Abstract

As higher education (HE) is rapidly shifting from being product driven to being market driven, it is becoming more crucial to understand the behaviour and actions of potential customers (prospective students). This is because the HE marketplace is operating within an increasingly competitive environment with many institutions all trying to attract the best possible candidates from a decreasing pool of potential students. This is partly due to changes in the structure of government funding, the introduction of tuition fees with a decline in the real value of maintenance grants and a fall in the birth rate.