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- Creators: Department of Marketing
Description
There are over 4,000 higher education institutions in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics. With a variety of options at an applicant’s disposal, the competition for institutions to attract their desired student body can be fierce. Some factors many consider when searching for the perfect college are its reputation and brand. Increasingly, universities have chosen to engage in marketing and branding techniques once reserved for corporations. According to a report by the Santa Clara Consulting Group, “a university is no longer just an institution of higher learning but also a business.” In coordination with this growing trend, institutions have been propelled to undergo some extent of a transformation to achieve their goals. This paper examines three institutions representing different higher education categories that have undergone or are currently undergoing some extent of a reputational shift. Looking at a large public university, an Ivy League institution and a liberal arts college, the research explores the various communications efforts made by each institution and how they compare. In some cases, the communications department is an integral component of the shift, while sometimes it provides mostly auxiliary support. Ultimately, this research hopes to provide insight into the following questions: what actions can an institution’s communications department take to help strengthen its reputation and grow its brand; and how do these strategies compare among various types of institutions?
ContributorsWolfe, Alexandra C (Author) / Hass, Mark (Thesis director) / Smiley, Andrea (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Comm (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
An individual’s reputation can be beneficial or detrimental to their exchanges with others,
and these exchanges may be critical for achieving evolutionary goals, such as reproduction.
Depending on their reputation, an individual may or may not gain access to resources in order to
achieve their evolutionary goals. Reputation is typically described as being “positive” and
“negative,” but the current study aimed to identify potential nuances to reputations beyond the
traditional dichotomy. It was hypothesized that different types of reputations (such as “friendly”,
“dishonest”, and “aggressive”) would group together in categories beyond “positive” and
“negative.” Additionally, individuals with different life history strategies might find different
reputations important, because the reputations they find most important may help them get the
kinds of resources they need to attain their specific evolutionary goals. Therefore, it was also
predicted that the importance individuals place on different types of reputations would vary as a
function of life history strategy. Exploratory factor analysis identified a five factor structure for
reputations. Individuals also placed varying levels of importance on different types of
reputations, and found some reputations more important than others depending on their life
history strategy. This study demonstrates that reputational information is more nuanced than
previously thought and future research should consider that there may be more than just
“positive” and “negative” reputations in social interactions.
and these exchanges may be critical for achieving evolutionary goals, such as reproduction.
Depending on their reputation, an individual may or may not gain access to resources in order to
achieve their evolutionary goals. Reputation is typically described as being “positive” and
“negative,” but the current study aimed to identify potential nuances to reputations beyond the
traditional dichotomy. It was hypothesized that different types of reputations (such as “friendly”,
“dishonest”, and “aggressive”) would group together in categories beyond “positive” and
“negative.” Additionally, individuals with different life history strategies might find different
reputations important, because the reputations they find most important may help them get the
kinds of resources they need to attain their specific evolutionary goals. Therefore, it was also
predicted that the importance individuals place on different types of reputations would vary as a
function of life history strategy. Exploratory factor analysis identified a five factor structure for
reputations. Individuals also placed varying levels of importance on different types of
reputations, and found some reputations more important than others depending on their life
history strategy. This study demonstrates that reputational information is more nuanced than
previously thought and future research should consider that there may be more than just
“positive” and “negative” reputations in social interactions.
ContributorsPatterson, Danielle Nicole (Author) / Aktipis, Athena (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / West, Stephen G. (Committee member) / Ayers, Jessica D. (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12