Entrepreneurship and University Brands: The Sense of Belonging in Higher Education

Abstract

Nowadays, the higher education sector has to deal with a scope of strategic issues that goes beyond the management of curricular processes and training courses. The growing competitiveness of the sector has led higher education institutions to give more attention to the marketing field. In fact, higher education institutions can be seen as brands and students as real consumers. Emotional marketing and its techniques, in particular, represent a range of opportunities for universities to strengthen their brands and their connection with the students. In this study, it is suggested that the aspects of attachment can be analyzed in the context of higher education as it aims to provide important insights for the success of university brands in a long-term perspective. Attachment has a relation with satisfaction, commitment, trust and loyalty. These aspects are relevant for universities especially since the relationship higher education institutions maintain with their students in the present and future depends, in certain part, on their degree of attachment and sense of belonging.

Citation

Sousa, B. and Magalhães, F. (2020), "Entrepreneurship and University Brands: The Sense of Belonging in Higher Education", Leitão, J., Ratten, V. and Barroca, J. (Ed.) A Guide to Planning and Managing Open Innovative Ecosystems, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78973-409-620201005