engleski

STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ON PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION BRAND VALUE IN CROATIA

Due to the transition process in Croatia that started about three decades ago, higher education institutions (HEIs) are forced to intensively involve in market competition and become market and entrepreneurial oriented in order to keep up with the new trends in higher education. Branding process in HEIs has become one of the major acitivities in creating value and gaining market position in many countries, including Croatia. The aim of this study is to provide a deeper insight and understanding of differences in brand market value perceptions of students of public and private HEIs in Croatia. Altogether 443 students (242 from public and 201 from private HEI) responded to questionnaire based on Aaker's model of brand equity T-test and correlation analysis have shown that public HEI is significantly better in only the dimension of other proprietary brand assets, while in private HEI all other dimensions of brand market value have been evaluated better. However, the brand market value itself was significantly higher in public sector HEI, mainly due to the perception of “value for money”. The study identified several factors that need to be taken into account when branding private and public HEIs in Croatia.

higher education institutions, branding, Croatia, private and public HEI.

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