Exploring Gen Z’s Preferences Toward Higher Education Institutions’ Promotional Strategies

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore Gen Z's preferences for promotional strategies when choosing a university to enroll in. The study applied one-to-one semi-structured interviews with recent university students around Purbalingga as participants. The number of participants was determined by saturation, and the data collected were transcribed verbatim. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using ATLAS.Ti to identify emerging themes. The results of this study show that the most attractive promotional strategies for Generation Z students to enroll were printed brochures, Instagram social media pages, personal messaging via WhatsApp, and direct messages (DMs) on Instagram. The study reveals that Gen Z, as today’s targeted consumers of HEIs, values both digital and traditional advertising, provided they offer relevant information clearly, feature aesthetic design, and include personal interaction that gives them a sense of real engagement without visiting the campus. Therefore, higher education institutions (HEIs) should also utilize social media pages to promote their academic programs besides the conventional promotional strategy using printed brochures. The results supported the previous studies and theory that broaden existing literature on brand knowledge, brand awareness and brand equity which led to brand loyalty. This study contributes to the knowledge and literature in marketing and education especially HEIs, as well as the practical in education marketing to consider the precise promotional mix in order to attract more prospective students from the Generation Z era.