Electronic Marketing Communications: The Role of Technology in Educational Marketing - Research Proposal Example

 MBA DISSERTATION PROPOSAL Title: Electronic Marketing Communications: The role of technology in educational marketing Table of Contents Page No. Table of contents …………………………………………………………………….. 1 1. Abstract………………..………………………………………………….. 2 2. Introduction ……………..……………………………………………...... 3 2.1 Aim of the project ……………………………………………………. 3 2.2 Issue to be addressed …………………………………………………..... 3 2.3 Why this question is interesting ………………………………………… 3 3. Relation to previous research…………………………………………….. 4 3.1 Research questions …………………………………………………….... 4 3.2 Literature review ……………………………………………………....... 4 4. Proposed methods ………………………………………………………… 5 4.1 Literature search ……………………………………………………….... 5 4.2 Questionnaires survey …………………………………………………... 5 4.3 Determinants to be tested ……………………………………………….. 6 4.4 Hypotheses ……………………………………………………………… 6 4.5 Data collection ………………………………………………………….. 6 4.6 Reason for selection literature search and questionnaire survey ……….. 6 5. Reflections ………………………………………………………………… 7 5.1 Potential practical empirical obstacles ………………………………...... 7 5.2 Conceptual and theoretical problems and difficulties …………………... 7 5.3 Ethics ……………………………………………………………………. 7 5.4 Researcher position in political field ……………………………………. 8 6. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… 8 7. Timetable ……………………………………………………………………….. 9 References ……………………………………………………………………………... 10 1. ABSTRACT This report will bring to light the effects of technology in the development of educational marketing. The academic medium has gradually changed from home-tuition, classroom education to more technology-savvy online classrooms. Similarly technology plays a vital role to reach out to the prospective students of an educational institution. In today’s world, with aggressive competition, it is pertinent for an educational institution to use technology as a tool for marketing its educational products and services. This paper will investigate at length the utility of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System for educational marketing. As per Reinartz and Krafft (2004), CRM is a combination of diverse technologies which is used in reaching out to the prospective and current students, their parents or guardians and other related educational institutions. This form of marketing will be compared with the traditional one and the difference between their rates of efficiency would be discussed. Further, the paper aims to analyse the Impact of Globalization on educational marketing. Globalization has played important role in development of educational marketing as now institutions encourage cross-border and international students. Educational marketing in the global arena has only been made possible through the use of technology which is not only efficient but also cost-effective. The last part of the paper will discuss how educational marketing through technology has broken geographical barriers for the students and has opened the doors for educational intuitions to access wide range of students, parents and other related parties. 2. INTRODUCTION 2.1 Aim of the project This dissertation aims to discuss how technology can be used to market educational products. In particular, analysis will be conducted through literature review on how technology has been used so far in educational marketing. 2.1.1 Issue to be addressed In order to achieve the objectives of this study, it is important to understand the impact of globalization for educational marketing. Today, the educational marketing has to reach out across international boundaries. Global marketing strategy has to evaluate local marketing policies and strategic approach of each country yet make a plan for marketing campaign which caters globally. 2.3 Why this question is interesting Educational marketing focuses on informing and making consumers (students and their parents, primarily) understand the various particulars involved with the educational products and services being offered. In today’s world, technology is an important tool used for marketing of educational products and services. There are various technologies that can be used for educational marketing for online and offline purposes. The electronic media is one form of marketing medium which is widely used in the educational marketing and awareness campaigns. There are several other areas where technology is involved such as customer relationship management systems (CRM systems). CRM systems are a new technological innovation which is widely used for marketing educational products and services. Reinartz and Krafft (2004) explain that CRM system demonstrates not only how technology can be used to manage the marketing campaigns but also how it is useful subsequently to collect information post-marketing campaign and have a direct interaction with customers making it a two way communication. 