Reconditioning the Freshman Gene: Can a “Positive Visualisation Course” Successfully modify Freshmen Students' Perceptions of a University's Brand Image?

Abstract

Branding in higher education has proven to be an effective strategy that has received considerable attention in recent years, and a growing number of articles on the subject have begun to appear in the literature. However, a clear gap within the literature indicates that the concept of students’ perceptions of university brand image has not been thoroughly researched. Consequently, this research focuses on investigating the impact of a positive visualization course in brand identity upon the perception of freshmen students of a university’s brand image. A Qualitative Grounded Theory methodological approach has been employed consisting of semi-structured interviews specifically targeting first-year university students. The preliminary findings resulting from this research, reveal a beneficial influence of the positive visualization course in brand identity upon freshmen students’ perceptions of the university’s brand image. Investigating this topic is greatly beneficial since it has enabled the researcher to provide substantial insights into how freshmen students formulate perceptions.