Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
School of Management Sciences
Department of Marketing and Communication Management
Selected Highlights from Research Findings
The aim of this study was to determine Afrikaans-speaking consumers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding Afrikaans advertising campaigns. The researcher found that urban Afrikaans-speaking consumers have a positive attitude towards Afrikaans marketing campaigns and prefer them to English campaigns. However, they are unlikely to be assertive regarding Afrikaans marketing campaigns. The results also showed that female respondents were more positive regarding the use of Afrikaans, have a greater preference and are more likely to be assertive with regard to the use of Afrikaans in marketing campaigns, than male respondents. In addition, the results showed that where services and contract staff are concerned, urban Afrikaans-speaking consumers prefer Afrikaans marketing campaigns by far. The study concluded that companies that want to build a relationship with urban Afrikaans-speaking consumers must communicate with this target group in their preferred language
Contact person: JY Slippers.
The South African higher education sector is currently facing many challenges. Factors such as a decrease in government funding, increased competition, broadening access, mergers and student unrest compel higher education institutions to apply effective strategies for the recruitment of quality students. In order to be locally relevant and globally competitive, higher education institutions need to become more marketing-oriented. In a restricted financial environment, higher education institutions will have to assess and reassess marketing strategies aimed at attracting quality first-year students. A proper assessment of the importance of the choice factors students consider when selecting a higher education institution, as well as the usefulness of the information sources they consider, will enable institutions to allocate funds, time and resources more efficiently and effectively. The findings of the research indicated that some choice factors were more important to students than others. Students from different gender groups, ethnic groups, language groups and institutions also differed in the importance they attached to the choice factors. The top ten choice factors respondents regarded as important in the selection of a higher education institution were quality of teaching, employment prospects (possible job opportunities), campus safety and security, academic facilities (libraries and laboratories), international links (study and job opportunities), language policy, image of the higher education institution, flexible study mode (evening classes and use of computers), academic reputation (prestige) and a wide choice of subjects/courses. The findings also revealed that information obtained directly from a higher education institution, such as at open days and campus visits, and from university publications and websites, are the most useful to students, while information obtained from the mass media, such as radio, television, magazines and newspaper advertisements, are not regarded as useful
Contact person: Dr M Wiese.
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