Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

7-2014

Abstract

As competition for funding and students intensifies, it becomes increasingly important for psychology programs to have an image that is attractive and makes them stand out from other programs. The current study uses the instrumental-symbolic framework from the marketing domain to determine the image of different master's programs in psychology and examines how these image dimensions relate to student attraction and competitor differentiation. The samples consist of both potential students (N = 114) and current students (N = 68) of three psychology programs at a Belgian university: industrial and organizational psychology, clinical psychology, and experimental psychology. The results demonstrate that both instrumental attributes (e.g., interpersonal activities) and symbolic trait inferences (e.g., sincerity) are key components of the image of psychology programs and predict attractiveness as well as differentiation. In addition, symbolic image dimensions seem more important for current students of psychology programs than for potential students.

Keywords

Education, Image, Instrumental–symbolic framework, Marketing, Psychology

Discipline

Human Resources Management | Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Research Areas

Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources

Publication

Journal of Psychology

Volume

148

Issue

4

First Page

457

Last Page

475

ISSN

0022-3980

Identifier

10.1080/00223980.2013.808602

Publisher

Taylor & Francis (Routledge): STM, Behavioural Science and Public Health Titles

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2013.808602

Download

Share

COinS