Cultivating National Belonging: The Use of Websites in Jordanian Universities from a Resource Based Perspective

Introduction: The study investigates how different aspects of university websites help promote national identity among students attending Jordanian universities, using the Resource-Based View (RBV) approach. It emphasizes the impact of the perceived values of website features, in particular rarity, inimitability, and non-substitutability, on students' comprehension and feeling of national identity and belonging. Method: Employing the cross-sectional approach, this study examines the effect of Jordanian university websites on the students' national identity by surveying a sample of 300 respondents from different educational levels. Objectives: This study intends to devise effective strategies for increasing the effectiveness of university websites in promoting the Jordanian national identity within higher education institutions. It argues that the presence of university websites’ features such as scarcity, uniqueness, and non-replaceability help engage students and nurture nationalism. As maintaining exclusive and unique content is difficult to achieve, inimitability takes on a moderate role. Simultaneously, rarity and non-substitutability emerge as critical factors. Among these, the non-substitutability which impacts students’ perceptions of national identity the most, because websites with unique and irreplaceable content are more likely to foster nationalistic sentiments. Results: These results highlight the necessity of coherent university websites in consolidating national identity among learners. Jordanian universities ought to invest in the creation of unique and non-substitutable digital assets that resonate with the country’s core values. With the use of the RBV model, universities can improve the strategic functions of their websites to enhance students' love for their country and cultural identity.