Authors: Larisa M. Kapustina, Dr. Sc. (Econ.), Professor of Marketing and International Management Dept., Ural State University of Economics

Yevgeniya A. Zhadko, Sr. Lecturer of Marketing and International Management Dept., Ural State University of Economics

Natalya B. Izakova, Sr. Lecturer of Marketing and International Management Dept., Ural State University of Economics

Abstract. The paper considers theoretical approaches to defining the concept of an educational institution brand. The authors formulate particularities of brand of an institution providing educational services. The most considerable attention is paid to identifying and describing essential characteristics of a brand of a higher education institution, processes of building and assessing it allowing for the trends in educational services market and changes in consumer preferences. The authors’ primarily focus is on the empirical research of brands of a number of universities in Sverdlovsk oblast using the findings of a blanket canvassing of students taken in 2014. The canvassing enabled the authors to explore the students’ perception of the brand of the Ural State University of Economics and evaluate it in comparison with the brands of its main competitors. To compare the degree of difference in assessments given to USUE brand and the brands of its competitors according to the defined criteria the authors applied the Friedman test using SPSS program. The authors verified hypotheses about first­year students’ evaluation of the prestige attached to having diplomas of the Ural State University of Economics, Ural Federal University, Ural State University of Railway Transport and Ural State Mining University, prospects of employment after graduation, easiness of studying, accessibility of educational services and university fees, opportunities for students’ self­actualization. The statistical analysis enabled identifying the unique characteristics of the USUE brand, which may form the basis for the university positioning and promotion in the educational services market.

Keywords: educational institution, educational service, peculiarities of an educational institution brand, characteristics of an educational institution brand

For citation: Larisa M. Kapustina, Yevgeniya A. Zhadko, Natalya B. Izakova. The Research of Peculiarities and the Statistical Analysis of an Educational Institution Brand. Upravlenets – The Manager, 2016, no. 1(59), pp. 2–12.