The role of brand authenticity for higher education institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) engage more and more in branding activities to sustain an advantage in an increasingly high competitive environment. In such a pressing managerial context, research on brand management in the specific context of higher education expanded over the past few years. While research indicates that brand authenticity is more and more important for consumers in the consumption sphere, it has remained unexplored in the context of HEIs. This paper contributes to the developing research area on HEIs branding by examining the determinants and implications of brand authenticity for those institutions. Across one field study with two different HEIs, we identify indexical, iconic and existential cues as antecedents of authenticity perceptions and examine the effects of such perceptions on theoretically grounded practical outcomes: brand attitude, emotional attachment, word-of-mouth, and willingness-to-pay. The study revealed that HEIs authenticity perceptions are a strong predictor of brand attitude, positive word-of-mouth, and emotional brand attachment.