marketing of professional educational services

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MARKETING OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Nigamananda Biswas 1

Dr. Vipin Bihari Srivastava 2

ABSTRACT

Marketing is the art of demand creation and the process of pursuing existing as well as potential

customers. It has become a fashion for every organization to gain competitive advantages.

Competition is everywhere; educational service sector is not an exceptional case. Population

exploration fuelled by various educational policies of government for inclusive growth

intensified competition in this sector. To survive in the stiff and turbulent competitive market,

educational institutions, particularly the institutions offering professional course like MBA,

BBA, etc. are not lagging behind. They have also adopted practicing marketing their products

and services. Sometimes they are not practicing customized marketing approaches for surviving

in the competitive market. This paper has made an attempt to discover the marketing approaches

of the institutions offering the management related courses. It has also offered some valuable

suggestions to the professional educational institutions to survive in the competitive and

turbulent environment.

Keywords: Marketing, services, educational services

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Assam University, Silchar-788011, Assam. E-mail:[email protected] / [email protected] Assistant Professor, Institute of Environment and Management, Lucknow, Email: [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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I.0 PROLOGUE

Education system of India is often cited as one of the contributors to the economic rise of

India. Much of the progress in education has been credited to various private institutions. The

private education market in India was estimated worth $40 billion in 2008 and will increase to

$68 billion by 2012. However, India continues to face many challenges in this context. Despite

growing investment in education, 40% of the population is illiterate and only 15% of the students

reach high school. Monastic orders of education in India was under the supervision of a guru ; a

favored form of education for the nobility in ancient India. Apart from the monastic orders,

institutions of higher learning and Universities flourished in India well before the Common Era.

A number of Urban Learning Centres (ULC) became increasingly visible from the period

between 200 BC to 400 BC. The important urban centres of learning were Taxila and Nalanda ,

among others. These institutions systematically imparted knowledge and attracted a number of

foreign students to study topics such as logic, grammar, medicine, metaphysics, arts and crafts.

With the arrival of the British Raj in India a class of Westernized elite was versed in the Western

system of education which the British had introduced. This system soon became solidified in

India as a number of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary centres for education cropped up during

the colonial era.

As of 2009, India has 20 Central Universities, 215 State Universities, 100 Deemed Universities,

5 institutions established and functioning under the State Act, and 13 institutes which are of

national importance. Other institutions include 16000 colleges, including 1800 exclusive

women's colleges, functioning under these universities and institutions. The emphasis in the

tertiary level of education lies on Science and Technology. Indian educational institutions by


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2004 consisted of a large number of technology institutes. Distance learning is also an exclusive

feature of the Indian higher education system. Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes

of Management, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Birla Institute of Technology and

Science, National Institute of Information Technologies, Indian School of Business, All India

Institute of Medical Sciences are some of the well recognized global players in professional

educational services.

In the olden days existence of Guru- Sishya Parampara in Indian educational system was

prevailing. Teachers were called as Guru and student were known as Sishya . The sishya used

to stay at a toll or Ashram of Gurukul which now have been transformed to Residential

Campus, or Hostel. Educational service at that time was a Social Service and institutions did

not have any motive of profit maximization. The social service has recently being shifted to

Commercial Service . Hardly there was any competition to admit maximum number of students

in their institutions. With Globalization, Privatization and Liberalization since 1991, the

educational sector is flooded with large number of private and foreign players, specially the

professional management institutions. Competition among them (government, private and

foreign owned institutions), population exploration, government initiatives have enforced the

marketing concept in this sector which was not prevailing in the olden era.

II.0 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The present paper is purely based on secondary data source. For the present study, theinstitutions offering professional courses related to Management, Engineering & Technology,

Medical Sciences, Journalism and Mass Communication etc. have been taken into account. The

present study analyzed various marketing and promotional approaches adopted by the


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professional educational institutions in India. It has also identified the various tools used by the

professional educational organizations. The paper has raised a few vital questions; whether the

adopted approaches are student centric? Whether it is right approach? Is there any gap in

satisfying the needs and demands of the students? It has also suggested appropriate marketing

style for the professional educational institutions.

III.0 MARKETING PRACTICES AND TOOLS USED BY THE PROFESSIONAL

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Education is a pure service sector which is characterized by intangibility, inseparability,

heterogeneity and parishability. Here, the offers are intangible and the service may be based on

the reputation of an individual. It is difficult to compare the quality of similar services and the

buyer cannot return the service once it is availed. The uniqueness of educational services

marketing is that, instead of the traditional 4 P's, (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) there are 3

additional P's (consisting of People, Physical evidence, and Process) constitute marketing mix

with 7 P's.

III.1 MARKETING MIX ELEMENTS OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Following figure showing the elements of the marketing mix are often referred to as 'the 7 P's in

case of educational services. These 7 P's are often used as marketing tool by the educational

institutions.


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III.1.1 Product /

Service

Price

Product /Service

Place

MarketingMix

Variables ofEducational

Services

Process

Promotion

Figure: No.1 Psof Educational Services

People

PhysicalEvidence

In case of educational services, the product means the students and the services means the

intangible offers (like the course itself, the services rendered by the faculty etc.) made by the

educational institutions. Here, services make the product of an institute. Through the products

and services the educational institutions promotes their organization and develop the brand value

in the competitive market.

