TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii TÓM TẮT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii INTRODUCTION .1 Rationale Objectives of the study Scopes of the study Methodology of the study .3 Structure of the study CHAPTER 1: A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF SERVICE MARKETING, MARKETING IN EDUCATION, AND MARKETING IN OVERSEAS EDUCATION SERVICE A OVERVIEW OF OVERSEAS STUDY OF VIETAM B THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 An overview of service marketing 1.1.1 Concept of service marketing 1.1.2 Fundamentals of service marketing 11 1.2 An overview of marketing in overseas education services 25 1.2.1 International Education services .25 1.2.2 Marketing in international education 26 1.2.3 Education agents .27 1.2.4 The role of agents 29 1.3 Marketing communication: Channels and promotion tools 31 1.4 Typical marketing tools used by OSC……………………………… …… 36 1.5 Proposed model 47 iv CHAPTER 2: EVALUATION OF MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF OVERSEAS STUDY CONSULTANTS IN HANOI 49 2.1 Analysis of marketing activities of overseas education consultants in Hanoi 50 2.1.2 Evaluation of the frequency use of each marketing tool employed by overseas study consultants 51 2.1.3 Evaluation of marketing tools from the perspective of overseas study consultants 54 2.2 Evaluation of marketing tools used by overseas education consultants from students' perspective .56 2.2.1 Evaluation of the most popular marketing tools .56 2.2.2 Evaluation of most expected/ chosen marketing tools 58 2.2.3 Comparison between the level of actual use and selection / expectation of students of oversea study marketing tools 59 2.3 Comparison of perceptions of the effectiveness of marketing promotion tools hold by students and overseas study consultants 61 2.4 Evaluation of marketing activities by each marketing tool 63 2.4.1 Evaluation of each marketing tool 64 2.4.2 Evaluation of OSC by tools 65 CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF OVERSEAS STUDY CONSULTANTS 71 3.1 General solution for Groups of marketing tools for overseas education consultancy service 76 3.1.1 Solution for Group .71 3.1.2 Solutions for Group .72 3.1.3 Solutions for Group .73 3.2 Specific solutions for each marketing tool .75 3.2.1 A solution to Tool 1- Direct mail 80 v 3.2.2 Solution for Tool - Advertising 75 3.2.3 Solutions for Tool – Education fairs 77 3.2.4 Solution for Tool - Direct consultancy and recruitment .80 3.2.5.Solution for Tool – Websites 80 3.2.6 Solution for Tool - Banner advertising .82 3.2.7.Solution for Tool – Listings 84 3.2.8 Solution for Tool – Email marketing 84 3.2.9 Solution for Tool - Seminars .85 3.2.10 Solution for Tool 10 - Pr .86 3.2.11 Solution for Tool 11 – Tele marketing 87 3.3 Expansion and renovation of other types of marketing tools 90 3.3.1 Street banner advertising 96 3.3.2 Introduction to friends, relatives, acquaintances (words of mouth advertising) 90 3.3.3 Old customer care 91 3.3.4 Overseas study links 92 3.3.6 English center 92 CONCLUSIONS .94 REFERENCES 96 APPENDIX 110 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Service market .13 Figure 1.2: Direct distribution channel .19 Figure 1.3: Indirect distribution channels 19 Figure 2.1: The popularity of marketing tools to OSC .50 Figure 2.2: The frequency use of each narketing tool empoyed by overseas study consultants 51 Figure 2.3: The effeetiveness of marketing tools from the view of OSC 54 Figure 2.4: A summary of the use of marketing tools by OSC 55 Figure 2.5: The use of marketing tools by students 56 Figure 2.6: Evaluation of students‘ expectation of marketing tools for overses study 58 Figure 2.7: Comparison between the actual use and expectation of students of marketing tools foroverseas study 59 Figure 2.8: Comparison of perceptions of the effectiveness of marketing tools hold by students and OSC 61 Figure 2.9: Boston Matrix based model 63 Figure 2.10: Evaluation of each marketing tool 64 Figure 2.11: Evaluation of OSC by tool 65 Figure 2.12: Evaluation of OSC by tools 2, 6, 7, 8, 11 .66 Figure 2.13: Evaluation of OSC by Tool .67 Figure 2.14: