FACTORS INFLUENCING INTERNATIONAL

STUDENTS’ CHOICE OF ENROLLING AT HIGHER

EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS VIA THE INTERNET

NING YANG

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Magister

Technologiae in Business Administration at the Nelson Mandela

Metropolitan University

PROMOTER: PROF. N. D. KEMP

25 November 2009
 DECLARATION

I, Ning Yang, here with declare the following:

This work has not been previously accepted in substance for a degree

and is not being currently submitted in candidature for any degree.

This dissertation is being submitted in full or partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of Master in Business Administration.

This dissertation is the result of my own original work and all sources

used or referred to have been documented and organized.

I hereby give consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be made

available for photocopying and for interlibrary loan, and for the title and

summary to be made available to outside organizations.

Ning Yang

November, 2009

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The successful completion of this research would not have been possible

without the support, guidance and encouragement received from certain

individuals. In particular, the following individuals are acknowledged:

Professor Norman Kemp, for his guidance, patience, support and

motivation throughout the research period.

Judith Dyer, for her professional revising and editing the dissertation.

My parents, for valuing me so highly and never doubting in my ability as

a student. Their loyal support and belief in me throughout the duration of

my overseas studies is appreciated.

2
 ABSTRACT

As the competition increase in the Higher Education industry, marketing

departments of Higher Education Institutions view students as consumers

and market their institutions. At the mean time, universities around the world

encourage their international offices to increase the foreign student

enrollments. This research investigates the factors influencing international

students’ choice of enrolling at Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) via the

internet: international students’ Internet use to facilitate information search

and decision making.

This survey of international students from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan

University (NMMU) explored the Internet’s role in marketing international

education. Based on this exploratory research, NMMU educational

institutions gain insights of online customer service for successfully recruiting

students.

The results show that prospective overseas students do indeed use the

internet. Overall evaluation of the factors influencing the use of the internet

for enrolling at HEIs was determined by four factors: namely, perceived

usefulness, consumer involvement, perceived ease of use and opinion

leadership.

3
TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION.............................................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................ii

ABSTRACT...................................................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................iv

LIST OF TABLES..........................................................................................x

LIST Of

FIGURES...........................................................................................xi

CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………….1

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT....................................................................2

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ...............................................................

1.4 LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUALISATION.................... 4

1.4.1 Introduction................................................................................ 4

1.4.2 Conceptualisation......................................................................... 5

1.5 S I G N I F I C A N C E O F T H E

R E S E A R C H … … … … … … … … … … … … . . . . . . 8

1.6 DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPT......................................................9

1.6.1 Higher Education (HE).................................................................10

1.6.2 Higher education institution (HEI)..................................................10

1.6.3 International marketing .................................................................10

4
 1.6.4 The internet....................................................................................11

1.6.5 Internet marketing..........................................................................11

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF RESEARCH.......................................11

1.7.1 Demographic delimitation..............................................................12

1.7.2 Geographic delimitation...........................................................12

1.8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY....................................................12

1.8.1 The type of research..............................................................12

1.8.2 Data collection...........................................................................13

1.8.3 Data analysis..............................................................................13

1.8.4 Research instrument...................................................................13

1.9 CHAPTER OUTLINE....................................................................14

CHAPTER 2

GLOBAL COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS AND

INTERNET MARKETING

2.1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................15

2.2 A DESCRIPTION OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING..................15

2.3 FACTORS INFLUENCING ORGANIZATIONS’

INTERNATIONALIZATION DECISIONS.......................................18

2.4 POTENTIAL MARKET ASSESSMENT..........................................19

2.4.1 Types of business environment................................................19

2.4.2 Macro-environment.....................................................................20

2.4.3 Operating environment assessment............................................24

2.4.4 Internal environment....................................................................26

5
2.5 THE INTERNET AS A GLOBAL RESOURCE..................................27

2.5.1 The nature of the internet..............................................................28

2.5.2 The benefits in marketing via the internet.....................................29

2.5.3 Principle problems in marketing via the internet...........................31

2.6 THE INTERNET USABILITY.............................................................32

2.6.1 E-mail.................................................................................32

2.6.2 Websites........................................................................................33

2.7

SUMMARY............................................................................................36

CHAPTER 3

FACTORS AFFECTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ENROLLING IN

HIGHER EDUCATION

INSTITUTIONS VIA THE INTERNET

3.1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................37

3.2 FACTORS DETERMINING CONSUMER ADOPTION OF THE

INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES...........................................................38

3.3 THE NATURE OF INNOVATION......................................................44

3.3.1 The categories of innovations........................................................45

3.3.2 Characteristics of the innovation...................................................46

3.4 D I F F U S I O N O F

I N N O VAT I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7

3.4.1 Diffusion process...........................................................................47

3.4.2 Factors affecting the spread of the innovations..............................49

6
3.5 STAGES IN CONSUMER ADOPTION OF AN INNOVATIVE

SERVICE............................................................................................51

3.6 SUMMARY.........................................................................................54

CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................55

4.2 RESEARCH DESIGN.....................................................................55

4.2.1 Exploratory research....................................................................55

4.2.2 Descriptive research.....................................................................57

4.2.3 Causal research.............................................................................58

4.3 Q U A L I T A T I V E A N D Q U A N T I T A T I V E

R E S E A R C H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 9

4.4 D A T A

COLLECTION...........................................................................60

4.5 Q U E S T I O N N A I R E

DESIGN...............................................................63

4.5.1 Questionnaire structure...............................................................64

4.5.2 Question type.............................................................................66

4.5.2.1 Closed question..........................................................................66

4.5.2.2 Open-ended question.................................................................69

4.5.3 Pretesting..................................................................................70

4.5.4 Sampling design.........................................................................71

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4.6 DATA ANALYSIS.............................................................................72

4.6.1 Data preparation........................................................................73

4.6.2 Reliability and validity..............................................................74

4.6.3 Descriptive analysis..................................................................75

4.6.4 Inferential analysis...................................................................75

4.7 SUMMARY...................................................................................76

CHAPTER 5

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS

5.1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................77

5.2 D E M O G R A P H I C D E TA I L S O F I N T E R N AT I O N A L

STUDENTS………………………………………………………………….77

5.2.1 Respondents by country of origin...................................................78

5.2.2 Respondents by age......................................................................79

5.2.3 Respondents by gender.................................................................80

5.2.4 Respondents by faculty in which they enrolled ..................... ……80

5.3 M A I N FA C T O R S I N F L U E N C I N G C U S T O M E R S U S E O F

A NEW SERVICE…………………………………………………………81

5.3.1 Consumer innovativeness.............................................................82

5.3.2 Perceived usefulness.....................................................................83

5.3.3 Trust...............................................................................................85

5.3.4 Perceived risk................................................................................87

8
 5.3.5 Consumer involvement..................................................................89

