La triangulacion interdisciplinar�]metodologica (TIM) como modelo para analizar la imagen de las instituciones universitarias

Abstract

Global integration of European higher education implies a substantial increase in competitiveness among universities that, from a commercial point of view, requires political and communications strategies for a more effective and profitable position in the Spanish university market (Capriotti, 2009) Unlike other markets, the university branding market is a sector little developed in relation with targets groups (Bean, 2000). This work takes into account results from prior empirical research that measure the image perceived in Spanish universities market (Hernandez Gomez y Zamora, 2010), as well as other recently published works on university marketing and his value diferencial (Carmelo y Calvo, 2010; Chapleo, 2010, Clark, 2009; Duque, 2009; Waeraas & Solbakk, 2008; Bergh, Reece, & Lancendorfer, 2007). From these reflections, this paper gives goes forward with the methodological concretion on having proposed the interdisciplinar�]methodological triangulation (IMT) as a method suitable to measure and evaluate the current attributes (principal and secondary) and latent ones on which the students construct their own image of the university institutions (own, competition and ideal), in terms of valuation and hierarchical organization. To determine the mentioned attributes it proposes to apply a double triangulation (methodological and interdisciplinal), from a prelimary exploratory phase �] qualitative �] in which, by using focus group, we could identify the attributes associated with the image of the university institutions directly from the universe study object. This way of obtaining the attributes will increase the percentage of the model explanation during the phase of analysis and statistical treatments. The second phase is descriptive �] conclusive �] quantitative, whose purpose is to extrapolate to our universe the conclusions and research hypotheses that, in fact, have been formulated taking into account the few models that have concreted the elements linked to the university branding process construction that include the dimensions of consumer response in relation with the brand reputation, from a conative, affective and cognitive view, (Bennett & Ali�]Choudhury, 2009).