The role of visual element content in online higher education marketing – exploratory research among international students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15170/MM.2024.58.03.02Keywords:
higher education, visual perception, online marketing, higher education marketingAbstract
THE AIM OF THE PAPER
The aim of the study is to explore what online marketing content should higher education institutions utilize to address their current international students more effectively. The study intends to reach its aim by exploring the usage of various visual elements with special emphasis on website surfaces of the examined higher education institution.
METHODOLOGY
In the secondary literature review, the peculiarities of higher education marketing and the eye-tracking methodology are discussed. In order to achieve the research goal, data collection with eye-tracking and Retrospective Think Aloud (RTA) interviews were conducted with the international students of the examined university. In case of the eye-camera observation, subjects of the research were shown images from the website of the university examined. This was followed by RTA interviews to help recall the content of the messages on the images. Eye-tracking stimuli can be divided into two categories. One type of images shows the university’s own students and familiar faces in a university environment, while the other group of images shows stock photos taken with unknown individuals. In all cases, the messages displayed next to the pictures contained relevant and useful information for foreign students of the respective university.
MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS
The results of the quantitative and qualitative data collection show that even though the international students examined pay less attention to the pictures with perceived familiar faces than stock images, they can remember the information better next to familiar faces and students, than those of stock images.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the results of this study, more efficient forms of message delivery and more targeted marketing in higher education are recommended. It was revealed that the display of familiar faces is more attractive for the subjects, and they remember relevant information more effectively than in case of stock images. Another important practical recommendation of the research for the higher education marketing colleagues of the institution examined is to apply visual elements in practice that convey important information and address the target group in addition to depicting their own events and their own students, as message transmission proves to be more effective this way than the usage of stock photos.
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