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Higher education institution image: A correspondence analysis approach

Article  in  International Journal of Educational Management · November 2001

DOI: 10.1108/09513540110401484

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Higher education institution image: a correspondence
analysis approach
Keywords
Image, Positioning,
Higher education, South Africa,
United Kingdom
Abstract
``Create an image for your
company or your competitors will
do it for you.'' In the higher
education sector this statement
by Keever is equally true; as
competition for students
increases and funding decreases
universities and technikons need
to create and maintain a
distinctive image in the market
place. Higher education
institutions are becoming
increasingly aggressive in their
marketing activities to convey an
image that is favourable to their
public, be they prospective
students, employers, funders etc.
Investigates how marketing is
used to convey higher education
institution type image in the UK
and South Africa. Using
correspondence analysis, shows
the unique positionings that have
been created by the old UK
universities, the new UK
universities, South African
universities and technikons. Also
identifies which marketing tools
these institution types use in
conveying their institutional
image.
The International Journal of
Educational Management
15/6 [2001] 276±282
# MCB University Press
[ISSN 0951-354X]
[ 276 ]
Jonathan Ivy
Department of Marketing, Technikon Natal, Durban, South Africa
Introduction
The image portrayed by institutions of
higher education plays a critical role in the
attitudes of the institution's publics towards
that institution (Yavas and Shemwell, 1996;
Landrum et al., 1998). Paramewaran and
Glowacka (1995) in their study of university
image found that higher education
institutions (HEIs) need to maintain or
develop a distinct image to create a
competitive advantage in an increasingly
competitive market. It is, after all, this image
that will impact on a student's willingness to
apply to that institution for enrolment, or a
donor considering an endowment, or a
company selecting an institution to do
contracted research and development. At a
time when HEIs around the globe face
declining student numbers and decreasing
funding grants, it becomes imperative for
them to determine their images in the eyes of
their various publics.
The tertiary education system is
undergoing fundamental metamorphosis in
both the UK and South Africa. Both
countries' institutions are facing changes in
government funding, globalisation of higher
education is bringing on new competitors,
applications from new students is declining,
and lastly, the former polytechnics in the UK
have become universities and technikons in
South Africa now have degree awarding
status. Bakewell and Gibson-Sweet (1998)
argue that these changes may result in the
new universities in the UK being ``stuck in
the middle'', with only half of the respondents
in a survey of sixth-formers supporting the
change from polytechnic to university. While
the decline in student numbers at technikons
has been less apparent than at universities in
South Africa, the traditional focus of applied
and vocational education is changing, with
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emerald-library.com/ft
technikons becoming more academic and
universities becoming more applied in their
educational offerings.
The net result is that all institutions are
becoming increasingly aggressive in their
marketing activities. In this increasingly
competitive environment, the marketers
of higher education should be concerned
about their institution's positioning and
image.
University image
Kotler and Fox (1995) define image as:
The sum of beliefs, ideas, and impressions
that a person has of an object.
A HEI image is not absolute, but relative to
the images conveyed by other HEIs. It is a
function of the strategies that HEIs use, how
they are implemented, and how they are
perceived by their publics. Kotler and Fox
(1995) indicate that people form images of
HEIs on limited and even inaccurate
information, but that these images will affect
the likelihood of people attending,
recommending, donating or joining the staff
of HEIs. It is for this reason that HEIs must
understand the image that they portray, and
make sure that the image is both an accurate
and favourable reflection of the institution.
According to Gavin (as cited by Kotler and
Fox, 1995):
An institution's actual quality is often less
important than its prestige, or reputation for
quality, because it is the university's
perceived excellence which, in fact, guides
the decisions of prospective students and
scholars considering offers of employment,
and federal agencies awarding grants.
The image portrayed by HEIs may be stable
across the institution's disciplines or may
vary considerably, because each public may
associate a number of features that publics
use to distinguish amongst them. (For
example a medical school might have a quite
different image to the business school or
Jonathan Ivy
Higher education institution
image: a correspondence
analysis approach
The International Journal of
Educational Management
15/6 [2001] 276±282
department of fine arts.) The various publics
of universities and technikons draw
conclusions about an institution's overall
image from impressions they have about the
strengths and weaknesses of the institution's
offerings. These images are formed from
word of mouth, past experience and
marketing activities of the institution. This
study will only consider the marketing
aspects that HEIs may use in projecting their
image for student recruitment.
