University branding: student experience, value perception, and consumption journey

This study provides empirical insights into university branding and links it to student experience, value perception, and consumption journey. It also explores the relationship between these factors and their assistance to university brands in tackling the global issue of international student mobility. A review of branding literature, consumer experience, customer value, and consumer journey from extant studies on consumer behaviour and relevant studies on branding in the higher education sector provided a theoretical background for the study. Using focus group interviews, data were collected from international students in the Japanese higher education sector and analysed using content analysis. Empirical evidence of the interactions among these factors and branding supports the importance and feasibility of integrating these aspects into university branding. Thus, this study theoretically contributes to branding research by introducing the concepts of consumer experience, customer value, and consumer journey into the studies of branding in the context of higher education and their associations with university branding. It also provides managerial implications for branding a university from the aspects of student experience, value perception, and the consumption journey to address the issue of global student mobility.