University selection: Rational and emotional aspects of the decisionmaking process

Abstract

University selection is complex, and for undergraduate students, they possess no prior lived experience to provide the foundation for their decision making. It would be easy to assume, therefore, that a rational and systematic decision-making process takes place. Yet despite repeated attempts by the UK Government to provide various factual and comparable UK university performance metrics, the usage of comparable data remains low. Students are influenced by where they feel they will fit in, where they will be safe and supported and for the overall student experience they perceive to be on offer. In the international domain, decision-making models and market research demonstrate both factual and emotional factors involved in overseas university selection. The emotional aspect of the decision, coupled with an overwhelming choice, necessitate universities to have a strong brand. The paper provides a case study of how these concepts were addressed at Leeds Beckett University, a modern university in England with over 25,000 students. At Leeds Beckett, implementing a personalisation marketing strategy has grown student engagement and enrolments, and led to a major turnaround in international student recruitment.