Modern Campuses, Local Connections and Unconventional Symbols: Promotional Practises in the Canadian Community College Sector

Abstract

Canadian community colleges operate within a trying market environment. They compete against a diversified group of post-secondary institutions, ranging from small and relatively unknown for-profit vocational colleges to larger and more prestigious public universities. To date, there has been no effort to empirically examine how Canadian community colleges market their services within this contemporary environment. This study provides a first empirical look at how Canadian community colleges render themselves appealing through promotional materials. Using novel web-scraping techniques and a combination of quantitative and qualitative content analysis procedures, it finds that this institutional type primarily showcases their: (1) linkages to their local community, and (2) modern physical facilities to convey an attractive organizational image. Canadian community colleges are also found to (3) rely primarily on unconventional organizational symbols.