The Strategic Marketing Perspective of English Medium Universities in Kazakhstan: Attracting Graduate Students

Abstract

This study examined graduate students’ perceptions of the 7Ps marketing mix in English-medium universities in Kazakhstan and explored how these perceptions relate to evaluations of the graduate program brand and the university brand. Situated in the context of internationalization, growing institutional competition, and state-supported English-medium instruction, the study sought to describe students’ evaluations of the 7Ps, assess whether these perceptions differed across demographic characteristics, and analyze their relationships with product and corporate brand evaluations. A cross-sectional quantitative survey design was employed. Data were collected from 101 graduate students enrolled in English-medium programs at two universities in Kazakhstan and analyzed using descriptive, inferential, correlational, and multiple regression procedures. Results showed that all seven marketing mix elements were evaluated positively overall, with the highest ratings given to Prominence, Program, and Price, while Prospectus and Promotion received comparatively lower evaluations. Perceptions of the 7Ps were broadly consistent across most demographic characteristics; however, student status emerged as the main source of variation, with international students reporting higher evaluations for People, Premium, Promotion, and the overall 7Ps marketing mix. Correlation and regression analyses further indicated that Prominence, Program, People, and Premium were the elements most strongly associated with both graduate program and university brand evaluations. The regression model explained more variance in graduate program brand evaluations than in university brand evaluations. Overall, the findings suggest that students’ brand evaluations in Kazakhstan’s English- medium higher education context are shaped primarily by institutional credibility, program quality, interpersonal support, and value-added features.