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International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine factors that influenced international university preference, looking at country of origin (COO), that is the COO of the course and program modes (PMs). This study specifically focusses on differences in perceptions across students from Malaysia and...

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Main Authors: Kamal Basha, Norazlyn, Sweeney, Jillian C., Soutar, Geoffrey N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald Group Publishing 2016
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/43400/1/International%20students%27%20university%20preferences%20how%20different%20are%20Malaysian%20and%20Chinese%20students.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/43400/
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJEM-08-2014-0122
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spelling my.upm.eprints.434002016-05-19T02:09:04Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/43400/ International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students? Kamal Basha, Norazlyn Sweeney, Jillian C. Soutar, Geoffrey N. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine factors that influenced international university preference, looking at country of origin (COO), that is the COO of the course and program modes (PMs). This study specifically focusses on differences in perceptions across students from Malaysia and China. Design/methodology/approach: Conjoint analysis was used to examine the relative importances and part-worth scores of these attributes on international university preferences. Findings: PM and country of design (COD) had a major influence on Malaysian and Chinese students’ preferences for international universities. Online distance learning was the least preferred option, while offshore campuses were more acceptable to Malaysian students compared to Chinese students. Malaysian students preferred to study in the UK, while Chinese students favored Australia. Malaysian students were also found to be more cost sensitive compared to Chinese students, while the latter were more motivated by job prospects offered by an institution. Research limitations/implications: Limitations include the specific sample, pre-university students only from developed countries (Malaysia and China), which limits the generalizability to students from other countries. Practical implications: This study offers insights in the effect of COD and PM on students’ preferences for international universities, as well as other previously studied university-level attributes in a higher education setting. With a better understanding of factors affecting these preferences, higher educational institutions are better placed to implement a suitable marketing strategy to attract more international students. Originality/value: This study examines the impact COD, Delivery Mode (DM) and other university level attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese pre-university students' preferences for international universities. COD and DM were found to be extremely important factors that dominated the students' preferences. The study highlights the need to focus on different university attributes in different markets and to consider COD and DM issues in order to gain a larger market share of international students. Emerald Group Publishing 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/43400/1/International%20students%27%20university%20preferences%20how%20different%20are%20Malaysian%20and%20Chinese%20students.pdf Kamal Basha, Norazlyn and Sweeney, Jillian C. and Soutar, Geoffrey N. (2016) International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students? International Journal of Educational Management, 30 (2). pp. 197-210. ISSN 0951-354X; ESSN: 1758-6518 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJEM-08-2014-0122 10.1108/IJEM-08-2014-0122
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine factors that influenced international university preference, looking at country of origin (COO), that is the COO of the course and program modes (PMs). This study specifically focusses on differences in perceptions across students from Malaysia and China. Design/methodology/approach: Conjoint analysis was used to examine the relative importances and part-worth scores of these attributes on international university preferences. Findings: PM and country of design (COD) had a major influence on Malaysian and Chinese students’ preferences for international universities. Online distance learning was the least preferred option, while offshore campuses were more acceptable to Malaysian students compared to Chinese students. Malaysian students preferred to study in the UK, while Chinese students favored Australia. Malaysian students were also found to be more cost sensitive compared to Chinese students, while the latter were more motivated by job prospects offered by an institution. Research limitations/implications: Limitations include the specific sample, pre-university students only from developed countries (Malaysia and China), which limits the generalizability to students from other countries. Practical implications: This study offers insights in the effect of COD and PM on students’ preferences for international universities, as well as other previously studied university-level attributes in a higher education setting. With a better understanding of factors affecting these preferences, higher educational institutions are better placed to implement a suitable marketing strategy to attract more international students. Originality/value: This study examines the impact COD, Delivery Mode (DM) and other university level attributes have on Malaysian and Chinese pre-university students' preferences for international universities. COD and DM were found to be extremely important factors that dominated the students' preferences. The study highlights the need to focus on different university attributes in different markets and to consider COD and DM issues in order to gain a larger market share of international students.
format Article
author Kamal Basha, Norazlyn
Sweeney, Jillian C.
Soutar, Geoffrey N.
spellingShingle Kamal Basha, Norazlyn
Sweeney, Jillian C.
Soutar, Geoffrey N.
International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?
author_facet Kamal Basha, Norazlyn
Sweeney, Jillian C.
Soutar, Geoffrey N.
author_sort Kamal Basha, Norazlyn
title International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?
title_short International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?
title_full International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?
title_fullStr International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?
title_full_unstemmed International students' university preferences: how different are Malaysian and Chinese students?
title_sort international students' university preferences: how different are malaysian and chinese students?
publisher Emerald Group Publishing
publishDate 2016
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/43400/1/International%20students%27%20university%20preferences%20how%20different%20are%20Malaysian%20and%20Chinese%20students.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/43400/
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJEM-08-2014-0122
_version_ 1643833555033260032
score 13.211869

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