MARKETING MIX AND STUDENTS’ ENROLMENT IN PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE IN THE ERA OF DIGITAL ECONOMY

Abstract

Education consumers in the society today belong to a generation that is active on social media hence there is the need for schools to stamp their presence on social media. In view of this, the studyinvestigated marketing mix and students’ enrolment in private secondary schools in Nnewi Education Zone, Anambra State in the era of digital economy. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The study population was five hundred and twenty-four (524) school administrators in 524 private secondary schools in Anambra state. Purposive sampling was used to draw a sample of eighty- six (86) administrators for Nnewi Education Zone. Data were collected using a 24-item research questionnaire titled “Marketing Mix and Students’ Enrolment Questionnaire” (MMSEQ). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions. The results revealed that there are various marketing mix elements meant for service industries like secondary school which when properly applied will help to boost enrolment in private secondary schools within the zone. This will in turn lead to greater survival of the schools. It also indicated that the extent private secondary school administrators adopt these marketing practices to enhance their survival is significantly low in most of the studied school. Based on the findings, it was concluded that secondary schools should adopt marketing mix to ensure their survival of the organization. The study recommended that these private secondary school should adopt marketing mix that are suitable to their needs and possibly subsume them into the existing management practices as modern means of communicating values of the school to the public.