Effectiveness of Digital Marketing in Education: An Insight into Consumer Perceptions

Abstract

The media consumption in India has gone through several unruly variations. Statistics reveal that we currently have over 350 million internet users in the country and about 80 % of the population is active through their smartphone devices. On the basis of user base and revenues for most global internet companies India is one of the largest markets. Internet is where the population spends maximum time especially young students and working executives, with the digital advertising spends accounting for a growth of over 2200 crore in December 2013 thus making it one of the most powerful brand communication platforms in the current scenario. Urban15 suggests that “Digital marketing uses the internet and information technology to extend and improve traditional marketing functions”. It has a wide spread application across sectors, however in the current context with proliferation digital and social media have gained enormous popularity and are integral parts of the decision making of young students seeking higher education. Digitalization has changed the way information is conveyed and perceived by viewers/information seekers. At times the information conveyed through digital media may not be authentic and legitimate creating a scope for misleading the target audience. The paper aims to study how digitalization can mislead thus influencing decision making among a certain Target group taking Education Industry as a sample. It seeks to supplement the claim by relevant data of an institute to evaluate whether the information provided for marketing purpose is legitimate enough to take crucial decisions.Keywords: Decision, Digitalization, Digital Marketing, Digital Media