5.3.6 Opinion leadership.........................................................................90

5.3.7 Perceived ease of use...............................................................92

5.4 NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY....................93

5.5 SUMMARY.......................................................................................96

CHAPTER 6

SYNOPSIS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................98

6.2 SYNOPSIS OF THE STUDY................................................98

6.3 C O N C L U S I O N S A N D

RECOM MENDAT IONS.................................100

6.4 F U R T H E R

RE S E A RCH. .. . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . . .102

LIST OF REFERENCES..........................................................................103

ANNEXURE.................................................................................................111

9
LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Multidomestic versus international markets ...............................16

Table 2.2: Top of 15 countries for internet access, 2004…………………….26

Table 2.3: The five Ss of internet marking…………………………………….28

Table 4.1: Qualitative versus quantitative research...................................59

Table 5.1: Faculty in which international students enrolled ....................80

Table 5.4: Innovativeness as a main factor..................................................80

Table 5.5: Perceived usefulness..................................................................83

Table 5.6: Trust............................................................................................85

Table 5.7: Perceived risk.............................................................................86

Table 5.8: Consumer involvement..............................................................88

Table 5.9: Opinion leadership......................................................................90

Table 5.10: Perceived ease of use..............................................................92

Table 5.11: NMMU analysis.........................................................................94

Table 5.12: NMMU analysis..................................................................94

Table 5.13: NMMU analysis...................................................................95

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Conceptual model of international students’ choice of enrolling in

Higher Education Institutions via the internet.............................................6

Figure 2.1: Types of business environment.............................................19

Figure 3.1: Conceptual model of international students’ adoption of enrolling

in Higher Education Institutions via the internet……………………………….38

Figure 3.2: Stages in consumer adoption of a new service.......................52

Figure 4.1: Questionnaire continuum....................................................65

Figure 5.1: Countries of origin................................................................77

Figure 5.2: Age categories......................................................................78

Figure 5.3: Gender categories................................................................79

Figure 5.4: Innovativeness as a main factor.............................................81

Figure 5.5: Perceived usefulness.............................................................84

Figure5.6: Trust........................................................................................86

Figure 5.7: Perceived risk........................................................................87

Figure 5.8: Consumer involvement.........................................................89

Figure 5.9: Opinion leadership.................................................................91

Figure 5.10: Perceived ease of use...........................................................92

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 CHAPTER 1

OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

It is now widely accepted that the information technology revolution will have

a profound effect on the conduct of international business as society moves

towards the new millennium (Hamill, 1997:300). Executives， government

leaders, educators, and students alike are taking advantage of the

opportunities to learn and transmit the knowledge of the world (Onkvisit &

Shaw, 2004: xviii).

Global trends within the field of Higher Education have brought new

competitors (Ivy, 2001:158-70), who are involved in increasing the intense

struggle to attract new students (Nicholls, Harris, Morgan, Clark & Sims,

1995: 31-8; Soutar & Turner, 2002: 139-46). At the same time, many

universities around the world are encouraging their international offices and

faculties to increase foreign student enrolments. Global marketing and

national marketing is essential to both the universities and students.

Nowadays Higher Education Institutions should devote themselves to

attracting international students, and offer international education in order to

generate income from overseas countries, differentiating between business

techniques that are universal and those that are unique to a particular

country or region (Onkvisit & Shaw, 2004: xviii).

The exploration of the international marketing activity on the internet and the
12
associated emergence of the global information superhighway have a

profound effect on the conduct of international business in the new

millennium (Hamill, 1997:300). The internet can substantially improve

communications with actual and potential customers, suppliers and partners

abroad (Hamill, 1997:300). The internet generates a wealth of information on

the market trends and developments worldwide, and is a very powerful

international promotion and sales tool (Hamill, 1997:300).

In order to remain competitive, Higher Education Institutions are starting to

use internet technologies. Universities invite candidates to take part in the

internet transformation through websites and e-mail. Through the internet

students can discover information about the university, staff contact details

and enrolment requirements. In the past, this information was only available

from agencies concerned with students wishing to study abroad. Now

information can be obtained from universities' websites or via e-mail

requesting further detailed information.

Having reviewed the related literature, the researcher found that no research

has been done to date on international students’ option of enrolling in Higher

Education Institutions via the internet.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENTS

The aim of the study is to determine international students’ choice of enrolling

in Higher Education Institutions via the internet. This will help Higher

Education Institutions to increase their overseas students’ enrolment in order

13
to be more competitive. This research problem to be addressed in this study

is:

To what extent do international students choose an

institution of Higher Education via the internet?

Sub-problems

To address this main research problem, the following sub-problems will be

identified:

What, according to the literature, is international marketing?

What role does the internet play as an international marketing tool?

What factors, according to the literature, affect consumers’ use of internet

technologies?

Which of these factors are likely to influence international students’

choice of enrolling in Higher Education Institutions via the internet?

1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

In order to address the sub-problems, the following objectives will be

identified.

Study the literature on the nature of international marketing and analysis

on international competitive environment.

Analyse the factors that influence the individual use of internet

technologies, with the aim of providing a conceptual framework for the

understanding of the choice of enrolling in Higher Education Institutions

via the internet.

Identify an appropriate measuring instrument to evaluate the elements on

14
 the use of internet technologies.

Identify the demographic characteristics of international students and

analyse whether there is a relationship between these characteristics and

use of internet technologies.

Accurately report the findings of the above-mentioned empirical

investigations.

Make recommendations on the international students’ choice of enrolling

in Higher Education Institutions via the internet.

1.4 LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUALISATION

The survey of the literature presents a clear overview of Higher Education

and determinants that influence international students’ decision making. With

the aim of addressing the objectives of the research, the research will

conduct a conceptual model for the study.

1.4.1 INTRODUCTION

Cubillo, Sanchez and Cervino (2006:103) state that most quality attributes in

Higher Education cannot be perceived, felt, or tested in advance. The quality

of Higher Education may vary markedly according to different circumstances:

from year to year, class to class, student to student, lecturer to lecturer

(Patterson, Romm & Hill, 1998:135-57; Owlia & Spinwall, 1996:15-20). This

results in the growing number of international students in search of Higher

Education and the inclusion of new countries as destinations.

Because of the inaccessibility of Higher Education services and its

15
associated benefits, it is difficult for international students to obtain help in

decision making (Maringe & Carter, 2007:461). The complex nature of the

decision to study abroad, such as of missed opportunities back home,

disruption of family life, uncertainties about progress and chances of success

in the course, make this a difficult decision for the international student

(Maringe & Carter, 2007:461). According to (Cubillo et al, 2006: 104), there

are four factors with a total of nineteen variables that influence decision

making. The factors identified are personal reasons, country image, and

institution image and programmed evaluation.

Gomes and Murphy (2003:116) state that Higher Education Institutions use

internet technologies (websites and e-mail) to assist the international

students in their decision making. International students use the internet to

acquire information regarding country image, institution image and

programme evaluation. Direct contact may also be made with these

institutions by way of e-mail. The role of the internet therefore becomes

increasingly more important for Higher Education Institutions.