III.1.2 Price / Fees

The price is the amount a student pays for the services availed by him or her. It is determined by

a number of factors including competition, service quality, placement, reputation of the

institution, private or public ownership, infrastructure, facilities provided, location of the

institute, mode of education, brand name of the educational institution etc. Here, price reflects


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the quality of services provided to the students. Hence, it can be used as marketing tool by the

institutions.

III.1.3 Place

Place represents the location where an educational institute is established. It is often referred to

as the service centre. If the institute is located at a Metro city, it will provide much more

competitive edge, than if it is located in rural place. So, place is also a vital promotional tool for

them.

III.1.4 Promotion

Promotion represents all of the communications that a service provider uses in the marketplace.

Promotion has a few distinct elements such as advertising, public relations, word of mouth, point

of sale, publicity, direct & web marketing, etc. Educational institute emphasizes mainly on two

components of promotion viz. advertising and web-based marketing, rather than all. As far as

promotion tool is concerned, positive word-of-mouth communication has been found the best

tool for them.

III.1.5 People

Here, the people mean teaching fraternity and non-teaching community directly and indirectly

associated with the services rendered to the students. Satisfaction and retention of the students

solely depends on the way the teachers are in a position to deliver their best services to them.

Teachers are not treated as guru , rather they are known as facilitators / services providers .

Growth and existence of an educational institute, particularly the professional educational


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organization depends on the competency, effectiveness, efficiency, sincerity, dedication and

devotion of the teaching community of the institute. People proved as the most vibrant

component of educational services marketing mix.

III.1.6 Process

The procedures, mechanisms and flow of activities which lead to an exchange of value are called

the process. The way service providers render services to the students, plays a pivotal role in

gaining the competitive advantages. If the service process is hassle free, simple, understandable,

student friendly and technology based, it will definitely make the institution with difference.Examples might include the way a student is treated by a staff member and rendered service by a

teacher, or the length of time a student has to wait to get services from them.

III.1.7 Physical Evidence

It is the direct sensory experience of a service that allows a student to measure whether he or she

has received adequate facilities by the educational institution. Examples might include the

physical environment in which service is delivered, the physical facilities provided and the

infrastructure created by the organization for them. It might include state-of-art technology,

building, total ambience, parking facility, play ground, gymnasium, swimming pool, indoor

stadium, transportation facility, hostel, AC class room facility, computer laboratory, canteen,

library, number of books and journals, different modern teaching aid etc. All of these play a

crucial role in marketing of educational institute.

III.2 OTHER POPULAR MARKETING TOOLS USED


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In addition to above mentioned 7P's, following figure shows the other various marketing tools

used by the educational institute. It might include lucrative job offer made by the institute,

ranking in the same industry, approval and affiliation of the institute and the course from the

appropriate authority / government (viz. MHRD, AICTE or UGC), brand name of the institute,

admission test followed (CAT, MAT, INCAT, etc.), determine the position of the educational

institute in the industry. Say for example, if an institute is under CAT admission system, it

implies the high reputation of the institution. Institutes run with experienced faculty from abroad

(say IIPM); IIMs, etc. get an edge over other players in the same industry. Sometimes the

pedagogy of one institute varies from others. All these can be used as marketing tool by theeducational institute.

Job Offer

Infrastructure /Facility Provided

Teaching AID

Location of theInstitute

RankingBrand Name

Pedagogy

MarketingTools Used byEducational

Institute

Admission Testsand Process

Approval

Figure No.2: Popular Marketing Tools Used by Educational Institute

Faculty

Services OfferedPrice / Fees

III.2.1 GAP ANALYSIS

The marketing styles practiced by the management institutions created some doubts. A few vital

questions are raised in this context; i.e. are those adopted approaches customer centric? Is there

any gap in customer services? Whether these styles are student friendly or student driven or

student centric? Most of the cases it has been experienced that; these professional institutions are


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simply beating their own drums and have kept no stone unturned to maximize profit. They

always focused on highlighting their own strengths and positive aspects only with a view to

attract maximum number of student in their organization. Every institute put efforts to conceal

the weaknesses and the activity they can not perform for the student. If we go by the concept of

modern marketing, it says that customers should be at the focal point of business and student /

customer satisfaction should be the top priority of the institution. They should adopt the societal

marketing concept rather than sales concept which is being practiced by them. They do only

profit-oriented business which is sellers driven.

As far as the professional educational institute is concerned 5 gaps have been identified which

are mentioned in the following figure 3.

STUDENT

EDUCATIONALINSTITUTE

CustomerGap GAP5

GAP1

GAP2

GAP3

ExternalCommunications to

CustomersGAP4

Service Delivery

Customer-Driven ServiceDesignsand Standards

CompanyPerceptionsofConsumer Expectations

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PerceivedServices

Expected Service

Figure No.3: GAP Model of Service Quality

Provider Gap 1: Educational institutions do not know the expectations of the students.

Provider Gap 2: Institutions are not having the desired service designs and standards to

meet the requirements of the students.