Evaluation of OSC by Tool .67 Figure 2.15: Evaluation of OSC by Tool .68 Figure 2.16: Evaluation of OSC by Tool .69 Figure 2.17: Evaluation of OSC by Tool 10 .69 Figure 3.1: General solution for Groups of marketing tools for overseas education consultancy service 74 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS D R&C: Direct recruitment and consultants FTU: Foreign Trade University IIE: International Education Institution MOET: Ministry of Education and Training OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OSC: Overseas Study Consultants PPC: Pay per click PR: Public Relations SEO Search Engine Optimization VEF: Vietnam Education Foundation VIED: Vietnam International Education Development WOM: Word of mouth viii INTRODUCTION Rationale Overseas education has become increasingly popular in recent years as it is viewed as offering the student likelihood of better future employment It is the undeniable benefits of the abroad study and the much improved living standards of Vietnamese people that make overseas study on the rise In the context of international economic integrations, overseas study has gone beyond the traditional limit in the educational sector and become a lucrative business for overseas education consultants (OSC) The overseas study consulting market in Vietnam is highly competitive Hundreds of education consulting centers and non-profit organizations are operating in big cities Regrettably, the increasing number of students studying overseas has not received a much needed concern from authorities In Hanoi alone, not least to say in Vietnam, there has not been official statistics of the number of students studying overseas, education markets for Vietnamese students as well as the number and effectiveness of OSC From the educational aspect, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has not taken full responsibility in managing the study of Vietnamese overseas students, the quality of OSC and the prestige of the educational institutions which are the destinations of Vietnamese students From the business aspect, the Ministry of Planning and Investment is only in charge of calculating the number of OSC Information of OSC can only be found in newspapers, forums or data bases of international education institutions For all the reasons mentioned above, it is necessary to have a study on the performance of OSC Indeed, there has not been any study on this field in general and on marketing activities of overseas education consultants in particular Therefore it can be said that “An evaluation of marketing tools for overseas study consulting services in Hanoi‖ is of theoretical and practical significance Objectives of the study This study will be conducted to get insight into the marketing activities of OSC in Hanoi and examine the needs of students for overseas study service On the one hand, the study evaluates the promotional activities of OSC in Hanoi to find out the answer to such questions as‖ Which marketing tools does each OSC use and focus? ―How is each tool conducted and evaluated in relation to others?‖ etc On the other hand, the thesis also studies the consumer behavior through surveys of targeted students who have the need to study abroad in order to evaluate the effectiveness of promotional activities of OSC from the students' perspective From the two aspects of the research, the thesis will give the answer to the question whether these marketing and promotional activities can meet the requirements of the consumers or not and the ultimate aim of the study is to point out solutions to improving the marketing activities of OSC Hopefully, after a model to evaluate the effectiveness of OSC is made, the study can propose solutions to improving marketing and promotional activities in overseas education consultancy, contributing to the improvement of quality and prestige of OSC in Vietnam‘s educational market Scopes of the study Because of time constraint and limited ability of the author, a survey of typical OSC in Hanoi is conducted With regard to students answering the questionnaire, they are 100 senior students from Departments of External Economics, Business