THE RELATION BETWEEN BRAND STRENGTH AND WORD OF MOUTH IN THE MEDIATING EFFECT OF SATISFACTION, LOYALTY AND BRAND IMAGE: AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF TURKEY’S HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

Abstract

The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the effect that brand strength with the three main components, have on positive word of mouth (WOM) in higher education institutional market, with turkey having almost 90 million residence and over 7.5 million current students in over 175 universities, the Higher education market has become a very competitive and fast growing market , especially with a 300% increase of number of foreigner students in the past couple of years. Word of mouth is one of the main sources to get info about a higher education institute and thus the research Within the framework of this study quantitative research methods were applied. The primary data were collected of 385 respondents via self-administered, anonymous, online form. Research model was evaluated and analyzed using Exploratory Factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equational model (SEM) using SPSS and AMOS. Finding of this research suggest that Brand strength alone does not demonstrate a direct impact on word of mouth (WOM), Nonetheless it was proved that brand strength demonstrate a significant indirect effect on word of mouth (WOM) when mediated by satisfaction, loyalty, and University brand image. The results of this study should reignite the thought of university branding as a tool to be used to attract and retain students under a well developed profile and satisfaction umbrella.