A Comparison of the Marketing of Independent Schools in South Africa and the United Kingdom
Read, C.-A., & Bick, G.
Abstract:
The demand for quality education in schools is growing, as parents recognise the importance of education for their children to be successful in their future careers in an increasingly competitive environment. As the cost of education is often used as an indicator of the quality, the demand for private school education is growing in South Africa, which now has approximately 490 independent schools. By comparison, the United Kingdom has approximately 2 600 independent schools, with a longer history dating back to AD 627, and as a result, greater experience in the marketing of these schools. Consequently, the purpose of this research was to compare the marketing strategies of independent schools in South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK), and to make recommendations to improve the marketing of SA independent schools. For this exploratory study, qualitative data was collected using a convenience sample, via in-depth interviews, with 24 independent schools, 12 each in SA and the UK, with the person responsible for the marketing of the school. The data was content analysed to identify themes to test the propositions. The study identified the following marketing activities used by schools: the reputation (product) of a school; the price; the location (place) of a school; promotional activities, including open days, press advertising, word-of-mouth referrals, and a school’s alumni; and the school’s facilities (physical evidence). Service quality was also found as a factor that affects a school’s marketing activity. The findings revealed that the key marketing differences between SA and UK independent schools were: SA schools had typically ex-teachers heading marketing departments, whereas UK schools had professional marketers as heads of PR or communications. The admissions process in SA is simply an administrative procedure, whereas in the UK it is a sales process. Pricing for SA schools is a strong marketing tool, but not considered part of the UK marketing strategy. UK schools focus on personalised marketing and relationship building, where reputation is a key marketing tool, whereas SA schools use tangible promotional marketing activities, such as print media and signage. SA school target markets are relatively local, whereas UK schools have a more diverse and international outlook. The findings are comparable with other research in the marketing of educational institutions, and provide great insights to improve the marketing of SA independent schools.
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APA citation
- Read, C.-A., & Bick, G. (2014). A Comparison of the Marketing of Independent Schools in South Africa and the United Kingdom. International Journal of Teaching and Education, 2(1), 18–37