The Role of Brand Experience and Student Engagement in the Creation of Brand Equity in a Higher Education Context

ABSTRACT Brand managers of higher education institutions undertake various activities to enhance the institutions’ brand equity. A key issue for managers is to enhance brand equity by engaging students with the brand and providing a good brand experience. The article examines the role of student engagement with the higher education institution brand in creating a positive higher education institutional brand equity. This study also investigates the role of brand experience as the driver of student engagement. Data was gathered via an online survey of 236 students and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The result indicates that brand experience plays a primary role in enhancing student engagement. The findings also show that student engagement mediates the relationship between brand experience and brand equity. These findings have implications for both theory and practice insofar as they establish how to enhance student engagement and eventually institutional brand equity through brand experience.