Brand Positioning Strategies through Accreditation in Higher Education Institutions on the Internationalization Process

Abstract

Higher education is a significant indicator of the development level of the countries and undertakes the locomotive role in the enhancement of the relevant country. Institutions go through accreditation processes to improve the quality of higher education output, and to verify that they meet the required minimum requirements nationally and internationally. Accredited institutions, by declaring that they provide added value in the field of education with these documents -at least in terms of requirements- aim to make their names stand out in the minds of students, industry, government, and academic staff. As in almost every field, higher education institutions may intend to gain a competitive advantage by offering a distinctive and unique set of services for their target audience. Based on the literature and empirical studies, this paper focuses on the importance of the brand positioning strategies of higher education institutions in the process of harmonization with national and international standards. It is aimed to evaluate the aspects of accreditation in brand positioning strategies by reviewing previous studies. Within the scope of brand positioning strategies, national and international accreditation processes, and outputs are planned to be reviewed in general. In this regard, through the evaluation of accreditation in terms of brand positioning strategies, a model is presented in the context of related strategies for higher education institutions. Higher education institutions have the potential to become leading international productivity centers by revealing their identities with their positioning strategies.