Abstract

Background

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are required to engage prospective students through integrated advertising campaigns that convey their study propositions to fulfil often challenging objectives in an increasingly competitive student recruitment landscape. This professional doctorate project represents a comprehensive study into how an international student audience interpreted a particular set of international campaign collateral from the University of Sunderland by investigating how the meanings the audience derives align with the intended meanings of the materials. The research evaluates the extent of the congruence between the intended meanings of the marketing materials and the meanings received by the audience to determine whether a standardised or localised approach is most suitable for international marketing activity.

Context

This investigation provides an in-depth environmental context, including the competitive conditions dictated by forces including globalisation, ongoing shifts within the global higher education market due to changes precipitated by Brexit and COVID-19 and other geopolitical factors that have intensified student recruitment across the UK HEI landscape. Within this dynamic global environment, the effectiveness of the Life-Changing Moments campaign is evaluated on its intended audience to inform future strategies to support student recruitment efforts and increase the brand profile of the institution, ultimately addressing how far standardisation or localisation is suitable for a future global campaign.

Methodology

This project's mixed-methods approach integrates an exploratory qualitative focus group phase with a quantitative survey phase to obtain robust data across multiple geographic areas. Statistical processes, including regression analysis and structural equation modelling, were employed to assess the responses and evaluate message congruence across a range of audiences.

Analysis

The analysis outputs demonstrated the dimensions of alignment between the intended meanings sought to be conveyed in the marketing materials and the meanings received by the audience. Though the audiences generally produced congruent associations when presented with the materials, instances of variance identified across some dimensions suggested that a degree of local adaptation, consistent with the hybrid approach of “glocalisation”, to ensure cultural relevance may result in stronger engagement, whilst maintaining the essence of a recognisable, consistent international brand. The findings suggest that while the current standardised approach may provide the basis for acquiring a consistent, cohesive institutional brand image across multiple audiences, incorporating localisation elements could address instances of message incongruence within key international markets.

Contribution to Knowledge

The contribution to knowledge from this project includes a practical understanding of international marketing in higher education whilst addressing key theoretical gaps and an appetite for additional quantitative research in a predominantly qualitative body of knowledge. The study develops a bespoke framework, the Message Congruence Model (MCM), to support and guide the process of evaluating brand message congruence, in this case for the University of Sunderland, but may have broader utility within other sectors.