Objectives and methodology
The main objective of this investigation was
to determine how universities and
technikons in both the UK and in South
Africa use marketing to differentiate their
images in the higher education market.
Within this overall objective the following
questions will be addressed:
. How do each of the four types of
institution ± old universities and new
universities in the UK and traditional
universities and technikons in South
Africa ± see themselves and how does this
influence the images they portray?
. What elements of the marketing mix play
the most important roles in the
recruitment of students to these
institutional types?
. What differences exist in the marketing
practices of UK universities (old and new)
and the higher educational institutions of
South Africa (traditional universities and
technikons)?
The primary research was executed through
an anonymous self-completion postal
questionnaire to the marketing, public
relations and admissions officers at all the
higher education institutions in the UK and
South Africa. Table I indicates the make-up
of the sample. There were responses from
81 old and 50 new UK universities, and from
25 universities and 18 technikons in South
Africa. (Owing to the fact that three
questionnaires were sent to each institution
it is possible that more than one response
could have been returned from an
institution. However, on checking the post
marks of the return envelopes the researcher
was able to identify that at least 71 different
institutions were represented in the UK
sample, and at least 20 different institutions
from the South African sample.)
Anecdotal evidence, personal interviews
with four marketing officers (two in the UK
and two in South Africa), observation of
marketing activities of HEIs in both the UK
and South Africa, along with the pilot testing
of earlier versions of the questionnaire
generated 27 different marketing tools used
for student recruitment. There was no
intention of getting a similar number of
marketing tools in each element of the
marketing mix. For example, the price
element of the marketing mix generated only
three tools that were included in the
questionnaire:
1 Having lower tuition fees than
competitors.
2 Availability of scholarships and
bursaries.
3 Contacts with student funders.
The promotions element of the mix, on the
other hand, has 11 items included in the
questionnaire; ``recruiters visits to schools'',
``faculty specific prospectuses'', ``direct mail'',
etc.
Respondents were then asked to score the
effectiveness of these 27 different marketing
tools in attracting new students to their
undergraduate degree/diploma programmes.
This was done on a five-point scale, where 0
was ``very ineffective'' and 4 ``very effective''.
The mean scores of tool effectiveness are
shown in Table II.
Correspondence analysis
Correspondence analysis is an easy-to-
interpret perceptual mapping tool, which can
be used to provide visual relationships and
differences in data. The primary objective of
correspondence analysis is to portray data
geometrically as a set of row and column
points in a low dimensional space (Yavas and
Shemwell, 1996). Like most perceptual
mapping techniques, correspondence
analysis is an exploratory tool that
emphasises exploring and representing data,
and not on formal hypothesis testing. The
technique typically relies upon the
association between objects (the HEIs) and
descriptive attributes (the marketing tools).
It is most commonly used with two sets of
categorical variables, that have been
transformed into a cross tabulation. The data
is then transformed into metric form,
dimensionally reduced (similar to factor
analysis), and a perceptual map is produced
in a similar fashion to multi-dimensional
scaling, where the categories are represented
in multi-dimensional space.
Perceptual maps can also be produced
using tables of mean scores, such as those in
Table II. The maps are based on the
differences and relationships that exist
within the table of means. In the traditional
correspondence analysis technique, the
Chi-square statistic is used to determine the
differences between the row or columns on
[ 277 ]
Jonathan Ivy Table I
Higher education institution The spread of respondents
image: a correspondence
analysis approach UK South Africa
The International Journal of Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage
Educational Management
15/6 [2001] 276±282 Institution type
New university/Technikon 50 38 18 42
Old university 81 62 25 58
Total 131 100 43 100
Respondent position
Admissions officer 24 18 9 21
Marketing officer 50 38 6 14
PR officer 23 18 12 28
Other administrative 25 19 7 16
Academic 9 7 9 21
Total 131 100 43 100
Number of students
Less than 5,000 21 16 8 19
5,000-10,000 33 25 17 40
10,001-15,000 43 33 8 19
Over 15,000 34 26 10 23
Total 131 100 43 100

categorical data. With a table of means, the
chi-square test of independence would not be
performed, so the chi-square distance
measure (used with categorical data) does not
apply. Explanation of the differences among
means requires the use of standard
Euclidean distance (SPSS, 1998).
