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Marketing in higher education: A comparative analysis of the Brazil and Portuguese cases

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Abstract

Approaching marketing as applied to higher education, this study aims to discuss the theoretical concepts of marketing in education and apply them to the Brazilian and Portuguese contexts. Taking into consideration how education marketing has attained greatest expression in the U.S., its application to different realities requires adjustments. We begin with a literature review of the traditional education marketing concepts with emphasis on the marketing-mix applied to education. We then proceed with a characterization of the current higher education contexts in Brazil and Portugal before comparing the application of the educational marketing in these two realities focusing analysis on the educational marketing-mix in effect. It was found that higher education in Brazil has very different characteristics to higher education in Portugal and both differ in the application of more traditional marketing concepts to education and demonstrating the inadequacy of applying general approaches when establishing marketing strategies for these institutions.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Portuguese Science Foundation through NECE — Núcleo de Investigação em Ciências Empresariais (Programa de Financiamento Plurianual das Unidades de I&D da FCT — Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior/Portugal).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Management and Economics Department – NECE – Center for Studies in Management Science, University of Beira Interior (UBI), Estrada do Sineiro Pólo IV, 6200-209, Covilhã, Portugal

    Emerson Wagner Mainardes

  2. Management and Economics Department – NECE – Center for Studies in Management Science, University of Beira Interior (UBI), Estrada do Sineiro, Pólo IV, 6200-209, Covilhã, Portugal

    Helena Alves & Mário Raposo

  3. Center of Social and Applied Sciences, Regional University of Blumenau (FURB), PPGAd – campus I – sala D-102; Rua Antônio da Veiga, 140, 89012-900, Victor Konder, Blumenau/SC, Brazil

    Maria José Carvalho de Souza Domingues

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  1. Emerson Wagner Mainardes
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Correspondence to Emerson Wagner Mainardes.

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Mainardes, E.W., Alves, H., Raposo, M. et al. Marketing in higher education: A comparative analysis of the Brazil and Portuguese cases. Int Rev Public Nonprofit Mark 9, 43–63 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12208-011-0077-6

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