Administration and Finance and Banking of FTU where the author is working and 200 senior students from FPT and Thang Long University It should be taken into account that FTU is a well established university which is dubbed as Vietnam Harvard while Thang Long is the first private university which has won recognition for the quality of teaching and studying and FPT is an emerging private university which is backed up by the famous FPT group These universities, in the author's observation, have a high rate of students wishing to study abroad It should also be noted that the object of the study are university students rather than high school students Furthermore, the concept of customers here refers to students who want to study overseas It is hoped that in the near future, with a larger budget of time, a larger-scaled study which covers a wide variety of objects will be conducted to find more comprehensive solutions to improving the effectiveness of OSC Methodology of the study The method of analysis, synthesis, comparison, interpretation, induction and socio investigation are employed in the study Based on the theoretical background that has been mentioned in the study, 11 marketing tools will be included in the survey questionnaires for students and marketing staff and leaders of OSC Questions will be from general to specific to find out the popularity of marketing tools, the effectiveness of each tool in the eyes of both OSC and students Survey and interview results are given in the form of figures to compare the popularity and effectiveness of different marketing tools The figures vary as each focuses on each aspect of the research issues However, promotional tools will be deeply analyzed with a more detailed figure Based on the results of this analysis and on the basis of the mentioned theory, solutions to improving the effectiveness of marketing and promotional activities of OSC will be given Structure of the study Apart from the Introduction and Conclusion, the thesis is divided into chapters as follows: CHAPTER 1: A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF SERVICE MARKETING, MARKETING IN EDUCATION, AND MARKETING IN OVERSEAS EDUCATION SERVICE CHAPTER 2: AN EVALUATION OF MARKETING AND PROMOTION ACTIVITIES OF OVERSEAS EDUCATION CONSULTANTS IN HANOI CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MARKETING AND PROMOTION ACTIVITIES OF OVERSEAS EDUCATION CONSULTANTS IN HANOI CHAPTER 1: A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF SERVICE MARKETING, MARKETING IN EDUCATION, AND MARKETING IN OVERSEAS EDUCATION SERVICE AN OVERVIEW OF OVERSEAS STUDY OF VIETNAM There are an increasing number of types of scholarship available to study overseas Each year there are approximately 25 U.S Government Fulbright Fellowships and around 40-50 U.S Government Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) Fellowships available for masters degree students only Additionally there are approximately 10 Canadian government scholarships, 70 scholarships to study in the UK, 200 scholarships for study in France, 150 for study in Australia, 70 short-term and 10 long-term scholarships in Thailand A large number of additional students receive scholarships directly from universities, nongovernmental organizations, foundations and other bodies The Vietnamese Government through MOET also has a program to approve approximately 400 scholarships for state workers to study abroad to improve their skills In 2009, the Vietnam International Education Development (VIED - replaced the Management Committee of Project 322), on behalf of Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), select and award many scholarships for studies overseas These scholarships comprise the following:  500 scholarships for full time doctoral study overseas,  200 scholarships for full time masters study overseas,  30 scholarships for short term training courses overseas,  100 scholarships for doctoral and master study at joint programs,  About 150 scholarships for undergraduate study overseas Another estimated 20,000 students are studying abroad each year on institutional scholarships or on their own finances These figures are further growing yearly as the government implements its so-called 10,000 PhD program with a goal of creating 20,000 new PhDs by 2020 through training abroad Yes No Other opinion: ……………………………………………………… 3.2 Do you see advertisement of overseas education information? Yes No If yes, in which form Television Newspaper Magazine Radio If possible, could you please name the television station, radio station or newspaper or magazine? 