Conceptual Modeling of Academic Brand Development in the Higher Agriculture Education: a qualitative case study

This research was conducted with the aim of qualitative explanation of a conceptual model for academic brand development in higher agriculture education, case of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. This qualitative research was done by the descriptive phenomenological method. Data collection was conducted using semi-structured deep interview. Through theoretical sampling, 20 respondents were selected from the university community. The qualitative thematic content analysis was carried out to analyze the data. The findings of this research resulted in identifying and defining 116 indicators . The four-layer indicator set consists of 14 components. The first layer is the brand image of the university (brand equity); six components include brand awareness (5 indicators), brand association (6 indicators), brand superiority (5 indicators), brand emotional response or brand effect (6 indicators), brand identification (6 indicators), and brand resonance, including brand communication, loyalty, and support (with 9 indicators). The second layer, entitled University Experience, consists of three categories or components including relational-social Experience (8 indicators), personal development experience (9 indicators), and emotional experience (3 indicators). The third layer, or perceived service quality of the university, includes three components of educational quality (10 indicators), quality of life (8 indicators), and the quality of human and social relationships in the university or academic community (14 indicators) and the effects and outcomes of the university or the social presence of the university (14 indicators). The fourth layer, the perception of the quality of the host community of the university (place brand), is described with 10 indicators.