The student’s choice based on consumer psychology: an analysis applied to higher education institutions of Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the student’s choice of a higher education institution (HEI) in Brazil, through the Consumer Cultural Influence Model (CCIM), that considers subjective aspects of consumer behavior involving human values, social axioms, judgment and meaning of product, and product attributes. Through a quantitative approach, participants were surveyed via Internet. They were Brazilian university students, from all geographic regions of Brazil, mostly attending the first year of higher education, and enrolled in either private or public HEI. The instrument was presented in Portuguese using four Likert-type measurement scales (i.e., human values, social axioms, judgment and meaning, and HEI attributes), and social economic status questions. Findings reveal important results, consistent and complementary to the tools commonly used for understanding consumer behavior. They also support HEI can be clustered in three distinct categories in Brazil, and that students from each category make their HEI choice influenced by different aspects. For large HEI, student’s choice showed to be related to subjective aspects. The students of this category give more importance for the social axiom of social complexity than students from other categories and, in a negative way, for the dimensions of reward for application (social axiom) and conformity (human value). For small HEI, CCIM explains 11.4 % of choice related to subjective aspects. This study provides valuable information to the development of specific public policies to enhance student’s enrollment in HEIs and accomplish the goals of Brazilian National Education Plan (PNE) 2014–2024. It also provides valuable managerial insights into HEI’s choice and offers specific information to provide strategic positioning guides to college managers competing in Brazilian educational marketplace.