1.4.2 CONCEPTUALISATION

Nicholl et al (1995:31-8) state that international education is not a frequent

purchase and demands a high level of involvement for customers. This study

aims to show international students’ choice of enrolling in Higher Education

Institutions via the internet. In order to address the aim of the study, the

proposed model (see Figure 1.1) suggests that consumer option of enrolling

in Higher Education Institutions via the internet is determined by:

16

Perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU);

Personal characteristics (consumer involvement, consumer

innovativeness and opinion leadership); and

Perceived risk and trust (Kamarulzaman, 2007:705).

17
 Figure 1.1

Conceptual model of international students’ choice of enrolling

in Higher Education Institutions via the internet

Personal characteristics

I Innovativeness Trust

Perceived
ease of use
Involvement Adoption

Perceived
usefulness

Perceived
Opinion
risk
leadership

Source: Adapted from Kamarulzaman (2007:705)

Each of the factors contained in Figure 1 are explained below:

Perceived usefulness: consumers perceive the internet purchasing as

useful because it serves all aspects of purchasing convenience

(Kamarulzaman, 2007:713).

Perceived ease of use: in order to enhance the perceptions of ease of

use, which will increase people’s intention to make use of the service,

marketers should pay attention to the ease of use. Websites should be

tailored more effectively to meet the needs of users on skill levels

18
 (Kamarulzaman, 2007:713).

Trust: the role of trust is a critical area in the domain of internet

purchasing. Consumers could overcome their fear, derived from

perceived risk of e-shopping, by building up trust in a website

(Kamarulzaman, 2007:713-4).

Perceived risk: the more their risk perception of the internet purchase is,

the less their trust will be. Consumers will purchase from a web retailer

which is perceived to be a low-risk. Creating a risk-free image would

seem to be a key strategy for marketers if they are to attract consumers

to an e-shopping format (Kamarulzaman, 2007:713).

Consumer innovativeness: the level of consumer innovativeness could

help marketers to identify early adopters of their products

(Kamarulzaman, 2007:714).

Consumer involvement: is vital in stimulating online purchasing

behaviour. Marketers can create various stimuli in order to encourage

consumers to be involved in web searching and shopping. Some

interactive features (e.g. audio, video, 3D pictures) can also be use to

attract consumers involved in the purchasing process (Kamarulzaman,

2007:714).

Opinion leadership: influences the choice process by acting as a

social role model whose innovative behaviour is imitated by others

(Aggarwal & Cha, 1997: 393).

19
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH

The purpose of this research is to analyse the international students’ choice

of enrolling in Higher Education Institutions via the internet. The research is

important for the following reasons:

It is necessary for the universities to enter the field of international

marketing in order to expand their markets.

Relatively small universities need foreign revenue to achieve greater

income in order to become more competitive with other bigger universities.

Foreign markets constitute a large share of the total business of many

organizations that have wisely cultivated markets abroad.

In the higher education industry, e-business could cut the costs and

increase the accessibility of higher education.

As universities and new players such as textbook publishers and private

ventures explore effective online strategies, the internet’s role becomes

increasingly important for Higher Education Institutions.

Universities and businesses alike see the internet’s far-reaching

capabilities as a global competing tool and the new information

technologies push Higher Education Institutions to respond to internet

technology (IT) development.

The internet can provide universities with a low cost gateway to global

markets, and improve communications with actual and potential students

abroad.

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1.6 DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPT

To address the aim of the research, the following definitions are given.

1.6.1 HIGHER EDUCATION (HE)

According to (Republic of South Africa-Higher Education Amendment Bill,

2008:2), “Higher Education means all learning programmes leading to

[qualifications higher than grade 12 or its equivalent in terms of the National

Qualifications Framework (NQF) as contemplated in the South African

Qualifications Authority Act, 1995(Act No. 58 of 1995), and includes tertiary

education as contemplated in Schedule 4 of the Constitution] a qualification

that meets the requirements of the Higher Education Qualifications

Framework (HEQF).” In this research, Higher Education is especially focused

on education which provides learning progammes which allow international

students to complete the degree study.

1.6.2 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION (HEI)

According to the Republic of South Africa-Higher Education Amendment Bill,

(2008:2), Higher Education Institution means any institution that provides

Higher Education on a full-time, part-time or distance basis. This research is

focused on the institutions around the world that offer Higher Education. .

1.6.3 INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

According to Johansson (2000:8), “International marketing is an older term

encompassing foreign trade analysis, environment differences, and all

marketing efforts in foreign countries, whether coordinated or not.”

21
Muhlbacher, Leihs and Dahringer (2006:38) state that “international

marketing is the application of marketing orientation and marketing

capabilities to international business.” In this research, international

marketing is focused on Higher Education Institutions developing markets in

foreign countries that reach the marketing objectives and achieve benefit

from the trade.

1.6.4 THE INTERNET

According to Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston and Mayer (2006:26),

“internet is the physical network that links computers across the globe. It

consists of the infrastructure of network servers and communication links

between them that are used to hold and transport the vast amount of

information on the internet.” In this research, the internet is related to

marketers using websites for international students to collect information, and

for e-mail contact with universities.

1.6.5 INTERNET MARKETING

Mohammed, Fisher, Jaworski and Paddison (2003:4) state that “internet

marketing is the process of building and maintaining customer relationships

through online activities to facilitate the exchange of ideas, products, and

services that satisfy the goals of both parties.” Chaffey et al (2006:8) state

“internet marketing is the application of the internet and related digital

technologies in conjunction with traditional communications to achieve

marketing objectives.” In this study, internet marketing is the process that

marketers develop through internet activities in order to achieve marketing

22
objectives.

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF RESEARCH

This section indicates mainly what the research will be limited to. There are

two parts in this section, namely demographic delimitation and geographic

delimitation that will be explained in detail.

1.7.1 DEMOGRAPHIC DELIMITATION

The research sample is focused on the international students at the Nelson

Mandela Metropolitan University.

1.7.2 GEOGRAPHIC DELIMITATION

The research area is in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and is limited to Nelson

Mandela Metropolitan University.

1.8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The following section will elaborate on the research methodology, and

introduce the data collection and data analysis adopted. Below is a brief

introduction to the research methodology.

1.8.1 THE TYPE OF RESEARCH

Quantitative research and analytical research will be used in this study. Collis

and Hussey (2003:13) state that quantitative research involves employing

strategies of inquiry, using research instruments to interpret and analyse the

statistical data. Analytical research goes beyond merely analysing and

23
explaining why or how events are happening (Collis & Hussey, 2003:11). The

research on how the internet effects Higher Education Institutions’

development can thus be labelled analytical research,

1.8.2 DATA COLLECTION

Extensive secondary and primary data sources will be used for this research.

Secondary sources include books, journals and information from internet

websites. Two chapters cover the use of the secondary sources, which

provide an explanation of the theoretical concepts of international marketing,

internet marketing and factors which influence the adoption of innovation.

