Abstract:
This study looks at factors (place, process, product. price, services and promotion) that influence students’ choice ofa university. It also seeks to find out the relationship between factors (place. process, product, price, services and promotion) that influence students, choice of a university and the marketing strategies used by the universities with reference to the Master of Business Administration program. Demand for MBA has led to more universities offering the program. Against this background universities find themselves competing for larger market share. This study seeks to detennine the factors (place, process, product, price, services and promotion) that influence students’ choice of a university in the MBA program and the marketing strategies used by the universities. The hypotheses of the study were that factors place, process, product, price. people and promotion do not influence the students’ choice of a university and there is no relationship between factors (place, process. product, price, services and promotion) that influence students’ choice ofa university and the marketing strategies used by the universities to promote their MBA program. The study will assist the selected institutions in the study to evaluate their marketing strategies and make them more consumers driven. The Kenya government researchers and new corners in the industry will benefit from the study. The study will not be able to capture all the factors (place, process, product, price, services and promotion) that influence students‘ choice ofa university due to numerous numbers. lt will limit itself to the seven ‘P’s (place, product, personnel, process, physical facilities,‘ price, and promotion). The population of study consisted of all universities in Kenya that offer the MBA program. The respondents consisted of Deans and Chairpersons of the Faculty of Commerce and one hundred and thirteen students undertaking the MBA program. Data was collected by administering a questionnaire through the drop and pick technique. Data was analyzed using the SPSS. Factor analyzes was used to establish the relative importance of various factors in the choice of a university using inferential statistics. 'l'-Test was used to determine the relationship between marketing strategic and factors (place, process, product, price, services and promotion) influencing students’ choice of institution to test the hypothesis.
