Power Differences to Market Courses Globally

Many universities offer their courses worldwide via the internet. Already, thousands of online curricula have enrolled millions of students. Education is a business opportunity, behind only health care as the largest U.S. industry. Researchers at Baylor University and University of Victoria say spending on marketing in the education industry has been growing 22% annually, but that a challenge is in marketing these courses profitably across global markets. Toward addressing this challenge, the researchers find that the Power Distance Belief of a country’s culture provides guidance.
     In reply to my inquiry about the study, Prof. Lingjiang Lora Tu, one of the researchers, explained, “Power Distance Belief is an established construct in marketing literature which measures individuals’ attitude toward status inequality. Low PDB individuals perceive status inequality as illegitimate and have more egalitarian values. High PDB individuals perceive status inequality as facts of life and endorse more hierarchical values. The Power Distance Index for each country—a numeric value—is published information.”
     The researchers find that prospective course enrollees in areas with low PDB cultures are more responsive to emotional appeals than to cognitive appeals. Based on the study findings, the researchers recommend that the emotional appeals should describe the self-discovery and self-development benefits of the curriculum. In high PDB cultures, by contrast, emphasize practical benefits which appeal to cognition. Talk of how successful mastery of the skills which are developed by the coursework can enhance social and economic influence of the student within the power hierarchy.
     These differences were most clear when enrollees needed to pay for the course. This is important because many marketers of online upper education courses to less-developed countries use a freemium model: Allow anyone to take the course for free and offer the option of payment for a certificate upon successful completion of the course. Usually, the payment can be made at any point during the course. One objective is to democratize knowledge worldwide. But free courses shift attention from the outcome of the learning to the process of the learning, making those from high PDB cultures more like those from low PDB cultures. Their interest in self-discovery and self-development grows.
     Studies at University of Wisconsin, University of Chicago, and University of Michigan indicate a freemium model allows broad course availability while maximizing learner engagement. If you use a freemium marketing model, it’s probably best to present both process and outcome benefits of the courses.

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