Exploring Sources of a University’s Awareness and Contact Channels Used among Prospective Students: A Case Study of a Private University in Thailand

Abstract

The intensity of competition for new student enrollments at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels has increased greatly among private higher education institutions in Thailand in recent years. This study explored the effective sources of a university’s awareness and the contact channels used by 400 prospective undergraduate and postgraduate students who expressed their interest to apply to one private university in Thailand, which will be kept anonymous in this specific study. The results indicate that online searching/browsing was the most common awareness source in general, but especially for the postgraduate group, whereas high school activities was mentioned as the most significant source by the undergraduate group. The study results also pointed out that the university’s website was the most common channel that was used to make contact for the postgraduate group, whereas most of the undergraduate prospects first contacted the university during the school-visit activities undertaken by the university marketing and admissions teams. The conclusion presents several suggestions for Thai universities to be able to use, in order to gain positive results in their future marketing and sales activities.