The use of Euclidean distance (rather than
chi-square) allows several options in the
standardisation of the table of data. The

Table II
The mean score of the effectiveness of various marketing tools
UK Institutions SA Institutions
Marketing tools Old New University Technikon
1 Having lower tuition fees than competition 1.767 1.946 2.421 2.647
2 Recruiter visits to schools 3.220 3.313 3.047 3.111
3 Faculty specific prospecti 2.906 2.539 2.680 2.813
4 Direct mail to schools 2.678 2.818 2.450 2.625
5 Offering a broad range of courses 2.896 2.900 2.240 3.056
6 Our geographic position or location 2.845 2.780 2.600 3.222
7 Our academic reputation 3.446 2.583 2.880 3.444
8 Our research output 3.083 2.020 2.167 2.118
9 Advertising in the press 1.900 2.360 2.044 2.667
10 The fact that we offer part-time tuition 2.449 2.796 2.381 3.000
11 The quality of our lecture and class facilities 2.563 2.280 2.375 2.889
12 Open days on campus 3.014 2.939 2.571 2.429
13 Our close links with industry 2.941 2.837 2.348 3.278
14 Availability of scholarships and bursaries 2.491 1.829 2.560 3.000
15 Our alumni support 2.286 1.829 1.690 1.563
16 Careers fair involvement 2.849 3.000 1.870 2.333
17 Contacts with school career counsellors 3.129 3.082 3.136 2.556
18 The reputations of faculty staff 3.083 2.260 2.440 2.722
19 Accreditation from professional bodies 3.000 3.140 2.652 2.941
20 Our sport and recreational facilities 2.448 2.320 2.625 2.167
21 Promotion on the World Wide Web 2.031 1.932 1.546 1.286
22 Visits to embassies and high commissions 1.842 1.548 0.714 1.067
23 Contact with student funders 2.606 2.095 1.882 2.200
24 Top quality teaching 3.333 2.740 2.760 2.833
25 Our student union activities 2.357 2.208 1.792 1.778
26 The quality of our laboratory facilities 2.639 2.500 2.500 2.611
27 International student exchange programmes 2.477 2.575 1.524 1.357

[ 278 ]
Jonathan Ivy
Higher education institution
image: a correspondence
analysis approach
The International Journal of
Educational Management
15/6 [2001] 276±282
standardisation choices deal directly with
whether overall differences in the row (the
HEIs) or the column (the marketing tools)
mean scores should be reflected in the
analysis, and if not, how the rows and
columns are equated (SPSS, 1998, p. 4-3). In
this study we are not interested in the overall
differences in the marketing tools, that is,
that the mean rating across the HEIs for
``recruiters visiting schools'' for example, is
higher than ``having lower tuition fees'';
standardisation is done by ``removing'' the
column means, thereby ensuring that the
marketing tool differences do not influence
the solution.
The algorithm used in correspondence
analysis derives interpoint distances between
rows and columns of data, so that the
numerical scores assigned to the rows and
columns of the data matrix maximise their
interrelationships. Correspondence analysis
itself refers to the fact that the row and
column scores are reported in corresponding
units. As with principal components analysis,
correspondence analysis produces graphs that
represent the configuration of the row and
column data in two-dimensional space. Each
of the axes in the perceptual map is associated
with an eigen structure that defines the
projections along the axes of the map, as well
as the relative variance in the points
explained by the axis.
Correspondence analysis will provide
insights into similarities and differences
within the rows (in this study the HEIs)
with respect to a given column category
(individual marketing tools), similarities and
differences within the column categories (the
marketing tools) with respect to individual
row categories (an individual institution
type), or the relationships between both rows
and columns (as will be reported on in this
study).
The perceptual maps produced provide a
clear view of the results, and have grown in
popularity because they can provide a:
better understanding and certainly more
easily present relations from a picture than
from a large table of coefficients (SPSS,
1998, p. 1-1).
