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2026, no. 10
ECONOMY & MANAGEMENT IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS

REGIONAL UNIVERSITY MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS AS A FACTOR IN RETAINING PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TRUST IN A BORDER REGION

Natalia N. PshenichnayaORCID

DOI 10.20339/am.10-26.095pp. 95–100UDC 378:658.880 RUB

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Abstract

The article examines the transformation of marketing strategies at regional universities under conditions of demographic decline and increasing educational migration. Using a university in a border region as a case study, the author analyzes the social mechanisms shaping prospective students’ educational choices through the methodology of end-to-end analytics and the customer journey concept. Unlike studies that focus primarily on managerial or economic aspects of higher education marketing, this research interprets communication channels sociologically as a system of institutional interaction in which trust, evidence-based communication, and the ability to maintain weak social ties with target audiences are more important than resource provision alone. The study identifies a paradox: a university may possess substantial resources while experiencing declining conversion across recruitment channels. The findings substantiate the need to move from fragmented marketing efforts to an integrated communication ecosystem based on trust and verifiable evidence. The aim of the study is to identify the social causes of low recruitment-channel conversion and to propose a sociologically grounded strategy for attracting prospective students. The object of the study is the mechanisms of social interaction between the university and its target audiences: students in grades 10–11, parents, and graduates of secondary vocational education institutions. The article presents a social profile of the prospective student, analyzes distortions in the university’s value proposition and communication gaps as factors in educational migration, and substantiates a shift from a resource-based to a trust-based strategy. Further research may extend the proposed model to other regional universities in order to develop a social typology of institutional marketing strategies under conditions of demographic instability.

Keywords

  • sociology of education
  • university marketing strategy
  • educational migration
  • border region
  • prospective students
  • recruitment conversion
  • trust
  • weak ties

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ECONOMY & MANAGEMENT IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS