Using YouTube Videos to Promote Universities: A Content Analysis

Technics Technologies Education Management (TTEM), Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 58-72, 2017

18 Pages Posted: 28 Apr 2017

See all articles by Hiep-Hung Pham

Hiep-Hung Pham

Chinese Culture University

Kelly Farrell

University of Melbourne

Huyen-Minh Vu

Vietnam National University (VNU)

Quan Hoang Vuong

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management; Phenikaa University

Date Written: April 15, 2017

Abstract

In today’s global higher education environment, international students represent not only an important source of external income for universities: the degree of cross-border student mobility also reflects the internationalization of higher education sector. Universities have engaged in efforts to sell themselves to prospective students and promotional videos are among the most widely used marketing tools for this purpose. This article reports the results of a study analyzing the content of 140 higher education promotional videos from 14 countries available on YouTube. The results reveal that while the pattern of use of YouTube for two-way communication with viewers, information contents and appeal messages among sampled universities is fairly homogenous, some marked differences emerge when cultural background and global position ranking of the university are taken into account. The implications of these findings are that, although transnational higher education has been profoundly globalized, culture still plays a significant role in marketing practice for the recruitment of mobile students. In addition, different universities have various student-targeted segments. These findings provide the basis of a series of recommendations for universities looking to optimize their use of YouTube and promotional video design to market to international students.

Keywords: International Student, Education Management, YouTube, Content Analysis, Crosscultural Management

JEL Classification: A29, I21, P46, Z13

Suggested Citation

Pham, Hiep-Hung and Farrell, Kelly and Vu, Huyen-Minh and Vuong, Quan Hoang, Using YouTube Videos to Promote Universities: A Content Analysis (April 15, 2017). Technics Technologies Education Management (TTEM), Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 58-72, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2959229

Hiep-Hung Pham

Chinese Culture University ( email )

Yaipei, 111
Taiwan

Kelly Farrell

University of Melbourne

185 Pelham Street
Carlton, Victoria 3053
Australia

Huyen-Minh Vu

Vietnam National University (VNU)

144 Xuan Thuy
Cau Giay
Hanoi, 84
Vietnam

Quan Hoang Vuong (Contact Author)

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management ( email )

ULB CP 145/01
21 Ave. F.D. Roosevelt
Brussels, Bruxelles 1050
Belgium
+32-2-6504864 (Phone)
+32-2-6504188 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ceb-ulb.com/vuong-quan-hoang.html

Phenikaa University ( email )

To Huu road, Yen Nghia
Ha Dong district
Hanoi, Hanoi 100803
Vietnam

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/vuongqh2019/

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