Using students’ motivations for university selection to improve international attractiveness of the University of Pécs

Abstract

Higher education institutions operate within growing competitions and are forced to adapt and use a market-oriented strategic approach in order to increase the number of foreign students. Successful international student recruitment is based on effective marketing communication which has to focus on the pull factors that the students find important during their decision making process. The study identifies the decision making process of international students when choosing to study abroad. The paper reveals the different motivations and driving forces that are behind this life-long decision of not only the students but their families as well. The study, which aimed at exploring and analysing the different decision-making forces of the various international student groups, introduces the results of a research that was carried out among 200 international students of the University of Pécs. The paper concludes that students’ motivations and their decision making processes can differ greatly according to the various countries of origin, therefore the marketing communication message as well as the communication channels used during international student recruitment activity have to differ and have to be adjusted to the needs of the chosen markets.