3 Adopted from: Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M.J., Gremler, D.D. and Pandit, A. (2008). Services Marketing. (amodified figure).


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Provider Gap 3: Educational institutions are not delivering service standards as required

to deliver.

Provider Gap 4: They are not matching performance they are supposed to show and

promises communicated to the students.

Gap 5: There are lot of differences between expectations of the students and their

perceptions, which is known as Customer Gap.

III.2.2 WHAT SHOULD BE THE RIGHT APPROACHES TO MINIMIZE THE GAP?

Once gaps are identified, the educational institute should take some corrective measures to

minimize those gaps. First, they should realize the expectations of the students and try to meet

the same accordingly, if meet, customized services are to be rendered. Secondly, the institute

should design the services which are market and student oriented. Thirdly, service quality and

appropriate delivery process need to maintain properly. Fourthly, institute ought to keep the

promises communicated by them. Fifthly, they must not allow creating any expectation andperception gap in the mind of their students. Marketing strategy should be adopted which are

exclusive for student / customer satisfaction. The Consumer-Centric Business approach should

be the appropriate path for them. Following diagram has suggested some measure to reduce the

gaps between service providers and students.


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Right

StudentCentric

Approaches

Placement

Honest Appraisal ofPerformance

Student

RelationshipManagement

(SRM)

RenderingMarketOrientedServices

EnsuringQualityServices

FairTreatment tothe Students

Welcomingand

EncouragingFeedback

ActQuickly

Figure No.4: Strategies for the Educational Institutions

For the professional educational institutes suitable placement for students after completion of the

course should be the first and foremost consideration. Later on, placement can be used as a

marketing tool for the institution. Whenever loopholes are identified, institute should act very

quickly to resolve it. Student Relationship Management (SRM) must be maintained

systematically for the long run benefit of the institution. Alumni are the most important

stakeholder and the greatest contributor for the organization. Fair treatment to all the present and

former students is very necessary because of the fact that they act like non-paid brand

ambassadors of the institute. Honest student appraisal can make an institute with difference.

During appraisal process, halo effect, leniency effect, stringent effect, recency effect, primacy

effect, central tendency effect, stereotyping, etc. ought to be avoided. During service delivery

time quality and customization should be the mantra to the service provider. Market driven

services must be offered to the students. Service providers ought to welcome and encourage

feedback from the students to dissolve all the grievances among them.

IV.0 CONCLUSION


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Students are the backbone of an educational institute as well as a nation. A country, society and

culture become rich when the educational system is well-established. Educational institutes

needs to adopt the student centric approaches to remain unbeaten in the turbulent market. To

promote the services of professional institutes, services marketing triangle approaches must be

adopted. To sale the products i.e. students of the educational institute in the competitive market,

institutes should cultivate professionalism and inculcate the same among their students. They

must ensure quality output from their institutions. Positive word-of-mouth can be ascertained to

create awareness among the target segment. Educational services organizations ought to focus on

building stronger network with the existing and prospective employers in the country and abroad.In this context Industry-Academia Interface can be built. Long term relationship must be built

with the employees and employers. Student Relationship Management (SRM) i.e. relationship

with the alumni, can be very useful tool for promoting the present students and the institution as

a whole.

REFERENCES

All India Management Association (2009), MAT Bulletin, 3rd May.

Baines, Fill Chris and Page (2009), Marketing, Oxford University Press, First Indian

Edition, New Delhi.

Baran, Galka, and Strunk (2008), Customer Relationship Management, Cengage

Learning, India Edition, New Delhi.

ICFAI University Press (2006), Introduction to HRM, Hyderabad.


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Johnston, and Clark (2008), Service Operations management Improving Service

Delivery, Pearson Education, Second Edition, Delhi.

Kolhatkar, M. R. (1999), Pre-requisites for Internationalization of Higher Education.

Paper presented at the Policy Perspective Seminar on Internationalization of Higher

Education, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi.

November 26-27.

Kumar and Meenakshi (2009), Marketing Management, Vikash Publishing House

Limited, New Delhi.

Zeithaml, Bitner, Gremler, and Pandit (2008), Services Marketing- Integrating Customer

Focus Across the Firm, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, 4 th Edition,

Special Indian Edition, New Delhi.

Websites

http://www.edujobing.com/world-development-report-2004

https://www.oppapers.com/login.php?save_page=/essays/Services-Marketing-Mix

http://www.reportbuyer.com/public_sector/education/education_services_market

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Managing-educational- services/articles

http://learnmarketing.net/servicemarketingmix.htm
http://www.edujobing.com/world-development-report-2004https://www.oppapers.com/login.php?save_page=/essays/Services-Marketing-Mixhttp://www.reportbuyer.com/public_sector/education/education_services_markethttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Managing-educational-http://learnmarketing.net/servicemarketingmix.htmhttp://learnmarketing.net/servicemarketingmix.htmhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Managing-educational-http://www.reportbuyer.com/public_sector/education/education_services_markethttps://www.oppapers.com/login.php?save_page=/essays/Services-Marketing-Mixhttp://www.edujobing.com/world-development-report-2004

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