Institutional Prestige as a Contextual Lens on Social Media Influence in MBA Aspirants’ Enrollment Decisions: A Qualitative Study from India

Business schools in India’s competitive MBA market lack evidence regarding which dimensions of social media content aspirants perceive as relevant. Existing research measures digital influence through aggregate engagement metrics, leaving the decision-relevant content hierarchy unexplained. The findings suggest that MBA aspirants described a recurring trust-building pattern: informational content screens institutions, relational content validates credibility through trusted voices, and interactive formats are associated with greater confidence in shortlisting or applying. Semi-structured interviews with 20 MBA aspirants across five Indian cities were analyzed thematically, guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior as an interpretive framework. Placement outcomes, rankings, and accreditation functioned as non-negotiable threshold signals. Alumni testimonials and mentor endorsements validated what formal signals could not. For lesser-known institutions, social media appeared to play a larger role in credibility building, a function it does not need to perform for top-ranked institutions. These findings reframe social media in higher education marketing from a visibility tool to a structured decision-support architecture whose perceived usefulness appears to vary with content sequence, source credibility, and the institution’s position within the prestige hierarchy.