Internal Image of Czech Tertiary Business Schools and Its Influence on The Interest of New Applicants for Study

Abstract

Attracting prospective students could be difficult and expensive. Candidates, when choosing a future school for their studies, consider a great number of factors. Information from official university websites don´t suffice to persuade. Among others, the word of mouth plays a significant role. The aim of this paper is to present findings about important factors influencing the overall satisfaction of current students with university life as well as their willingness to share positive references. The study took place in the Czech Republic with students attending business schools at universities. Primary data was collected via online questionnaire with students of bachelor’s master’s, and doctor degrees (n = 274) and in-depth interviews (n = 10). Data was processed with regression analysis and Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The main findings suggest that there is a close positive correlation between students’ satisfaction and the willingness to recommend the university. The quality of student life and the reputation of the school were identified as the most important factors influencing this satisfaction and willingness to recommend.