In terms of primary sources the following aspects are relevant. Primary data

wil1 be collected from 200 international students at the NMMU using a

questionnaire that will be drawn up for the purpose. The sample includes

students from South Campus, North Campus, 2nd Avenue Campus and the

international students’ residences.

1.8.3 DATA ANALYSIS

Editing, coding and tabulation are the ways to set out all the colleted data. A

percentage, which is used to measure international students’ demographic

information, will be calculated. Three measures of central tendency namely

mean, median and mode can be used to determine the skewness of the data.

Measures of dispersion (such as range, variance and standard deviation)

describe how the data is clustered around the mean or central value

(Parasuraman, Grewal & Krishnan, 2007: 384).

24
1.8.4 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

A self-administered questionnaire will be designed, which will use Likert scale

type questions and open-ended questions. According to Lewis, Chambers

and Chacko (1995:178) a nonprobability sample implies that everyone in the

population does not have an equal chance of being selected. It is also called

a convenience sample, whereby people are selected simply because it is

convenient. The following step of solving ‘n’ sets of raw data is data

reduction which is used for collating the data obtained from the completed

questionnaires into a form that the researcher can use (Ferreira, 2005:97).

1.9 CHAPTER OUTLINE

The study follows a rational structure, which is divided into 6 chapters.

Chapter 1 will introduce the research purpose and background and the

research design of the dissertation.

Chapter 2 will conclude the theoretical background which focuses on the

definition of international marketing, internet marketing, and analysing the

marketing environment.

Chapter 3 will provide greater clarity on the factors influencing the choice of

the internet technologies, and the motivation for studying abroad.

Chapter 4 will focus on the data collection method and primary data sourcing

techniques.

Chapter 5 will present the major findings resulting from the empirical study.

Chapter 6 will present a summary of the research. The empirical findings,

recommendations and conclusions will be conducted.

25
 CHAPTER 2

GLOBAL COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS AND INTERNET MARKETING

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The HEIs are facing the global competitive situation. As trade barriers are lowered,

new growth opportunities in foreign universities open up and new markets may be

entered. Foreign competitors enter local markets and challenge the local universities.

A university with a narrow view of its capabilities and its market will fall short. In order

to be competitive, it is very important for HEIs to enter the global market. This

research explores how HEIs recruits international students via the internet, websites

and e-mail.

This chapter addresses the who, what and how of international marketing by giving

an overview of the nature of international business, as well as the importance of the

internet in international markets. The discussion begins with the definition of

international marketing, and other related definitions. The following section will focus

on the analysis of the international marketing environment which influences the

international business success or failure. Finally, internet marketing will be

introduced and for the purpose of the current study, internet usability which provides

support to e-business will be studied.

2.2 A DESCRIPTION OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

An overview of the nature of international marketing should begin with an

understanding of what international marketing is. Onkvisit et al (2004:3) state that

“international marketing is the multinational process of planning and executing the

26
conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to

create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.” Johansson

(2000:9) argues that “international marketing is an older term encompassing foreign

trade analysis, environmental differences, and all marketing efforts in foreign

countries, whether coordinated or not.” In this study, international marketing is the

process of the HEIs entering the international markets to attract international

students to come to study and to achieve the marketing objectives.

Muhlbacher, Leihs and Dahringer (2006:38) state that “international marketing is the

application of marketing orientation and marketing capabilities to international

business.” Marketing orientation is characterized by the following issues:

A system which explains the relationship between the organization and its

various stakeholders in a market

An exchange perspective, interpreting all interactions among the stakeholders in

a market as episodes in an ongoing complex exchange that needs to be

balanced.

A value perspective, focusing the mind of all members of a business organization

on the values or benefits to be mutually provided in the continual exchanges with

stakeholders

A process-oriented approach to all decisions and actions of organization

(Muhlbacher et al, 2006:39)

With international communications and spreading affluence, many previously

multidomestic markets are becoming more susceptible to internationalization. The

main differences between multidomestic and international markets are highlighted in

27
Table 2.1.

TABLE 2.1

MULTIDOMESTIC VERSUS INTERNATIONAL MARKETS: KEY DIFFERENCES

Multidomestic markets International markets

Market boundaries Markets are defined Markets transcend
within country borders. country borders.
Customers and Customers and/or
competitors are of local competitors cross
origin. frontiers to buy and to
sell.
Customers Significant differences Significant similarities
exist among customers exist among customers
from different countries; from different countries;
segments are defined segments cut across
locally. geographic frontiers.
Competition Competition takes place Competitors are few and
among primary local present in every major
firms; even international market. Rivalry takes on
companies compete on global scope.
a country-by-country
basis.
Interdependence Each local market Competitive actions in
operates in isolation one market impact other
from the rest. markets.
Competitive actions in
one market have no
impact elsewhere.
Strategies Strategies are locally Strategies are
based. Little advantages international scope.
exist in coordinating Great advantage exists
activities among in coordinating activities
markets. within worldwide.
Source: Adapted from Johansson (2000:11) and Onkvisit et al (2004:5).

2.3 FACTORS INFLUENCING ORGANIZATIONS INTERNATIONALIZATION

DECISIONS

There are four factors influencing organizations’ internationalization decisions:

external stimuli, internal stimuli, defensive motives and offensive motives

28
(Muhlbacher et al, 2006:35-37). External and internal stimuli conclude the first

question: should the organization expand its business internationally or not?

(1) External stimuli include “unsolicited orders from foreign customers, perceived

market opportunities, competitive pressures in the home market, or government

programs to encourage exports” (Muhlbacher et al, 2006:35). For example, the

Australian HEIs found competition by European universities so strong in its Chinese

home markets that it decided to enter the less competitive markets of German and

African countries in order to grow.

(2) Internal stimuli may include “unique products, strong marketing skills, or excess

capacity in the areas of production, finance, marketing, or management”

(Muhlbacher et al, 2006:36). For example, when South African universities enter the

Chinese market, their competitive tuition fees compared to European universities,

the good weather, environment, and English teaching systems attract Chinese

students to study in South Africa.

(3) Defensive motives may be to focus on “protecting domestic market share from a

foreign competitor or to ascertain a satisfactory level of company value added, sales,

or profit” (Muhlbacher et al, 2006:37). When the foreign competitors enter the local

market, management is reluctant to become involved in international business.

Some management still follows the traditional lines of business being satisfied with

the local business success, and is afraid of becoming involved in international

business.

(4) Offensive motives may respond and attack foreign competitors in their strong

markets (Muhlbacher et al, 2006:37). For example, when other international

businesses have an efficient computer management system, more and more

organizations start using this system. This situation will motivate HEIs to respond to

29
the opportunity changing its computer management system and in the meantime

also developing some new capabilities.

