The roles of student’s university brand trust, identity and commitment in the relationship between university reputation and behavioral intention

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate and explore the roles of student’s university brand trust (ST), student’s university brand identity (SI), and student’s university brand commitment (SC) in a relationship between the university reputation (UR) and its students’ behavioral intention (BI) in Vietnam's higher education sector. The dissertation builds an empirically tested model from a sample of 1,538 Vietnamese graduates. Its purpose determines the factors affecting university reputation and the roles of student’s university brand trust, student’s university brand identity, and student’s university brand commitment in the relationship between university reputation and behavioral intention to understand student choices of master’s programs. Next, these factors will be measured by some quantitative tools. Finally, this dissertation will also give some implications to develop the relationship between university reputation and behavioral intention in Vietnamese higher education. The analysis results revealed that the tested relationship between university reputation and behavioral intention to continue studying is positive. Twelve of the proposed hypotheses were confirmed, including the direct relationship of the variables and the mediating role of student’s university brand trust, student’s university brand identity, and student’s university brand commitment in the model. The results suggest that a university reputation can be a driving force toward students’ behavioral intention to achieve positive goals in the development of their higher education. This dissertation significantly contributes to the understanding of university reputation and student behavioral intention in higher education. In both theory and practice, it provides vital findings and suggestions to scientists, university administrators, and strategic marketers applying in their working environment.