3.3 Do you attend overseas education fairs? Yes No If yes, you find the staff carefully trained, enthusiastic, well organized, and professional? Yes No Other opinions: ……………………………………… 3.4 Have you ever received overseas educational consultancy or direct admission? Yes No If yes, in which form You go directly to an overseas educational consulting company The overseas education company goes to your school to deliver consultancy Provide consultancy and offer admission at extra curricula and social meetings Others (please name)………………………………… 3.5 Do you go to websites to find out information of overseas education? Yes No 111 If yes The website is of foreign school The website if of overseas education consultant Other :( please name) 3.6 Do you see banner advertising of education and overseas education? (I.e when you see an advertising of Apollo- an education organization on Vnexpress , you click into it and get to the link to Apollo) Yes No Please name webs that have such kind of banner (usually search page or e newspaper) 3.7 Do you know the sites listed in the index? (Some websites can classify sites on the Internet based son the- directory i.e yahoo, Google, yellow page) Yes No If yes, please name 3.8 Have your received advertisement of overseas study by email? Yes No 3.9 Have you ever attended a workshop on overseas study? Yes No If yes, where did you often attend? Conference center, hotel Office of overseas education consultant Others, please name 3.10 Do you know P.R activities of overseas education consultants? Yes No If yes, they are 112 o information of an English course or language courses o news or articles, or reports of the overseas education consultant o study guidance, crossword, education report, etc o sideline information: opening of a new branch of the English central o others, please name 3.11 Have you ever received phone call announcing tuition incentive, scholarship of a new course? Yes No Among the 11 information channels below, choose the you find most effective and number from 1-3 according to the decreasing efficiency o direct mail or in person delivery o advertising o education fair o direct consultancy and recruitment o website o banner o listing o email o seminar o pr (article, report, news, etc.) o tele-marketing 113 b Questionnaire for companies SURVEY ON MARKETING AND PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES OF OVERSEAS EDUCATIONAL CONSULTING COMPANIES IN HANOI Please take your time to tick the most appropriate answer Thank you very much for your help Company: Tel Representative Which marketing tools listed below have you used to promote the overseas study of your company? o direct mail or in person delivery o advertising o education fair o direct consultancy and recruitment o website o banner o listing o email o seminar o pr (article, report, news, etc.) o tele marketing Others: Pleases give further explanation on the use of mentioned marketing tools? 1) Advertising: on which television station? Radio station? Magazine? Duration: (how many times in a year/ how long) 2) Education fair: in which form? You it yourself or whom you cooperate with? 114 (With which school? organization or company?) How many times a year? How long? 3) Banner advertising: On which web? 4) Web according to directory: on which web? 5) Seminar: where does the seminar take place? In the office of the education consultant or in which conference center or hotel? Please choose the frequency of the marketing tools used by your company vary rarely rarely sometimes often very often o direct mail or in person delivery o advertising o education fair o direct consultancy and recruitment o banner o listing o email o seminar o pr (article, report, news, etc.) o tele-marketing Please evaluate the marketing tools of your company in the order of descending (annual) budget (Number for marketing tool with largest budget, number for the next marketing tool with the descending budget) 115 o direct mail or in person delivery o advertising o education fair o direct consultancy and recruitment o website o banner o listing o email o seminar o pr (article, report, news, etc.) o tele-marketing In your opinion what are the three marketing tools that offer the best performance (in terms of attracting participants, recruitment purposes) for marketing activities to promote the company? Number from 1-3 according to the diminishing results o direct mail or in person delivery o advertising o education fair o direct consultancy and recruitment o website o banner o listing o email o seminar o pr (article, report, news, etc.) o tele marketing How you evaluate the most effective use of marketing tools for overseas study? 116 Phụ lục A Bảng hỏi sinh viên Khảo sát “Hoạt động xúc tiến marketing công ty du học Hà Nôi” Mời bạn đánh dấu vào lựa chọn phù hợp với Tơi xin chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ bạn! Bạn có quan tâm đến du học khơng? ? có ? khơng Bạn thường tìm hiểu thơng tin du học tổ chức nào? o công ty tư vấn du học (vd: công ty tư vấn du học Baltic, Đức Anh v.v.) o trực tiếp trường nước ngồi (vd: tìm hiểu qua trang web trường đó, gửi email đến trường đó.v.v.) o tổ chức phi phủ giáo dục Việt Nam (vd: Hội đồng Anh, IDP, IIE…) o khác Hãy kể tên: Bạn thường tìm hiểu thơng tin du học qua kênh thơng tin nào? 3.1 Bạn có nhận thư thông báo tuyển sinh, thư mời dự hội thảo, triển lãm.v.v gửi qua đường bưu điện hay phát tận tay khơng? o có, gửi qua đường bưu điện o có, phát tận tay o khơng Nếu có bạn có thấy thơng báo rõ ràng, bắt mắt, khiến bạn quan tâm khơng? o có o khơng 117 o ý kiến khác: 3.2 Bạn có xem quảng cáo thơng tin du học khơng? o có o khơng Nếu có hình thức nào? o truyền hình o báo chí o tạp chí o đài phát Nếu có thể, nêu tên đài truyền hình, đài phát thanh, tên báo hay tên tạp chí đó: 3.3 Bạn có tham gia triển lãm giáo dục, du học khơng? o có o khơng Nếu có, bạn có thấy đội ngũ nhân viên huấn luyện kĩ lưỡng, nhiệt huyết, tổ chức tốt, cung cách chuyên nghiệp khơng? o có o khơng o ý kiến khác: 3.4 Bạn có tư vấn du học hay tuyển sinh trực tiếp khơng? o có o khơng Nếu có hình thức nào? o bạn đến tư vấn công ty tư vấn du học o công ty trực tiếp đến trường bạn tư vấn, tuyển sinh o tư vấn, tuyển sinh hoạt động ngoại khóa, sinh hoạt cộng đồng o khác, kể tên: 3.5 Bạn có vào website để tìm kiếm thơng tin giáo dục, du học khơng? o có o khơng 118 Nếu có là: o website trường nước ngồi o website công ty tư vấn du học o khác, kể tên: 3.6 Bạn có xem quảng cáo băng rôn (banner) giáo dục, du học không? (vd vào trang web báo điện tử vnexpress bạn thấy hình ảnh quảng cáo tổ chức giáo dục, đào tạo apollo kích chuột vào hình ảnh để xem, hình ảnh link tới trang web apollo) o có o khơng Nêu tên trang web có banner (thường trang tìm kiếm hay báo điện tử): 3.7 Bạn có biết đến việc niêm yết trang web theo mục khơng? (1 số trang web có tính phân loại trang web internet theo mục – directory vd: yahoo, google, yellowpage) o có o khơng Nêu tên trang web có tính đó: 3.8 Bạn có nhận thư quảng cáo, thông tin liên quan đến du học qua email khơng? o có o khơng 3.9 Bạn có tham dự hội thảo du học khơng? o có o khơng Nếu có bạn thường tham dự đâu? o trung tâm hội nghị, khách sạn.v.v o trụ sở công ty tư vấn du học o khác, kể tên: 119 3.10 Bạn có biết đến hoạt động Pr – quan hệ công chúng công ty du học không? o có o khơng Nếu có là? o thơng tin khóa học tiếng anh, ngoại ngữ o tin tức, báo, phóng cơng ty tư vấn du học o hướng dẫn học tập, điền ô chữ, phóng vấn đề giáo dục.v.v o thông tin bên lề: khai trương chi nhánh trung tâm tiếng anh.v.v o khác, kể tên: 3.11 Bạn có nhận điện thoại thơng báo ưu đãi học phí, học bổng, khóa học mới.v.v khơng? o có o khơng Hãy chọn kênh thông tin mà bạn đánh giá hiệu 11 kênh thông tin kể đánh số thứ tự từ 1-3 theo mức hiệu giảm dần: o gửi thư trực tiếp qua bưu điện hay trao tận tay o quảng cáo o triển lãm giáo dục o tư