eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

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Existing literature underlines a relationship between university image and attracting new students. Nevertheless, the topic lacks empirical evidence. The purpose of the study is to investigate effect of university image on applying intentions of potential applicants. University image is studied through cognitive and affective attributes with an objective to build a comprehensive model for university image research. Also direct influences of different image factors on university image and applying intentions are investigated. Moreover, an important aspect of this study is to examine how the results differ between males and females.

The current study is a case study of Aalto University School of Business. A quantitative study is based on sample of 1037 high school students around Finland. Data is collected with a web survey. To start with, a proposed model is tested with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Subsequently, structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test hypotheses. Factor structure's invariance is tested between male and female sub-samples, followed by multi-group SEM that is implemented to assess differences between male and female high school students. Further, statistical support for the differences is tested with chi-square tests.

The findings of this study indicate that university image has influence on applying intentions of potential applicants. However, this relationship is not as strong as expected based on the literature. The findings indicate that university image is a multidimensional construct that is formed through cognitive and affective attributes. Furthermore, cognitive and affective attributes both have an important role in predicting the applying intentions. In addition, the results show that gender has a moderating role in university image formation and male and female high school students seem to use different determinants when considering to apply to university. The study offers valuable theoretical and managerial contributions by revealing the drivers of university image and applying intentions, as well as offering a tool for universities to identify the drivers in their institutions. The current study is a start for research of relationship of university image and applying intentions of potential applicants. However, the subject needs more contributions from future research.