ABSTRACT

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are increasingly aware of the importance of brand equity for brand strategy. Earlier research has disregarded the eWOM of HEIs, so this study furthers our understanding of the importance of eWOM on the creation and leverage of HEIs’ brand equity. A qualitative approach was adopted, with semi-structured interviews targeting Higher Education students from the same institution but different nationalities and study programmes. The interviews were transcribed and examined following the principles of thematic content analysis. The findings show that positive eWOM positively influences brand equity, whereas negative eWOM has a minor influence on brand equity. Furthermore, it was found that firm-generated eWOM has equivalent or even more credibility than user-generated eWOM in affecting HEIs’ brand equity. This study contributes to the literature by offering an inductively generated theoretical model to guide future research on the links between eWOM and brand equity in HEIs.

摘要

高等教育机构 (HEI) 越来越意识到品牌资产对品牌战略的重要性。早期的研究忽略了高校的网络口碑，因此本研究进一步加深了我们对网络口碑对高校品牌资产创造和影响的重要性的理解。采用定性方法，针对来自同一机构但不同国籍和学习计划的高等教育学生进行半结构化访谈。根据主题内容分析的原则，对访谈进行转录和检查。研究结果表明，正面的网络口碑对品牌资产产生积极影响，而负面的网络口碑对品牌资产的影响较小。此外，研究发现，在影响高校品牌资产方面，企业生成的 eWOM 与用户生成的 eWOM 相比具有同等甚至更高的可信度。