With the similarity of the algorithms,
interpretation of perceptual maps produced
by correspondence analysis is similar to that
of principal components analysis (Malhortra,
1999). Correspondence analysis results in the
grouping of the categories (in this study the
HEIs), just as principal components analysis
involves the grouping of independent
variables. The resulting perceptual maps are
interpreted in terms of proximities among
the rows (the HEIs) and the columns (the
marketing tools). The closer the proximity of
the points the more similar the underlying
structure.
The results
Dimensionality
The minimum number of dimensions for a
correspondence analysis solution equals the
smaller of the number of rows or columns
minus 1. In this study, with 4 rows, and 27
columns, the maximum number of
dimensions is 3. To determine the
dimensionality of the solution, as in the case
of factor analysis, the eigen values and the
cumulative variance explained by the
dimensions were examined as can be seen
from Table III. Since we are working with a
table of means, the inertia value itself does
not have as helpful an interpretation as it
does with a table of counts; however, it is
related to the variation in the row profiles
within the standardised table (SPSS, 1998).
Thus the proportion of the inertia column
indicates how much of the row variance in
the standardised table is accounted for by
each dimension. The first two dimensions
account for 81.0 per cent of the variance (the
first dimension accounting for 53.1 per cent,
the second 27.8 per cent). As correspondence
analysis is intended for ease of display and
interpretation, a two-dimensional solution is
retained for this study.
The perceptual map
Figure 1 illustrates the graphical output
generated by correspondence analysis from
the data in Table II. This representation
illustrates the underlying structure and
positioning of the attributes that form
institutional image. Interpretation of the
map involves the notion of proximities
among the rows and columns; categories
(marketing tools and HEIs) having the
greatest proximity are the most similar in
terms of the underlying structure. The map is
strategically important to HEIs as it reveals
the underlying structure and positioning
features and the institution type. Marketers
of HEIs can see how their institution type's
position relative to other institution types
are placed relative to the marketing tools the
institutions use to convey their image by
visual examination of the location of the
points in the joint dimensional space.
Interpretation of this map is based on the
relative importance of the marketing tools
associated with the HEI type, not the absolute
mean scores.
As can be seen from the perceptual map the
images of the four institution types are quite
distinct, with each falling within a different
[ 279 ]
Jonathan Ivy
Higher education institution
image: a correspondence
analysis approach
The International Journal of
Educational Management
15/6 [2001] 276±282
Table III
Summary of dimension results
Dimension Singular value
1 0.088
2 0.064
3 0.053
Total
[ 280 ]
quadrant in the map. In looking at the overall
``picture'' conveyed there are some aspects
that are associated only with South African
institutions, as there are some marketing
tools only associated with UK institutions.
Perhaps the most obvious is the aspect of
tuition fees and bursaries. The payment of
tuition fees by South African students varies
significantly between institutions, and,
relative to household incomes in South
Africa, is significant ± hence the wide use of
bursaries and scholarships. In the UK, the
tuition fee paid is common across all
universities, and bursaries for
undergraduate studies in the UK are fairly
uncommon. Finding the marketing tool of
``lower tuition fees'' and the ``offering of
bursaries'' being on the South African side of
the map is therefore not surprising.
Exchange programmes and visits to High
commissions and Embassies are a UK
phenomenon, with the points being placed
well to the right of the UK side of the
perceptual map. While South African HEIs do
attract some foreign students, relative to the
UK international marketing for student
recruitment the South African international
student market could be considered small.
There are also important associations to be
noted for the each institution type; these will
be discussed separately.
Old UK universities
The old UK universities appear to be
somewhat more product oriented in the
conveyance of their image, with a much
higher association to: top quality teaching;
research output; the range of courses offered;
and staff reputations.
They also place an emphasis on targeting:
student funders; embassies and high
commissions; and alumni in their student
recruitment activities, as well as prospective
students who would be attracted to an
institution's ``careers fair''.
