Abstract:
Brand image is crucial for universities to differentiate themselves in today’s competitive education market. It reflects reputation, quality, and values, influencing students' preferences. However, little research on brand image attributes in African universities exists. This study explores the impact of brand image attributes on students' choice to join USIU-Africa, a leading higher education institution in Africa. The research aims to understand how brand loyalty, brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations, and proprietary assets influence students' decisions to choose USIU-Africa as their university of choice. The study also aims to contribute to the literature on higher education brand image in Africa. The study involved 307 freshmen and sophomores from 6 schools at USIU-Africa, using a cross-sectional research design. Primary data was collected through questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS Version 27.0 software. Descriptive statistics were reported in frequency, percentages, and means. Secondary data was organized into themes based on specific objectives.
The study reveals that students at USIU-Africa are highly satisfied with their university, with a high mean score of 3.81 indicating a strong desire to continue their association. They are likely to recommend the university to others based on positive experiences, highlighting the potential effectiveness of testimonials and positive reviews in marketing materials. Participants also showed a willingness to invest time and resources into maintaining their relationship with the university, showcasing its success in offering engaging extracurricular activities and alumni networks. The study further stressed the role of brand association, with students valuing USIU-Africa for its high-quality academic programs, a strong sense of community, and valuable skills and knowledge. The study found that brand loyalty, brand association, and perceived brand quality showed strong positive correlations with student university choice (r=0.778, r=0.738, r=0.679 respectively, all p<0.05). Brand awareness had a moderate positive but significant relationship with student university choice, suggesting that increasing brand awareness can positively influence student choice (r=0.329, p<0.05). However, proprietary assets had a weak positive but significant correlation with university selection, indicating that other factors may have a greater impact on student choice (r=0.393, p<0.05).
