Missing Link in ‘New-Normal’ for Higher-Education: Nexus between Online Experiential Marketing, Perceived-Harm, Social-Distancing Concern and University Brand Evangelism in China

Aktan, Murat, Anjam, Mahwish, Zaman, Umer, Khwaja, Muddasar Ghani and Akram, Umair (2023) Missing Link in ‘New-Normal’ for Higher-Education: Nexus between Online Experiential Marketing, Perceived-Harm, Social-Distancing Concern and University Brand Evangelism in China. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education. ISSN 1540-7144

Text Revised Manuscript v.2023.pdf - AUTHOR'S ACCEPTED Version (default) Restricted to Registered users only until 5 March 2025. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Download (615kB) | Request a copy

Abstract or description

Chinese universities were the first to experience the massive shock waves of the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted higher education globally. Despite extensive research on higher education in the ‘new normal’, empirical evidence on the potential role of online experiential marketing and university brand evangelism is still little to none. To address this critical research gap, the present study is the first to explore university brand evangelism in China and how it is influenced by online experiential marketing. In addition, the moderating effects of perceived harm and social distancing concern on the relationship between online experiential marketing and university brand evangelism were also tested. Based on a sample of university students in China (N = 242) and covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM), the findings revealed that online experiential marketing (including sense, feel, think, act, and relate dimensions) significantly magnifies university brand evangelism in China. Interestingly, this relationship becomes more strengthened when the Chinese students have a high intensity of perceived harm of COVID-19 and social distancing concerns. These novel findings provide new insights to both policymakers and marketers globally about the powerful medium of online experiential marketing to successfully promote university brands (during and after the global pandemic) using university brand evangelism more strategically.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	“This is an original manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Marketing for |Higher Education on 5 Spetember 2023, available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2023.2253743.”
Uncontrolled Keywords:	University brand evangelism; online experiential marketing; perceived harm; concern for social distancing; protection motivation theory
Faculty:	Staffordshire Business School > Business and Marketing
Depositing User:	Muddasar KHWAJA
Date Deposited:	13 Sep 2023 16:03
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2023 16:03
URI:	https://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/id/eprint/7901

Actions (login required)

View Item