Strategi Digital Marketing terhadap Student Enrollment: Peran Mediasi Citra Institusi pada Perguruan Tinggi Swasta di Kota Serang

Raga Aquino; Aldy Wirawan; Heri Sapari Kahpi

doi:10.61132/lokawati.v4i5.2686

Authors

Raga Aquino Universitas Banten
Aldy Wirawan Universitas Banten
Heri Sapari Kahpi Universitas Banten

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61132/lokawati.v4i5.2686

Keywords:

Digital Marketing Strategy, Higher Education Marketing, Institutional Image, Private Higher Education Institutions, SEM-PLS, Student Enrollment

Abstract

Digital transformation has significantly changed the way prospective students seek information and evaluate alternative higher education institutions. This requires private universities to develop more effective digital marketing strategies to enhance their competitiveness. Despite the growing application of digital marketing in higher education, research explaining the mechanisms by which digital marketing strategies influence student enrollment decisions, particularly through the mediating role of institutional image, remains relatively limited. This study aims to analyze the direct and indirect effects of digital marketing strategies on student enrollment through institutional image at private universities in Serang City, Indonesia. The study employed a quantitative approach with an explanatory research design. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed to new students selected using purposive sampling and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). The results indicate that digital marketing strategies positively influence institutional image and student enrollment. Institutional image also positively influences student enrollment and acts as a partial mediator in the relationship between digital marketing strategies and student enrollment. These findings demonstrate that effective digital marketing strategies can not only directly improve prospective students' enrollment decisions but also through the creation of a positive institutional image. This research contributes to the development of higher education marketing literature by explaining the role of institutional image as a mechanism linking digital marketing strategies to increased student enrollment. Practically, the research findings provide recommendations for higher education administrators to integrate digital marketing strategies with strengthening institutional image, improving academic quality, and managing reputation to sustainably increase competitiveness and the number of new students.

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