Antecedents, nature and consequences of brand success in comparable newer universities.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore interpretations of brand success in the context of comparable newer universities. This research establishes a specific branding tool for higher education institutions (HEIs) to identify the factors that contribute to a successful HEI brand, and consequently assesses the implications of that success. This is of value as higher education (HE) is not currently well served by established branding models, which mainly focus on market share, popularity, and profitability. In such a competitive marketplace as HE, the need to understand what defines brand success through the eyes of key stakeholders is important for developing a strong educational sector. This research adopts a multiple case study approach with three broadly comparable post-1992 universities. Due to the exploratory nature of this research, an inductive methodology was used in order to build rich, insightful theory and gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of brand success. Data from twenty-four semi- structured interviews was undertaken from these three case studies. This research defines HE brand success as Enabling a transformational experience for positive social outcomes and identifies four key themes that signify brand success in a post-1992 university brand. Having analysed the data through recursive abstraction, the themes identified are: Identity alignment, Co-creation, Driver for change, and Delivering on promises. These themes inform the conceptual framework, along with presenting themes identified for the antecedents and consequences of HE brand success. The conceptual framework guiding this research is drawn predominantly from branding theory and highlights how the key characteristics of HE brand success enables deeper connections and alignment to the stakeholder need. This research has important managerial implications in developing and executing branding strategies in the HE context as it provides a new perspective by introducing a bespoke model for HEIs to identify their brand success.