Attributes influencing information search for college choice: An exploratory study

A thorough understanding of the college attributes influencing decision-making process is important from the marketing perspective. The current study aims to explore factors influencing students' search behaviour and choice in college choice decision, establishing the importance of college attributes in decision making. The study was conducted by surveying students aspiring admission to engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu, India, yielding a total sample of 1,174. Factor analysis was done to rank factors influencing choice based on their level of importance. Results showed that students in Tamil Nadu consider institutional merits, faculty features, social factors, campus and cost, academic reputation, and college equity as criteria in selecting higher learning technical institution. This study will help colleges to improve their recruitment strategies and students to improve the way they search for information for educational decision making.