Abstract
The belief in higher education (HE) marketisation, whereby student consumers choose a service from the HE marketplace, not only appears to have become a significant reference point for governmental policy, but also appears to have changed the environment that higher education institutions (HEIs) now operate in. Behind this is the much-mooted paradigm of ‘value for money’ that runs through policy documentation from 2015 onwards and provides a cornerstone of the recently created regulator, the Office for Students (OfS).Moreover, much of the academic literature on the marketisation of HE (Banwait, 2017) focuses on economic efficiency and providing equity for the now-student consumer and beleaguered taxpayers during the UK cost of living crisis. Indeed, with the average UK student debt running at £45,000 (Statistica, 2022), from the regulator's perspective the fees invested by students need to demonstrate a required economic return through well-paid employment at least to demonstrate value and hopefully pay back their original investment in tuition fees.
The quantitative analysis focuses on students studying at a specialised creative arts university. It seeks to unpack what factors, from their perspective, underpin value using a seminal typology of consumer value provided by Morris Holbrook (1999). The analysis provides a coherent framework to understand the nature of value and test the elements that may be traded off between consumption value and student choice. Specifically, it utilises structural equation modelling (SEM) to simultaneously examine a series of dependence relationships on value to address the five research objectives that underpin the thesis, namely:
1. Determine the relationship between different components of value and if demographic (categorical) variables influence this.
2. Investigate the influence of the self-reported perception of creativity and the importance of economic factors of value.
3. Evaluate the validity and reliability of Holbrook’s (1999) value typology using quantitative methods (SEM) in educational practice.
4. Examine the relationship between economic and non-economic components of value on subject choices.
5. Appraise the most crucial value factor and its impact on the marketisation of HE.
This empirical approach will enable us to establish that for creative students, economic factors much discussed by marketisation scholars and current policymakers may not be the only driver for student consumer value. Indeed, as Jessie J may say about a creative student's perception of value:
It's not about the money, money, money.
We do not need your money, money, money.
We just wanna make the world dance.
Forget about the price tag.
(Jessie J, Price Tag, January, 2011)
The implications of this quantitative study provide insights for professional practice in HE marketing, current policy, and UK creative industries.
| Date of Award | 4 Dec 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Peter Nuttall (Supervisor) & Robin Shields (Supervisor) |