marketing. This paper provides university marketers with a useful insight into the developments in the market and discusses various options and opportunities for engaging social media as effective marketing tools.

Suggested Citation

  • Efthymios Constantinides & Marc C. Zinck Stagno, 2011. "Potential of the social media as instruments of higher education marketing: a segmentation study," Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 7-24, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:jmkthe:v:21:y:2011:i:1:p:7-24
    DOI: 10.1080/08841241.2011.573593
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    Cited by:

    1. , Aisdl, 2020. "Using YouTube Videos to Promote Universities : A Content Analysis," OSF Preprints weh9t, Center for Open Science.
    2. Hiep-Hung Pham & Kelly Farrell & Huyen-Minh Vu & Quan-Hoang Vuong & Nancy K. Napier, 2017. "Using YouTube video to promote university: a content analysis," Working Papers CEB 17-004, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Motta Joana & Barbosa Maria, 2018. "Social Media as a Marketing Tool for European and North American Universities and Colleges," Journal of Intercultural Management, Sciendo, vol. 10(3), pages 125-154, September.
    4. Laura Saraite-Sariene & Juana Alonso-Cañadas & Federico Galán-Valdivieso & Carmen Caba-Pérez, 2019. "Non-Financial Information versus Financial as a Key to the Stakeholder Engagement: A Higher Education Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, December.
    5. Felicitas M. Brech & Uwe Messer & Brian A. Vander Schee & Philipp A. Rauschnabel & Bjoern S. Ivens, 2017. "Engaging fans and the community in social media: interaction with institutions of higher education on Facebook," Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 112-130, January.
    6. Deni Adha Akbari & Eti Rochaety, 2023. "Analyzing the Impact of YouTube Watch Time on Higher Education Institution Promotions and Admissions," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 42(1), pages 123-132, April.
    7. Kobby Mensah & Fortune Edem Amenuvor, 2022. "The influence of marketing communications strategy on consumer purchasing behaviour in the financial services industry in an emerging economy," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(3), pages 190-205, September.
    8. Mohamed Ahmed Mady & Said Baadel, 2020. "Technology-Enabled Learning (TEL): YouTube as a Ubiquitous Learning Aid," Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(01), pages 1-16, March.
    9. Dilek Penpece Demirer, 2022. "The Role of Content Strategy in Social Media on Brand Post’s Popularity: a Case of Higher Education Institutions in Turkey," Humanities Today: Proceedings Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 1, July -Dec.
    10. Mabić, Mirela & Gašpar, Dražena & Zovko, Jelena, 2018. "Higher Education Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Usage of Social Network Sites," Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference (2018), Split, Croatia, in: Proceedings of the ENTRENOVA - ENTerprise REsearch InNOVAtion Conference, Split, Croatia, 6-8 September 2018, pages 160-167, IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, Zagreb.
    11. Vilnai-Yavetz, Iris & Tifferet, Sigal, 2015. "A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Segmenting Consumers by Facebook Profile Images," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 53-69.
    12. Stathopoulou, Anastasia & Siamagka, Nikoletta-Theofania & Christodoulides, George, 2019. "A multi-stakeholder view of social media as a supporting tool in higher education: An educator–student perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 421-431.
    13. Rutter, Richard & Roper, Stuart & Lettice, Fiona, 2016. "Social media interaction, the university brand and recruitment performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 3096-3104.
    14. Ermira Mehmeti, 2017. "Quest for Statehood: Kosovo’s Plea to Join International Organizations," European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 4, September.
    15. Stuart Palmer, 2014. "Characterizing Twitter communication - a case study of international engineering academic units," Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 257-273, December.

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