Somehow bogged down: why current discussions on measuring HEI reputation go round in circles, and possible ways out

Abstract

ABSTRACT Measuring and managing reputation is one of the core challenges for higher education institutions (HEIs). Although research and theory in higher education marketing has been addressing this key issue for decades, a clear picture of how to capture and monitor the reputation of higher education institutions has not emerged. As a result, recommendations on how to apply systematic reputation management in the HEI setting are lacking. We review traditional conceptualizations of the construct of reputation, identify common challenges to reputation measurement, and examine their application in higher education settings. Bringing together the baselines from these fields, we argue along four main lines that recommending a theoretically acceptable way to capture HEI reputation is tantamount to an unsolvable task. As a solution to the impasse, we call for an exploration of altered perspectives on reputation measurement for the HEI context. Increased consideration of relevance and departures from existing attempts are two issues that are particularly addressed. To advance the theory and encourage new thinking, we develop several lines of research that we hope will inspire further work in this important area and move the field toward more applicable solutions.