3. RELATION TO PREVIOUS RESEARCH Research has been conducted in the field of electronic marketing which shows its relation to educational marketing by using some effective technologies. Simerly(1989, p 54), in his research shows that there are many benefits of using technology in educational marketing. These benefits include increased speed of communication, high efficiency, better cost-effectiveness, improved educational contexts and increased reliability. According to Cox (2006 pp.189-192), the use of technology to market educational products, curriculum and services has great advantages. These include creating learning environment (institution) for professional activities that only comes through providing detailed information to those who need them the most there by making it very focused. The customers which are primarily students and their parents are attracted to those educational institutions that market themselves prominently and highlight the competitive edge of their products and services. On the other hand Reinartz and Krafft (2004) argue, educational institutions that don’t pay attention to their marketing strategies and have a small marketing budget attain fewer customers by comparison. Any institution can represent itself all over the world with the help of technology while at the same time remaining focused on their aim to deliver great educational products. This is possible often with the help of effective customer relations system. Further, marketing education by using technology also helps to reach the audience or prospective students which are not touched upon by even traditional marketing strategies. Moreover, Foster et al. (1994, p 21) argue that the volume of information that could get to these untapped prospective students would be comprehensive, clear and practical According to Petrides (2000 pp 55-57) some policy processes must be set in motion before any institutions could successfully gain from using technology, whether at the level of learning and teaching or marketing. Cox (2006 pp.189-192), adds that each institution has decision-makers who argue about the right approach to adopt for the educational marketing. It has been observed that when technologically advanced means of marketing are used, more customers are attracted to the institution. The literature above indicates that application of technology in educational marketing is dynamic. Though there has been a reasonable amount of research in this area yet they have not been conclusive. Though research suggests positive results for use of technology for educational marketing but there are some impediments for its implementations. These include technology being expensive, requiring a lot of training and needing constant supervision. However the merits and benefits of technology use in educational marketing far exceed its negative features. Previous researches also suggest that it tends to add more value to the quality of higher education. 4. PROPOSED METHODS This research will be using quantitative and qualitative research methods. The research will rely on both primary and secondary methods of collecting the data. The primary research will be conducted using the questionnaire method. The subjects will be students and parents associated with online education and those who have been exposed to electronic marketing of education. The secondary research will be conducted using varied sources like books, journals, articles and the internet etc. As per Jegede(1999), research conducted using both primary and secondary sources will give a better perspective on the intended research question. Comparing the previously published outcomes with the results of current primary research may be helpful in arriving at a unique standard when a similar research is being carried out. However Calder et al. (1981) points out that there are major problem associated with secondary research which include verifying the authenticity of the published outcomes of the previous research. In other words, if the previous researchers had made some mistakes in the course of their research, such an undetected error will automatically appear in the research of current researcher. Further, the controls and conditions used in the previous research may not be applicable in the current research environment. However, the current researcher may use the finding of the previous research to make a comparative analysis. Thus in this case, the problem of plagiarism may arise affecting the validity of current research. However, Jegede(1999) argues that to rule out this possibility, the peer-reviewed scholarly sources will be used in this dissertation. They would come from experts in the field thus having high possibility of reporting outcomes that would be marred with little or no irregularities or falsehood. 5. REFLECTIONS While carrying out this research, the following practical obstacles may come up. Firstly, access to the latest scholarly sources which have been written within the time frame of past six months to one year. Jegede(1999) explains that the access is difficult because researchers do not normally publish the outcomes of their research until all variables and facts have been checked and verified. Secondly, physical observation of variables or facilities as the opportunity to physically see the entire process is difficult to obtain. This may enable the researcher to remove any doubt that he or she may have had about the whole process. Calder et al. (1981), explain that the theoretical problems and difficulties may not arise as most institutions across the world apply similar educational theories in their daily operations. However, there is a possibility of variation and thus validity of one theory being applicable in one academic environment to the other may differ. For instance the British system of education is different from American systems of education. In that case, the researcher using American standard in his/her research may run into a theoretical difference while explaining scenario for British education system. There exists a grave ethical dilemma in this research. As per Jegede(1999), it is difficult to seek permission for accessing computer rooms and IT departments of higher education institutes and universities as the exam or other crucial data is also available online or offline in the computers As