Building a University City Brand: Colombian University Students’ Perceptions

Abstract

Modern city brand trends aim to position cities according to the interests of their stakeholders; in the case of university students, it is necessary to identify the factors that determine their choice of a university city. Consequently, this study applied an exploratory model that allowed researchers to validate the factors and characteristics that influence this process in the major Colombian university cities. The partial least square statistical analysis methodology was used to collect 585 surveys from students from different cities in Colombia. The study found that the factors determining cities’ cognitive or affective image directly or indirectly influenced the university city brand. This paper’s contributions lie in exploring university city branding from students’ perceptions.