The influence of marketing communication on students' decisions to enrol at Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges in KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Marketing higher education is a growing field of expertise in many developing countries. However, little research has been done on marketing Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges in South Africa. Evidence suggests that it may suffer from a lack of expertise to provide direction to the practical aspects of marketing TVET Colleges. Most of the marketing practices of Higher Education are underdeveloped and lack a strategic focus when it comes to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). For TVET Colleges marketing communication plays an important role in students’ recruitment.

The aim of this study is to analyse the influence of marketing communication towards students’ decisions to enrol at Technical Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVET). The objectives of this study is to determine factors that influence students in the selection of a TVET College. Additionally, the study strives to identify students’ perceptions towards TEVT Colleges, and investigate marketing communication practices that contributes toward improving students’ perceptions at TVET.

The study was conducted in KwaZulu-Natal where the targeted TVET colleges are based. This is a quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional study conducted among a sample of 400 TVET College students. Data was analyzed using SPSS.

The results of this study reveal the need for marketing communication in TVET Colleges to be addressed urgently in order to improve public perception and enrolment rates at TVET Colleges.

Both students and TVET Colleges will benefit from the study because marketing and communication as a source of information will assist when selecting a college of choice. In addition, this will also assist TVET Colleges in the selection of appropriate marketing communication media to enable proper allocation of marketing budget and resources

The findings of this study will then act as guidelines to determine a more appropriate marketing communication strategy to improve the public perceptions of TVET Colleges to make TVET Colleges a students’ first choice.