2.4 POTENTIAL MARKET ASSESSMENT

In order to prove the advantages, and a comparison of geographic sub-markets’

attractiveness, the successful characteristics of the business in the selected product

markets have to be identified. In addition, the potential market assessment when

local markets enter the international markets will be explained in detail.

2.4.1 Types of business environment

The world is made up of a variety of potential markets as well as business

environments. Figure 2.1 shows different types of business environments; namely,

macro-environment, operating environment and internal environment. The decision

makers of an internationally operating company live in their firm’s internal

environment, which is/maybe influenced by the international macro-environment. In

the following sections, the researcher is going to discuss how these market

environments influence business internationally.

FIGURE 2.1 TYPES OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Macro-environment
e.g. economy, technology, culture, legistration, political system, infrastructure,
education

Operating environment
e.g.customers, intermediaries, suppliers, competitors, workforce,
media, administration, pressure groups

Internal environment
Corporate policy
Portfolio strategy
Competitive strategy
Management system
Capabilities

30
 Decision makers

Source: Adapted from Muhlbacher et al (2006:53)

2.4.2 Macro-environment

According to Muhlbacher et al (2006:53), macro-environment can be defined as the

political, legal, economic, ecological, social, culture, and technological dimensions of

the universe in which the operating environment of the firm is embedded. Macro-

environment influences the company’s structure and state of its operating

environment, the development of the macro-environment is influenced by individual

members of the operating environment (Muhlbacher et al, 2006:53).

(1) Political environment

The political environment copes with the politics of more than one nation. According

to Onkvisit et al (2004:86), there are three different types of political environment:

foreign, domestic, and international. A country’s political system is an important

criterion for the assessment of market attractiveness under the following conditions

which is concluded by Muhlbacher et al (2006:69).

Business opportunities depend on the political system. International students

won’t come to study in a country if the country’s politics is not stable. Political

system can be related to the country’s reputation, safety, ease of visa processing

and visa cost. According to Gomery et al (2003:118), the factors of a country’s

reputation, safety, ease of visa processing and visa cost influence the students in

choosing overseas institutions.

31

The firm’s business requires big investments, such as in the oil business, which

may be jeopardized by political instability.

Business is done directly with the political authorities of the country.

For example, South Africa has a stable, comfortable political environment, especially

Port Elizabeth, which has good weather and a safe environment. The HEIs in that

city with their own competitive advantages attract many international students to

study there.

(2) Economic environment

The economy of the country is the major part of the company’s macro-environment.

Generally, it is the first dimension to be studied in assessing the attractiveness of any

country market. According to Cubillo, Scanchez and Cervino (2006:108), economic

environment is the second factor which influences international students in choosing

overseas institutions; it also enhances the country’s image and institution’s image. As

a matter of fact, there is a development level and a city dimension related to the

country’s image. For example, Cape Town University is located in the city of Cape

Town, is home to millions of people who work in shipping, tourism and the services

sector. The faculty of Health Sciences at UCT has the oldest medical school in

southern Africa. Its campus extends from the teaching hospitals, Groote Schuur

Hospital where the first heart transplant was performed and the Red Cross

Children’s Hospital to numerous others. This attracts a lot of students in making the

decision to study heart disease at this university. The natural resources available in

Cape Town enhance the institution’s image, especially for the students who want to

study environmental management.

32
According to Muhlbacher et al (2006: 93) human, the natural and technical resources

are main factors that affect a country’s economic wealth. These resources enable a

country to produce competitive goods and service and offer them to other countries

in order to create a variable market for such goods. Human resources are the most

important factors that influence a country’s economic wealth. These are defined by

Muhlbacher et al (2006:93) as follows:

i) Population composition and distribution

According to Muhlbacher et al (2006:93), the total population of a country and its

growth rate are two main factors that attract many international marketers.

Imbalanced distribution of age groups can lead to economic problems as it is closely

related to the demand of certain products and the availability of labour. For example,

many international HEIs marketers are interested in rapidly developing markets in

China and India. The two countries together represent 70per cent of Asia’s

population and close to 40per cent of the population of the world. Therefore, there

must be a large number of prospective international students who are willing to study

abroad (Muhlbacher et al, 2006:93).

ii) Degree of urbanization: it represents concentrations of potential customers which

have a strong impact on market attractiveness (Muhlbacher et al, 2006:98).

iii) The capabilities available in a country’s population.

The natural environment of a country is another important source of potential wealth

for its population. According to Muhlbacher et al (2006:101), natural sources, such as

minerals, water and waterpower, oil, coal or gas, and the country’s climate and

topography are major determinants of the economic structures and

interdependencies of a local economy. For example, the city of Port Elizabeth in

33
South Africa is located on the edge of a bay with magnificent beaches and rich

marine resources. Nelson Mandela Bay guarantees a quality of life second to none

while providing the students with a gateway to the world. The HEIs in P.E. offer

Nature Resource Management which provides a unique programme to equip

students with the management expertise to conquer these challenges. These rich

natural resources significantly offer the students who study environmental science,

such as agricultural management, game ranch management, geosciences, zoology,

botany and nature conservation with a diversity of places, animal and plant life. The

natural environment in the city of Port Elizabeth provides important sources of

potential wealth for its local HEIs.

2.4.3 Operating environment assessment: organization’s competitive

environment

Muhlbacher et al (2006:54) state that the operating environment of a business

organization contains individuals or people, representing organizations and

institutions, who have a passion for concentrating on the behaviour and performance

of the organization in conducting its business, for example, customers, competitors,

suppliers, intermediaries, potential and the current workforce, owners, stakeholders,

banks, media, trade unions, and other so called stakeholders of the company

(Muhlbacher et al, 2006:54).

In order to be successful in a market, a company must differentiate itself attractively

from the major competitors at a profit, and assess its market independently from the

perspective of its own resources and capabilities. Muhlbacher et al (2004:223) state

that management must use positive differences (strengths) as distinctive

competences to build and sustain the company’s advantages, and work on negative

34
differences (weaknesses) to overcome their potential impact on the success of the

company. These are the factors shown in Figure 2.3 which influence international

marketing success.

Capabilities

Capabilities are the internal factors that determine a company’s potential for

international marketing success. According to Muhlbacher et al (2004:224),

capabilities can be described as “the specific blend of the skills of its personnel times

the availability of appropriate resources.”

For example, The University of Port Elizabeth, the Port Elizabeth Technikon and the

Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University merged to form The Nelson Mandela

Metropolitan University and thus is now able to offer the best capabilities for the full

spectrum of career focused, academic-orientated and professional programmes,

from diploma through to doctoral level. Academic programmes are offered in seven

faculties: Arts, Business & Economic Sciences, Education, Engineering, the Built

Environment & Information Technology, Health Science, Law and Science. VWSA

supported the initiative of establishing an International Chair in Automotive

Engineering at NMMU, where international knowledge exchange would take place.

The company is also partnering with NMMU on a student exchange programme

where local students will have the chance in practical training in German

(Undergraduate Prospectus, 2007/2008:iii). The connection between NMMU and

Volkswagen South Africa attracts numbers of international students to study here.

