EFFECT OF BRANDING STRATEGIES ON POST GRADUATE STUDENTS’ CHOICE OF UNIVERSITIES IN NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA LYDIA CHEPKOECH LANGAT A Thesis Report presented to the Institute of Postgraduate Studies of Kabarak University in Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for the Award of Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (Marketing Option). KABARAK UNIVERSITY NOVEMBER, 2017 DECLARATION The report thesis is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it has not been presented for the award of a degree in any university or college. Signed:____________________________________Date:_____________________ Lydia Chepkoech Langat GDB/M/1144/09/14 RECOMMENDATION To the Institute of Postgraduate Studies: The research thesis entitled “Effect of Branding Strategies on Post Graduate Students’ Choice of Universities in Nakuru County, Kenya” and written by Lydia Chepkoech Langat is presented to the Institute of Postgraduate Studies of Kabarak University. We have reviewed the research thesis and recommend it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for award of the degree of of Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration Marketing Option. Signed:___________________________________Date:____________________ Dr. Robert Otuya School of Business and Management Science, University of Eldoret Signed:__________________________________Date:____________________ Prof. Ronald Chepkilot School of Business and Economics, Kabarak University COPYRIGHT © 2017 Lydia Chepkoech Langat All rights reserved. No part of this Thesis may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means of photocopy, electronic, mechanical, and recording or any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the author or Kabarak University. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to humbly acknowledge their encouragement support and inspiration of a number of people in this journey. Firstly, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to my supervisors, Doctor Robert Otuya and Professor Ronald Chepkilot. Their advice and generous guidance throughout the various stages of this research has been extremely helpful in making this research possible. Secondly, I would like to thank Faculty members at Kabarak University and my friends especially Mr. Daniel Thuo, John Kimamo and others, for their support, advice and encouragement. Thirdly, my thanks are also to the postgraduate students in the universities in Nakuru County for their generosity in completing the questionnaire which formed an important part of the thesis. Fourthly, I am grateful to my entire family for their understanding and moral support during my doctoral studies. I thank all the participants, including students and members of staff. This study would not have been possible without their cooperation. I also acknowledge the universities that allowed me access to conduct the research in their premises. There are other people who assisted me in various ways; I am unable to mention all of them here, but I am sincerely grateful for the help and encouragement they offered to make the study a success. DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my parents Robert Langat and Grace Linner Langat whose value for education has been a source of inspiration to me; my sisters Feliscus, Florah, Peninah, Naomi, nieces and nephews. Much dedication goes to Ronny and the children:-Titian, Trevor and Calvin who have always given me continuous support and encouragement during my doctoral studies. Further dedication is to my late uncle for reminding me to remain focused when pursuing selected goals in life, ideals without which this work would not have been accomplished; I love you very much. ABSTRACT Branding in universities are alternatives to bring differentiation in order to attract the attention of stakeholders. The problem addressed by this study was to examine how branding strategies such as internal branding strategies, external branding strategies and service mix branding strategies influenced postgraduate students’ choice of Universities in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study employed explanatory research design, the population of the study comprised of 3,742 universities postgraduate students, of which 212 were randomly sampled. The universities were inclusive of the campuses which were both public and private. A pilot study was used to pretest the questionnaire from the respondents. Cronbach’s alpha was used to test the reliability of data collection instrument. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as; frequencies, percentages, and Chi-square while inferential statistics methods included Pearson correlation and multiple regressions analysis were used to test the relationship between variables. The study findings indicate that there exists a statistically significant positive relationship between internal branding strategies employed by universities and postgraduate student choice of universities (β = 0.401, p<0.05). There exist statistically insignificant, positive relationship between external branding strategies employed by universities and postgraduate student choice of universities (β = 067, p>0.05).The results further indicated that there exists a statistically significant positive relationship between service mix branding strategies employed by universities and postgraduate student choice of universities (β = 0.347, p<0.05). It is recommended that the university through internal branding leadership should ensure an organization culture created which will enhance prospective students’ choice of postgraduate programs and also enhance employees’ positive communication about the university. Universities management should have partnership programme and collaborations with the international institutions to enhance students and staff benefits. They should also support or carry out CSR activities. Postgraduate programs should also be priced fairly in a bid to attract more students, while relevant content and material information should be available for easy access in aiding students for registration of postgraduate academic programs. Universities should enhance the use of social media as a promotional channel for reaching prospective students. Universities should ensure stocked updated reading material through subscription to electronic academic journals. Key words: Branding strategies, Post Graduate students’ Choice. TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION......................................................................................................... ii RECOMMENDATION ............................................................................................. iii COPYRIGHT ............................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION........................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT.. ............................................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... xi ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ................................................................. xii OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS .........................................................xv CHAPTER ONE:INTRODUCTION .........................................................................1 1.1 Background to the Study ..........................................................................................1 1.2 Statement of the problem .......................................................................................14 1.3 Research Objectives ...............................................................................................16 1.4 Research Hypotheses .............................................................................................16 1.5 Significance of the Study .......................................................................................16 1.6 Scope of the Study .................................................................................................18 1.7 Assumptions of the study .......................................................................................20 CHAPTER TWO:LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................21 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................21 2.2 Theoretical Literature Review ...............................................................................65 2.3 Conceptual Framework ..........................................................................................78 2.4 Empirical Literature Review ..................................................................................21 2.5 Branding strategies and consumer choice ..............................................................31 2.6 Critique of Existing Literature ...............................................................................78 2.7 Research Gaps ........................................................................................................83 CHAPTER THREE:RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .........................................84 3.1 Introduction