University branding in the age of social media: a systematic literature review and integrative framework

Purpose University brand management has changed significantly in the X and Facebook era. A better understanding of this change is critical to the university’s brand performance. To this end, this study aims to offer a comprehensive review of the literature on the use of social media in managing the university brand. Design/methodology/approach This literature review follows the PRISMA protocol to select 41 articles (published in Web of Science (WoS) indexed journals) on the use of social media in managing the university brand. It draws on the theories-contexts-methods (TCM) and the antecedents-decisions-outcomes (ADO) formats to derive an integrative model of social media in managing the university brand, namely SM-MUB. Findings This review highlights the significance of social media in university brand management. It first recognises the various theories, contexts and methods that have helped advance the literature in this field. Next, the analysis of this review yields four categories of antecedent constructs, informing us about the variables at play. It groups the outcome constructs into four categories: university brand performance, influence of the university brand on enrolment decision-making, engaging social media users with the university brand and other brand-related consumer behaviour outcomes. Research limitations/implications A future research agenda is presented using the TCM and ADO formats to further advance this research stream. The ADO-TCM-based SM-MUB framework offered in this study offers useful implications for university managers. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this study signals the first state-of-the-art effort to review the literature on social media in managing the university brand.