Exploring the Impact of Marketing on RPL Enrollment Decisions: Student Interest as a Determining Factor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31849/vy486t23Keywords:
Marketing Communication, Personal Selling, Social Media Marketing, Advertising, Higher EducationAbstract
The effectiveness of marketing communication in influencing enrollment decisions in the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program remains underexplored, particularly regarding the mediating role of interest. Prospective students in this pathway tend to prioritize flexibility, cost, and relevance over traditional academic attributes, while prior studies have mainly focused on conventional admission contexts. This study employs a quantitative explanatory approach using survey data from 291 RPL learners, analyzed through Structural Equation Modeling with the Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) method. The results indicate that personal selling and social media marketing have significant direct effects on enrollment decisions, whereas sales promotion and advertising do not. However, all four elements of marketing communication demonstrate significant indirect effects through interest, which emerges as the strongest predictor of enrollment decisions. These findings support the Theory of Planned Behavior by highlighting the crucial role of interest as a mediator between marketing communication and decision-making. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on how integrated marketing communication influences enrollment in non-traditional higher education pathways and offers practical insights for developing more targeted, interest-driven promotional strategies.
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