researcher is mostly unable to access sensitive IT rooms and data contained therein therefore if one does access it without prior permission it may be seen as an ethical crime. Calder et al. (1981) ads that the researcher should access sensitive domains of IT department only if permission is granted by the administration of the higher education institute, college or university. Further, researcher must always give credit to the original researcher while he is quoting or taking any idea or information from his or her research. In a broader sense, one must not infringe on copyrights of past researchers without giving his or her reference. However Jegede(1999) argues that there are cases where research is carried out by several active and passive researchers whereby it is difficult to give credit to passive researchers. Thus legal complications may arise in such cases where researchers are not accorded credit appropriately or are completely left out of the reference list thus putting dissertation in legal jeopardy. As a researcher, I would want to focus my energy in the area of policy-making at the higher institutions. This will advance and promote the implementation of applying technologies for marketing education, academic learning and teaching purposes. The issue of globalization will also be explored extensively in my research .I would try to see the co-relation between globalization and betterment of educational standard at higher educations institutes. It has indeed been widely recognized that higher education institutes capitalize on globalization by attracting students from all around the world. I would also focus on the dynamics of relationship between customer and educational institutes, for instance, the interaction between higher education institutes and students, their parents or guardians and other parties involved in educational industry. 6. CONCLUSION (max. 200 words) The above discussion shows that this dissertation will be a focused report on the subject of electronic marketing communications. It will demonstrate how higher education institutions use technology to market their educational products and services. This research is an ongoing process which is often being carried out in intuitions as policy-makers are constantly seeking new and effective information on how to improve their market exposure and thus achieve new levels of success. The research methodology to be used for this dissertation is quantitative as well as qualitative in nature. Apart from referring to up-to-date and useful scholarly resources as I have outlined above, I will research and analyze strategies that are used in my university for educational marketing whereby technology is applied. This dissertation will measure its achievement standard by past published outcomes. 7. Timetable (approx. 100 words, or a one page diagram) The milestone for my dissertation would follow this manner after receiving the green light from my research advisor to start to work on the dissertation: Timetable 4-Apr 18-Apr 2-May 16-May 30-May 13-Jun 27-Jun 11-Jul 25-Jul 8-Aug 22-Aug Carrying out in-depth research in the library accessing scholarly publications both in the library and online.                       Consolidation of materials collected                                                                                                                                                                       REFERENCES 1. Cox, V2006. Marketing Education: Constructing the Future, Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley, United Kingdom. 2. Foster, RS, Sauser, WI & Self, DR 1994. Marketing University Outreach Programs, Routledge, New York. 3. Muijs, D 2004. Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. 4. Petrides, LA 2000. Case Studies on Information Technology in Higher Education: Implications for Policy and Practice. Idea Group Inc., Hershey, Pennsylvania. 5. Simerly, R 1989. Handbook of Marketing for Continuing Education, Jossey-Bass Publishers, London. 6. Reinartz, W and Krafft, M 2004, The Customer Relationship Management Process: Its Measurement and Impact on Performance, Electronic ISSN, vol 41, no. 3, pp. 293-305 7. Jegede, J 1999, ‘A Concise Handbook of Research Methods’, Ibadan: Pope Rising Press. 8. Calder, J, Philips, L & Tybout, A 1981, ‘Designing Research for Application,’ Journal of Consumer Research, vol.8, pp. 195-208. Ethical Review Form: Part 2 Please answer all of these questions by ticking yes or no in the box provided Yes No 1. Does the study involve participants who are particularly vulnerable or unable to give informed consent? (e.g. people under the age of 18, people with learning disabilities, students you teach or assess)   2. Will it be necessary for participants to take part in the study without their knowledge and consent at the time?   3. Does the study involve audio or visual recording of people in public places?   4. Will the study involve the discussion of sensitive topics? (e.g. sexual activity, drug use, illegal activities, death, whistleblowing)   5. Are drugs, placebos or other substances to be given to the study participants or will the study involve invasive, intrusive or potentially harmful procedures of any kind?   6. Will blood or tissue samples be obtained from participants?   7. Is physical pain or psychological stress from the proposed project likely to cause harm or negative consequences beyond the risks in normal life?   8. Will the study involve prolonged or repetitive testing?   9. Will financial inducements (other than expenses) be offered to participants?   10. Will the study involve recruitment of patients or staff through the NHS?   Read More