Effects of Marketing Mix on Chinese Students' College Choice

As the Chinese higher education market competition intensifies, attracting enough prospective students becomes a demanding task for many higher education institutions. Universities must develop more competitive marketing strategies to win the competition in the student recruitment market. The 7Ps marketing mix is one of the marketing concepts that universities can apply to take effective measures to attract prospective students. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the marketing mix on brand image, motivation, and student decisions in choosing Hebei University of Economics and Business to pursuit higher education study. This study used a quantitative method to examine the relationship between marketing mix variables, brand image, motivation, and student decisions. The data in this study were collected using a questionnaire from 183 first-year students at Hebei University of Economics and Business. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between marketing mix with brand image, motivation, and student decisions. The results showed that price, place, process, and physical evidence significantly influenced university image. Promotion and physical evidence had a significant influence on motivation. The product, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence influenced the student's decision. The university managers may consider the findings of this study and make a marketing plan to attract more students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]