Research pick: What are words worth to business schools? - "Website words matter: an analysis of business schools"

Business schools at public universities signalled competence with their websites while private universities demonstrated excitement and sincerity, according to a new content analysis by researchers in the USA discussed in the Journal of Global Business Advancement.

Blake Frank, Sri Beldona, and Scott Wysong of the University of Dallas, in Irving, Texas, USA, have investigated how a business school website informs putative students about what might be referred to as the school’s brand personality. They used an analytical approach that extracted words from website content from business school websites and showed how a dictionary-based approach to identifying brand personality is a successful approach. As well as the difference between private and public business schools, the team also found that those establishments with higher enrolment numbers also portrayed themselves as more competent, while those with a smaller rollcall described themselves as being more sincere.

The team explains why their findings are important:

“Business schools today must continually fight for market share. With lower barriers to entry, there has been a burgeoning of online programs around the world,” they explain, they quote fellow researchers in adding that “Increasing competition between universities heightens the need for institutions to understand, manage, and leverage a strong brand position.”

They suggest that for a business school to simply list the requirements of its courses, application deadlines, and other functional information is no longer sufficient. “Prospective students want to know why they should choose a particular business school or program over the others they are considering,” they add. “Business schools have to make a strong case.”

They conclude that business schools need to look closely at the words they use on their websites and must ensure that the content meshes with the brand personality they hope to communicate that they might encourage the prospective students they hope to enrol from around the world.

Frank, B., Beldona, S. and Wysong, S. (2020) ‘Website words matter: an analysis of business schools’ online brand personalities’, J. Global Business Advancement, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp.53–69.