Date of Award
Spring 2023
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
Communication Studies BS
Department
Communication Studies
First Advisor
Fei Xue, Ph.D
Advisor Department
Communication Studies
Abstract
With enrollment rates expected to surge over the next decade, the competition
between institutions of higher learning will also increase. Because of this, marketing
material produced by all institutions will need to adjust to become more effective at
establishing brand identity to attract the attention of prospective students. Using Aaker’s
brand identity model as a framework to understand branding methods, this research aims
to identify marketing communication strategies that are more effective in a prospective
student’s decision-making process. The thesis also investigates prospective students’
recall and perception of marketing material produced by USM to determine its overall
effectiveness and differences in responses based on region.
An online survey was distributed to current USM students to learn about their
individual experience with USM’s marketing materials prior to admission and how
effective they were in influencing the student during their college decision process.
Results show that most of the current marketing efforts produced by USM have relatively
high recall rates; however, participants report better recall for more personalized
methods. In addition, Aaker’s product and organization scopes appear to have the highest
average scores out of the four. Finally, the data shows that marketing materials that
highlight certain scopes perform better in some regions than others.
Copyright
opyright for this thesis is owned by the author. It may be freely accessed by all users. However, any reuse or reproduction not covered by the exceptions of the Fair Use or Educational Use clauses of U.S. Copyright Law or without permission of the copyright holder may be a violation of federal law. Contact the administrator if you have additional questions.
Recommended Citation
Clevenger, Amy, "The Effectiveness of the University of Southern Mississippi's Marketing and Branding Efforts among Prospective Students" (2023). Honors Theses. 936.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/936