Critical success factors for international education marketing

Abstract

This paper draws on the findings of a survey of 315 education institutions from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. Respondents were asked to rate their institutions’ overall performance on a series of 17 items that an examination of the literature and previous in‐depth interviews identified as being critical to the success of education institutions seeking to market themselves internationally. A factor analysis of these items identified four underlying dimensions. Promotion and Recruitment, Image and Resources, People and Culture and Coalition and Forward Integration. The relative success of these institutions was then measured using a scale consisting of four indicators relating to: growth in enrolments, demand, short to medium‐term outlook and financial benefits. A logistic regression model was then constructed to identify which of these success factors were possible determinants of institutional success. Two factors, Image and Resources, and Coalition and Forward Integration were found to be significant predictors of market success.