The university has a strong track record in both fundamental and applied research,

working extensively in partnership with business and industry. In its first three years

35
NMMU has concluded several high-level research and development partnerships

with leading companies.

Skills

The skills which match the company’s personnel and the expectations and

aspirations of customers and other important stakeholders in the market are

important in international marketing success (Muhlbacher et al, 2004:224). A

person’s skills are built on his blend of knowledge and activity and the proper

application of this knowledge.

Motivation

Motivation of company personnel is to “adjust new markets and their macro-

environments which are based on the dominating values and social norms that form

the firm’s corporate culture” (Muhlbacher et al, 2004:224). For example, the HEIs’

higher education network is committed to develop its international links with

universities from developing countries, with specific reference to local education to

enhance its internationalization.

Resources

Company resources which include financial, technological, production, information,

and organizational elements are of major importance for successful

internationalization (Muhlbacher et al, 2004:225). The HEIs offer extensive academic

support to students. International students have access to the full range of services,

but find particular value in the language and computer courses and facilities. Most of

the HEIs offer comfortable student accommodation on all campuses and off-campus.

Off-campus accommodation is normally situated in close proximity to the campus for

the students’ convenience. The Library which is a place where students can read,

study and have access to information services is another important resource for

36
international students.

2.4.4 Internal environment

The company decision makers in a firm play their role as part of an organization

which has an implicit, if not explicably stated corporate policy that lays out the

ground rules of how it wants to function. It follows a portfolio and a competitive

strategy with basic indications of where and how to do business, based on

management systems such as the organizational structure or the controlling system,

as well as the capabilities and combinations of personal skills and resources that

result in specific actions (Muhlbacher et al, 2006:54). Internal environment is made

up of these elements.

HEIs have the capabilities that determine their potential for international marketing

success. It is a HEI for developing people that meets the challenges of nurturing

innovation, fostering creativity, and enhancing technology. Each has its own

competitive advantages and is able to differentiate itself from other universities.

2.5 THE INTERNET AS A GLOBAL RESOURCE

The internet as a communication tool has already become a valuable global

resource with substantial additional room for growth. According to Hanson and

Kalyansm (2007:14), approximately 15 per cent of the world’s 6.3 billion population is

online. This means nowadays that the internet is part of our life; people can use the

internet anytime and anywhere. Table 2.2 shows the top 15 countries for internet

access. Nowadays the internet is a necessary tool for marketers who want to enter

the global markets.

37
TABLE 2.2: TOP OF 15 COUNTRIES FOR INTERNET ACCESS, 2004

Country Population Internet per cent

users online

6.302.309.691 934 million 14.8

Rank
1 United States 290.342.554 185.5 63.9
2 China 1.286.975.468 99.8 7.8
3 Japan 127.214.499 78.1 61.4
4 Germany 82.398.326 41.9 50.8
5 India 1.065.070.607 37.0 3.5
6 United Kingdom 60.094.648 33.1 55.1
7 Korea, South 48.289.037 31.7 65.6
8 France 60.180.529 25.5 42.4
9 Italy 57.988.353 25.5 44.0
10 Brazil 180.032.604 22.3 7.68
11 Russia 144.526.278 21.2 14.7
12 Canada 32.207.113 20.5 63.7
13 Mexico 104.959.954 13.9 13.2
14 Australia 19.371.984 13.0 66,0
15 Indonesia 238.452.952 12.9 5.4
Share of total 60.3per cent 70.1per cent
Source: Adapted from Hanson et al (2007:14)

Organizations develop numerous different ways in which the internet can be applied

to support the marketing process. In this study, the internet is used as a

communication tool, which enhances the chances of the connection between the

international students and HEI. Internet-based media offer many opportunities for

marketing products and services across the purchase circle.

2.5.1 The nature of the internet

In this section, the researcher is going to review some of the different definitions to

help explain what internet is. According to Hamill (1997: 302), “the internet is a

network of interlinked computers throughout the world operating on a standard

protocol which allows data to be transferred between otherwise incompatible

machines.” Reedy and Schullo (2004:107) describe the internet as “a worldwide

38
network of networks, enabling millions of smaller computers to share information with

each other and to share various communications, databases, and transactions

resources.”

In this study, the internet is the application by which consumers collect information

and are able to contact organizations. The study explores how the HEIs use internet

technologies, websites and e-mail, to target prospective students also prospective

students use the same technology in their decision-making process. The HEIs

develop the websites so that international students may collect necessary

information.

2.5.2 The benefits in marketing via internet

The internet brings a range of benefits for consumers. Table 2.3 defines the five Ss

of e-marketing which suggest five broad benefits or reasons for adopting e-marketing

which marketers can use to set objectives for e-marketing.

TABLE 2.3 THE FIVE Ss OF INTERNET MARKETING

Benefit of e-marketing How benefit is delivered Typical objectives

Sell-grow sales Achieves through wider Achieve 10per cent of
distribution to customers sales online in market
you can’t readily service Increase online sales for
offline or perhaps product by 20per cent in
through a wider product year
range than in store, or
lower prices compared
to other channels.
Serve-Add value Achieved through giving Increase interaction with
customers extra benefits different content on site
online or inform product Increase dwell-time
development through duration on site by
online dialogue and 10per cent (sometimes
feedback known as “stickiness”)
Increase number of
customers actively using
online services (at least

39
 once per month) to
30per cent
Speak-Get closer to This is creating a two- Grow e-mail coverage to
customers way dialogue through 50per cent of current
web and e-mail forms customer database
and polls and Survey 1000 customers
conducting inline market online each month
research through formal Increase visitors to
surveys and informally community site section
monitoring chat rooms by 50per cent
to learn about them.
Save-Save costs Achieved through Generate 10per cent
online-mail more sales for same
communications, sales communications budget
and service transactions Reduce cost of direct
to reduce staff, print and marketing by 15per cent
postage costs through e-mail
Increase web self-
service to 40per cent of
all service enquiries and
reduce overall cost-to-
serve by 10per cent
Sizzle-Extend the brand Achieved through Improve branding
online providing a new metrics such as : brand
proposition and new awareness, reach,
experience online while brand favorability and
at the same time purchase intent
appearing familiar
Source: Adapted from Chaffery et al (2006:15)

Through internet marketing, international students and HEIs can benefit much more

than before. Firstly; prospective students are able to search for information quickly

with no time limitation. The internet is convenient. Secondly; HEIs also create

benefits online or inform product online dialogue and feedback for international

students. Thirdly; HEIs get closer to international students. They can carry out

market research through surveys and by informally monitoring chat rooms to learn

about them and also contact them online through PR. Fourthly; the internet saves a

lot financially for both international students and HEIs through online mail instead of

mail and phone calls.

