ERIC Number: EJ1425943
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0884-1241
EISSN: EISSN-1540-7144
College Choice & the Consumer: The Impact of Gender on Higher Education Enrollment
Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, v34 n1 p415-435 2024
As marketization and privatization strategies become commonplace in higher education, it is essential for institutions to understand how students make decisions about college choice. Students as consumers engage in complex college choice decision-making that is often impacted by institutional and personal characteristics, such as cost, location, academics, ethnicity, and gender. This concurrent, mixed methods case study brings together a college choice model and a model of consumer behavior to understand how women make decisions about enrollment. Results of the study indicate that women place significant emphasis on feelings related to fit, safety, and comfort. Moreover, the research indicates that considerations of the student as consumer metaphor should expand to include more complex identities and phases. The study also contributes a new theoretical perspective on marketing in higher education, suggesting personalized communication, segmentation, and marketing plans that can be used when recruiting women "and" consumers to their institution.
Descriptors: College Choice, Consumer Economics, Higher Education, Decision Making, Females, College Students, Student Behavior, Student Attitudes, School Registration, College Enrollment
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A