vấn du học tuyển sinh trực tiếp o website o quảng cáo băng rôn (banner) o niêm yết trang web theo mục o gửi thư qua email o hội thảo o pr (bài báo, phóng sự, tin tức.v.v.) o thơng báo qua điện thoại 120 B Bảng hỏi công ty Khảo sát “Hoạt động xúc tiến marketing công ty du học Hà Nôi” Mong anh (chị) đánh dấu vào lựa chọn phù hợp với công ty Tôi xin chân thành cảm ơn giúp đỡ anh (chị) quý công ty! Tên công ty: Số điện thoại: Người đại diện: Anh (chị) sử dụng công cụ marketing số công cụ sau để xúc tiến quảng bá cho dịch vụ du học cơng ty mình? o gửi thư trực tiếp qua bưu điện hay trao tận tay o quảng cáo o triển lãm giáo dục o tư vấn du học tuyển sinh trực tiếp o website o quảng cáo banner o niêm yết trang web theo mục o gửi thư qua email o hội thảo o pr (bài báo, phóng sự, tin tức.v.v.) o thơng báo qua điện thoại o khác: Anh (chị) cho biết cụ thể việc sử dụng cơng cụ marketing vừa nói? 121 1) quảng cáo: đài truyền hình, đài phát thanh, báo, tạp chí nào? thời lượng quảng cáo? (bao nhiêu đợt/năm, mối đợt bao lâu) 2) triển lãm giáo dục: triển lãm hình thức nào, tự làm hay hợp tác với ai? (trường nào, tổ chức nào, công ty khác.v.v.) lần năm, lần bao lâu? 3) quảng cáo banner: trang web nào? 4) niêm yết trang web theo mục: trang web nào? 5) hội thảo: tiến hành trụ sở công ty hay trung tâm hội nghị, khách sạn nào? Anh (chị) cho biết mức độ sử dụng thường xuyên công cụ marketing cơng ty mình? thang điểm: khi thường xuyên o gửi thư trực tiếp qua bưu điện hay trao tận tay o quảng cáo o triển lãm giáo dục o tư vấn du học tuyển sinh trực tiếp o website o quảng cáo banner o niêm yết trang web theo mục o gửi thư qua email 122 thường xuyên o hội thảo o pr (bài báo, phóng sự, tin tức.v.v.) o thơng báo qua điện thoại Anh (chị) đánh giá cơng cụ marketing cơng ty theo thứ tự mức ngân sách (hàng năm) giảm dần (công cụ marketing ứng với số dành ngân sách nhiều số thứ trở lên ứng với mức ngân sách giảm dần) o gửi thư trực tiếp qua bưu điện hay trao tận tay o quảng cáo o triển lãm giáo dục o tư vấn du học tuyển sinh trực tiếp o website o quảng cáo banner o niêm yết trang web theo mục o gửi thư qua email o hội thảo o pr (bài báo, phóng sự, tin tức.v.v.) o thông báo qua điện thoại Theo anh (chị), công cụ marketing đem lại hiệu cao (về thu hút người tham dự, mục đích tuyển sinh.v.v.) hoạt động xúc tiến marketing cơng ty mình? đánh số từ 1-3 theo mức kết giảm dần o gửi thư trực tiếp qua bưu điện hay trao tận tay o quảng cáo o triển lãm giáo dục o tư vấn du học tuyển sinh trực tiếp o website o quảng cáo banner 123 o niêm yết trang web theo mục o gửi thư qua email o hội thảo o pr (bài báo, phóng sự, tin tức.v.v.) o thơng báo qua điện thoại Anh (chị) đánh cách sử dụng công cụ xúc tiến marketing cho du học cách hiệu nhất? 124 C List of companies interviewed Num Company Address Website Interviewee Tel VISO 230 Kim Ma http://www.visco.edu vn/ Mr Trần khoa thắng- Director 7261938 Sunrise Vietmam 93 Doi http://www.sunrisevie Ms Luong Thi 7224855 Can tnam.com/ Huong- Vice Director Cat Tuong 66 Ngo http://www.cattuong.c Ms Ha- Thi Nham om.vn/ marketing staff Ms Dinh Ngọc Thủy 9454351 HAVETCO 277 Doi Can http://www.havetco.c om.vn 8346785 Hoang Gia 91 Nguyen Chi http://www.royaledu.c MS Hoang Thi om.vn Huong- Director 2663356 Thanh Baltic 19 Tran Phu http://www.duhocbalti Ms Nguyen Thị c.com Hong Lien 7337174 Duc Anh 96 Lo Duc http://ducanhduhoc.co m/ 9716229 Apollo 91 Pho Hue http://www.apolloedut Ms Nguyen Thi rain.com Mai Ha 9432053 EMG 44 Ham Long http://www.emg.vn/vn Mr Nguyen / Hoang Minh 9446664 125 Ms Nguyen Tuyet Lan ... in general and on marketing activities of overseas education consultants in particular Therefore it can be said that ? ?An evaluation of marketing tools for overseas study consulting services in. .. 2: EVALUATION OF MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF OVERSEAS STUDY CONSULTANTS IN HANOI 49 2.1 Analysis of marketing activities of overseas education consultants in Hanoi 50 2.1.2 Evaluation. .. MARKETING, MARKETING IN EDUCATION, AND MARKETING IN OVERSEAS EDUCATION SERVICE CHAPTER 2: AN EVALUATION OF MARKETING AND PROMOTION ACTIVITIES OF OVERSEAS EDUCATION CONSULTANTS IN HANOI CHAPTER