Factors Affecting Institutional Branding: An Empirical Investigation Involving Parent-Student Dyadic Perception for Higher Secondary Schools

Abstract: In the current context, it is very much important for the educational institutions to make a brand functionary in the market. It is a process of marketing where has to fulfil the need and desire of the parents as well as students. The branding depends upon lot of things of an institution like infrastructure, academic engagement, faculty, library, location, transportation and overall promotion of the institutions. The motivation behind the study is that lot of educational institutions run in the market which promote their institutions and most of the secondary school target parents. Now it is a question to know which aspects of brand affect parental choice of secondary school is somewhat ambiguous and unclear in the Indian context. If we look into the study, it seems that few empirical studies have been conducted to judge the cognitive decision making of the parents to select the school for their child. So it is somehow a new area, empirical studies are limited. Factor analysis is done to check for clear factor structure as several of the constructs are being adapted. The study highlights and gives us a clear nuanced understanding of specific aspects of brand behaviour and how it affects parental choice. This fulfils the overarching goal of having a deeper synergy for understanding parental decision choice process. As this study is conducted in private school context, these study outcomes are extremely valuable for school management and their future trajectory of brand building; thereby fostering and facilitating the schools future growth directions and revenue model. Keywords: Branding, Educational Institutions, Academic Engagement, K-12, Perception