New UK universities
The image that new UK universities convey
through their marketing activities is quite
distinct from that of the old UK universities,
with a stronger emphasis on the ``selling'' of
Proportion of inertia
Inertia Accounted for
0.008 0.531
0.004 0.278
0.003 0.190
0.015 1.000
their institutions. There is the use of more
specifically targeted promotional activity to:
. school careers counsellors;
. direct mail;
. open days on campus; and
. recruiters visiting schools.
New universities were also associated with
the use of marketing communications
through the World Wide Web. The use of
international ``exchange programmes'' was
only associated with UK institutions, and
most highly with new universities. Another
aspect of new university marketing was the
role of ``student union'' activities and ``sports
facilities'' that the institution offered.
South African technikons
As already indicated South African
institutions are more fee conscious than
their UK counterparts, with both universities
and technikons indicating that ``lower fees''
are an important aspect in student
recruitment. Technikons go a step further by
including ``bursaries'' in their student
recruitment activities. They also feel that
their physical facilities play an important
role in their student recruitment from the
high associations with ``lecture facilities''.
Technikons are more likely to use press
``advertising'', and offer ``part-time'' tuition.
South Africa universities
No distinct marketing approach appears to
exist with the South African universities.
The diversity in the SA university sector is
vast, with historically black institutions'
limited financial resources and generally
inferior facilities, to prestigious historically
white universities which were better funded
under previous government dispensations;
the resultant aggregated data suggest
somewhat contradictory results. There are
no attributes in the SA university quadrant,
suggesting that the sector as a whole is not
using common marketing activities to
convey their image. The SA universities have
weak associations:
. lower fees;
. press advertising; and
. sports facilities.
Confidence singular value
Cumulative Std deviation Correlation
0.531 0.016 0.194
0.810 0.014
1.000
1.000
Jonathan Ivy
Higher education institution
image: a correspondence
analysis approach
The International Journal of
Educational Management
15/6 [2001] 276±282
Figure 1
Perceptual map showing positioning of higher education institution types
This lack of a consistent image portrayal
could account for some of the significant
decline in student numbers at universities
and the relative stability in technikon
enrolments in South Africa.
Limitations
The study looked at aggregated HEI data, and
identified the marketing tools that an
institution type used to convey their image;
be that in the methods used, who was
targeted or what was conveyed in the
messages to prospective students. The study
shows how the data could be displayed in an
easy readable format through
correspondence analysis. This exploratory
technique does not allow for hypothesis or
significance testing, it merely give a broad
picture of how HEI types are positioned
relative to competitor HEI types, and the
marketing tools that are used to create that
positioning.
The fact that it is possible that three
questionnaires could have been returned
from one institution (as the marketing,
public relations and admissions officers of
each institution were sent a questionnaire),
could load some of the weightings of some
marketing tools.
Specific HEIs were not studied. For
individual HEIs to get the greatest strategic
benefit from this type of analysis the study
needs to be repeated for named HEIs; in this
way a particular HEI will be able to identify
its closest competitors, and identify what
common marketing tools are being used. The
HEI could also identify what tools are not
being used by that competitive set, thereby
modifying the marketing strategies that
could be employed to create a competitive
differential advantage. This type of analysis
was outside the scope of this study
(particularly as the data was collected via an
anonymous self-completion questionnaire),
but does give scope for further research of
this type, and the use of correspondence
analysis.
Conclusions
The result of this study demonstrates the
suitability of correspondence analysis in
assessing HEI positioning. This statistical
technique will enable marketers and
institutional planners in higher education
to visualise their institution type's
competitive advantages and disadvantages
in relation to competitive HEI type
strengths and weaknesses. This market
based information is crucial to strategy
development, particularly if the analysis is
done at an institutional level (rather than
institutional type, as has been done in this
study). It can help HEIs best present their
institutional image and develop a
positioning in the minds of the publics it is
deemed to serve.
Correspondence analysis can also be used
by HEIs in redesigning specific marketing
[ 281 ]
Jonathan Ivy
Higher education institution
image: a correspondence
analysis approach
The International Journal of
Educational Management
15/6 [2001] 276±282
[ 282 ]
View publication stats
programmes and services, in introducing
new courses, and identifying new markets.
This analysis could afford an institution a
competitive advantage in today's rapidly
changing and increasingly competitive
higher education sector.
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