40
2.5.3 Principle problems in marketing via internet

The internet creates several opportunities for marketers that can reach a range of

new potential markets worldwide, where cultural, legal, and social systems differ

from those in the local market. In the meantime, it also presents a lot of problems in

this new environment. Palumbo and Herbig (1998: 256-260) state several main

problems as follows:

Cultures of different countries must be taken into account when marketing on the

web. For example, language and the country’s images and colours have different

meanings in every country, therefore when selling worldwide a HEI needs to be

very careful when using these elements in international marketing.

Customers show that the level of personal information and concern with privacy

varies across countries. For international students especially, privacy is very

important. When applying to HEIs to study, personal details and credit card

information are two elements which must remain confidential.

The security of financial transactions is one of the most common worries when

creating efficient and trustworthy online commerce which occurs over the

network.

In some countries, especially developing countries, personal computers are still

not affordable yet.

Credit cards are the most useful tool as a way of payment by internet. However,

their use and popularity are not equal across nations.

2.6 THE INTERNET USABILITY

The internet provides effective communications with foreign customers (actual and

potential international students), which is critically important to successful

41
internationalization (Hamill, 1997:307). The internet provides various ways for

example; for example, e-mail and websites to support or improve communications

with the different actors in the HEI’s international network.

2.6.1 E-mail

According to Reedy and Schullo (2004:122), e-mail stands for electronic mail. It is

designed for personal and business communications through the internet. E-mail

becomes the most prevalent communications tool for exchanging messages at local,

national, or international level. E-mail is a quick response vehicle particularly suited

for acknowledging the receipt of a sales order or for responding to an information

request. One of the purposes in this study is to find out the effectiveness of HEIs e-

mail, and their response to an information request.

The importance of e-mail stems from several sources. According to Hanson and

Kalyanam (2007:75), e-mail is the leading online communication method between

consumers and organizations; it is the major driver of internet usage frequency; e-

mail has evolved to include more functions and web-like capabilities, making it a

more effective communication device. International students also use e-mail to

contact a HEI for gathering information.

Most people’s first encounter with the internet is via e-mail which represents the

most convenient way of communicating. In this study, e-mail is used as a

communication tool for contacting the HEIs. It is easy, fast and convenient. Students

don’t have to contact the HEIs during office hours, or call them in order to collect

information. They can e-mail whenever they want to. E-mail provides international

42
students with a direct communication route that allows them get closer to more

people than contact through the telephones or letters would.

2.6.2 Websites

Websites are mostly used as a business tool, and are designed to meet the needs of

the organization and focus on supporting business goals. Websites’ quality

influences its effectiveness and consumers’ purchasing decision. In this study, it is

important to find out the quality of HEIs’ website in order to gauge whether it is

effective or not. The quality of a website is evaluated by a number of different criteria

(Thelwall, 1999: 152):

Site visibility in search engines;

Ease of use;

Design quality;

Ease of site maintenance and updating.

Visibility

The issue of visibility is the one that is easy for the inexperienced to ignore.

According to Thelwall (1999: 152), a potential customer can arrive at a website in

three ways: by typing in its address; by following a link from another site; or by

following a link from a search engine. Some search engines such as Yahoo! have a

large number of human site reviewers. For the NMMU internet to be effective for the

students to use, the address of the site must be submitted in order to have it

reviewed and registered so that is can be found in a search.

43
Usability

Web usability is the extent to which a product can be used by the marketers to

achieve specific goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified

context of use (Karat, 1997: 33-8). It is as important an issue for a website, as it is for

any piece of software to be user friendly and the website used for the purpose that

the owner intended it. According to Hanson et al (2006:224), there are four

categories:

Fast response time: speed of response is an important part of visitor perceptions

of quality of the site. Hanson et al (2006:225) state that it affects the capability of

the site to achieve its goals of communication and dialogue. When viewing a site

over the internet, users may surf elsewhere if it takes too long to appear on their

screen.

Effective navigation: effective navigation consistently ranks high among factors

explaining website satisfaction and website usability (Hanson et al, 2006:225).

Responsiveness to user goals and desires: Hanson et al (2006:226) state that

web designers use virtual value activities to provide an organizing framework for

creating valuable information. There are steps of virtual value for different visitor

types: gathering, organizing, selecting, synthesizing and distributing. Customer-

based brand equity adapts brand-building activities to different customer types,

which can help guide managers in designing appropriate online content. In this

research, NMMU can adapt the virtual value activities to develop its own brand

equity and design appropriate online content. Higher interactively and quality

content: web designers increasingly turn to multimedia to make a compelling

experience for the web visitors (Hanson et al, 2006:229). Examples include film

clips, pod casts, and flash presentations.

44
Design quality

Good website design will necessarily directly attract customers and also represent

an opportunity to enhance the company’s image. The design must be appropriate to

the goal of the site, and must be very easy for students to find out the information

that is important. Avoiding design, content, and technology mistakes are what make

a site worthwhile for visitors and improve the reputation of your institution.

Maintaining a website

It is important for marketers keep on updating the websites. For example, it is

necessary to update the HEI’s website in order to attract international students’

attention as it contains the current events at the university, bursaries available at the

HEI and the modules in which the students are interested. Thelwall (1999:149)

states that uploading a page to the web server is not a costly or complex operation; it

simply requires a computer with a modem, standard internet connection software

and a file transfer program implementing the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

2.7 SUMMARY

This chapter presented an analysis of secondary sources on the marketing

environment facing HEIs when wanting to enter the international market. How is the

internet used as an aid when HEIs recruit international students? At beginning of the

chapter, the definitions of international marketing, the factors influencing entering the

international marketing decision-making, and the marketing environment factor

analysis were given. It also analysed the internet’s usability, which is divided into two

sections, e-mail and websites.

45
Individual adoption of innovation and organisation and adoption of innovation will be

introduced in Chapter 3. The factors that influence international students studying

overseas will be analysed in Chapter 3. Innovation definition and the adoption

process will be explained in detail.

46
 CHAPTER 3

FACTORS AFFECTING INTERNATIONALSTUDENTS ON ENROLLING IN

HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS VIA THE INTERNET

3.1 INTRODUCTION

In Chapter 2 the research provided a review of international marketing and the

internet as a marketing communication tool. Since the development of the internet,

marketers found that the service of enrolling in HEIs via the internet plays an

important component of international business. Internet marketing has many

advantages as it is cost-effective, high-reaching and has a high response.

In this chapter, the researcher is going to provide some guidelines to marketers on

what elements affect the international students’ choices on enrolling in HEIs via the

internet. To address these elements, the following points are going to be identified.

Firstly, the factors that influence international students in enrolling in HEIs via the

internet will be analysed in the following categories; perceived usefulness, perceived

ease of use, consumer involvement, consumer innovativeness, opinion leadership,

perceived risk and trust. Secondly, the topic of enrolling in HEIs via the internet will

be defined as an innovation (new service) existing in the market. Thirdly, an

innovation will be identified in detail - the categories of innovation, the characteristics

of the innovation and the diffusion of innovation in the whole population. Lastly, the

stages in consumer adoption of an innovation will be studied.

