Do UK universities communicate their brands effectively through their websites?
Open Access
- 1 June 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Journal of Marketing for Higher Education
- Vol. 21 (1), 25-46
- https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2011.569589
Abstract
This paper attempts to explore the effectiveness of UK universities' websites. The area of branding in higher education has received increasing academic investigation, but little work has researched how universities demonstrate their brand promises through their websites. The quest to differentiate through branding can be challenging in the university context, however. It is argued that those institutions that have a strong distinctive image will be in a better position to face a changing future. Employing a multistage methodology, the web pages of 20 UK universities were investigated by using a combination of content and multivariable analysis. Results indicated ‘traditional values’ such as teaching and research were often well communicated in terms of online brand but ‘emotional values’ like social responsibility and the universities' environments were less consistently communicated, despite their increased topicality. It is therefore suggested that emotional values may offer a basis for possible future online differentiation.Keywords
This publication has 45 references indexed in Scilit:
- Positioning in Market Space: The Evaluation of Swedish Universities' Online Brand PersonalitiesJournal of Marketing for Higher Education, 2008
- Changing Structures of the Higher Education Systems: The Increasing Complexity of Underlying ForcesHigher Education Policy, 2006
- On the Pragmatics of Qualitative AssessmentEuropean Journal of Psychological Assessment, 2006
- Interpretation and Implementation of Reputation/Brand Management by UK University LeadersInternational Journal of Educational Advancement, 2004
- University selection: information requirements and importanceInternational Journal of Educational Management, 2004
- Corporate brands: what are they? What of them?European Journal of Marketing, 2003
- The configuration of the university image and its relationship with the satisfaction of studentsJournal of Educational Administration, 2002
- Visual identity: trappings or substance?European Journal of Marketing, 1997
- Categorizing brands: Evolutionary processes underpinned by two key dimensionsJournal of Marketing Management, 1993
- Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of testsPsychometrika, 1951