What role does the brand play? Measuring the impact of customer-based brand equity on the selection of MBA programs at Dutch business schools

The customer-based brand equity (CBBE) framework was developed for commercial buying purposes but has been applied in this study to institutional marketing, i.e. to MBA programs in Dutch business schools. Although academic institutions spend significant amounts of their budgets on Marketing, branding research for this field is still limited. To estimate the multivariate influence of the different CBBE factors (i.e. brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and brand loyalty) on the three dependent factors brand value, willingness to pay and brand preference, principal component analyses and a Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equations Model were applied. Based on a total of 211 observations from 93 respondents of four leading institutions, the study confirms the positive impact of brand equity on brand preference, brand value and willingness to pay and prove the significance of universities creating a positive brand image to differentiate from the competition and to attract prospective students.