The effects of advertising on university´s choice in Spain: a methodological proposal based on emotional and rational factors

Abstract

The increase in competition from Spanish universities in the market has been constant over the last four decades. Together with the complexity of the decision-making process, it has made students become more demanding when choosing the university. In addition, the factors that influence decision-making are external and internal such as family, teachers, school advisors, reputation, cost, location, communication, personal experiences, self-esteem and other factors that consciously or unconsciously contribute to the choice of an institution. Also, students today look for information in different media to reach a reliable decision-making, since this will affect their future work financially and personally. For this reason, universities need to be prepared to meet this need, and the role of advertising will contribute to informing and establishing that link with potential students and the university. The objective of this work is to propose a conceptual model that, through a methodological proposal, contributes to understanding how advertising based on rational and emotional factors influences the choice of the university. The contribution of this study proposal is aimed at the educational sector, specifically universities and those responsible for communication or marketing managers, in which emotional and rational advertising strategies will be proposed to guarantee the effectiveness of university advertisements.