47
3.2 FACTORS DETERMININIG CONSUMER ADOPTION OF THE INTERNET

TECHNOLOGIES

The development of enrolling in HEIs via the internet is crucial to the success in

adoption of the internet technologies. Kamarulzaman (2007:705) states that there

are seven factors that determine the consumer adoption of the internet technologies;

namely, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, consumer involvement,

consumer innovativeness and opinion leadership, perceived risk and trust. These

factors explain a substantial proportion of variances between behavioural intention

and actual behaviours derived mainly from research into the purchase of technology

related services (Davis, Bagozzi & Warshaw, 1989:982-1003). The conceptual

framework also seeks to take advantage of validity and reliability of perceived

usefulness and perceived ease of use in order to improve explanation and predictive

power (Taylor & Todd, 1995:145-77). The seven factors will be explained as

following:

48
 FIGURE 3.1

CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ ADOPTIONOF

ENROLLING IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS VIA THE INTERNET

Personal characteristics

Innovativeness ov
Trust

Perceived
ease of use
Involvement
Adoption

Peceived
usefulness

Perceived
Opinion risk
leadership

Source: Adapted from Kamarulzaman (2007:705)

a) Perceived usefulness: Marketers should understand that consumers perceive

e-commerce as useful because it makes life more convenience. From time to

time, marketers expand the benefits by offering additional facilities and services

such as online order tracking services, free trials, membership rates and last

minute deals in order to expand perceived usefulness of e-commerce, which

would eventually influence consumers’ decision to adopt.

b) Perceived ease-of-use: is defined as “the degree to which the prospective user

49
 expects the target system to be free of effort” (David et al, 1989:985). In

designing a travel website, marketers should promote the simplicity of using the

internet to encourage adoption. Marketers can also develop ease-of-use, user-

friendliness and ease-of-navigation in order to enhance consumer’s perception

of the website’s ease-of-use (Kamarulzaman, 2007:713). Ease-of-use is a of

major consideration when the internet technology is selected for Higher

Education Institution-wide use to recruit international students. As expected,

institutions and students are able to use the internet technologies with little or no

formal training or only short training sessions.

c) Consumer involvement: consumer involvement in online business could be

enhanced by integrating online and offline marketing approaches. Marketing

communications, ease-of-use, personalization and customization of website

interfaces are vital, as they might lead to increased involvement levels and finally

to the adoption of e-shopping (Kamarulzaman, 2007:711). The more consumers

are involved in e-shopping processes and activities, the more trust they are likely

to develop in online purchasing. Additionally, the more consumers that are

involved with online business, the less risk they are likely to perceive in relation

to this medium.

d) Consumer innovativeness: literature broadly defines consumer innovativeness

as the desire to seek out arousal and novelty from new products (Hirschman,

1980:283-95). Shavinina (2003:324) defines innovativeness as inter-individual

differences that characterize people’s responses to new things. The level of

consumer innovativeness could presumably help marketers to identify early

adoption of the internet technologies. According to Mowen (1999:31-45),

consumer innovativeness can be categorized into three different levels: global

50
 innovativeness, domain-specific innovativeness, and innovative behaviour.

Measuring innovativeness can solve specific problems involving the spread of

new services (Shavinina, 2003:323).

Global innovativeness: is anchored in personality inventory that

determines behaviour, specifically the adoption of new products (Leavitt &

Walton, 1975:545-55). Shavinina (2003: 325) defines global innovativeness

as a personality trait a ‘willingness to try new things’ related to other

personality traits: risk taking, and openness to experience. Of the

demographic variables, only youth may be related, only weakly related

to any specific overt behaviour.

Domain-specific innovativeness: aims to explicate the narrow facets of

human behaviour within a person’s specific interest domain (Midgley &

Dowling, 1993:611-25). Shavinina (2003:325) defines it as the consumers

who want to be the first to buy new services. Related to consumer

characteristics, marketplace knowledge, opinion leadership, price,

insensitivity, higher levels of income and gregariousness may characterize

consumer innovators.

Innovative behaviour: the extent to which consumers adopt new services

earlier than other members of their societies (Hirunyawipada & Paswan,

2006:195)

e) Opinion leadership: influences the adoption process by acting as a social role

model whose innovative behaviour is imitated by others (Aggarwal & Cha,

1997:393). Opinion leadership is the process of one person receiving information

from the mass media or other marketing sources and passing that information on

to others. It functions primarily through interpersonal communications and

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 observation. International students who are likely to accept advice from friends or

search for information from mass media have intention behaviour to use the

internet as a tool to enroll in Higher Education Institutions.

f) Perceived risk: is defined as a consumer’s perception of the overall avourability

of a course of action based upon an assessment of the possible outcomes and

of the likelihood that those outcomes will occur (Mowen, 1987: 74). Perceived

risk is usually measured as a multidimensional construct: physical loss, financial

loss, psychological loss, time loss, performance risk, and social risk. When

consumers have low perceptions of risk they have low involvement in terms of

risk and therefore they will appreciate the perceived usefulness of the product

more (Javenpaa, Tractinsky & Vitale 2000:45-71). According to

Kamarulzaman (2007:714), marketers also could create many ways to

encourage consumers in purchasing online, such as through web interactive

features (e.g. audio, video, 3D pictures). These features could enhance interest

and get people involved in online shopping by encouraging them to visit the

website regularly.

g) Trust: Riegelsbergate, Sasse and Mccarthy (2003:768) define trust as “ a device

to reduce complexity, a short cut to avoid complex decision processes when

facing decisions that carry risk.” Online trust plays a key role in creating satisfied

and expected outcomes in online transactions (Pavlous, 2003:101-34; Gefen &

Staub, 2004:407-2; Wu & Cheng, 2005:937-54), where trust exists it increases

consumers’ beliefs that e-vendors will not engage in opportunistic behavior

(Gefen, Karahanna & Straub, 2003:51-90). Trust can help to mitigate customers’

worries about the risks and uncertainties of conducting complicated business

online (Lee & Turban, 2001:75-91; Mcknight & Chervany, 2002:35-59) and

52
 encourage them to participate in online activities. The more trust in online

business, the lower customers’ risk perception will be. If the customers have low

perceptions of risk related to e-shopping, they will appreciate the usefulness of

online business more and as a result will be more likely to adopt online business

(Kamarulzaman, 2007:711).

In conclusion, the following factors are important in influencing international students’

choices of enrolling in HEIs via the internet; namely perceived usefulness, perceived

ease of use, consumer involvement, consumer innovativeness, opinion leadership,

perceived risk and trust.

3.3 THE NATURE OF INNOVATION

Making use of internet marketing is relatively new and HEI’s have to be innovative. It

will serve a useful purpose therefore, to explore the nature of innovation to aid those

who wish to be innovative in their internet marketing.

Hoyer and Maclnnis (2007:423) state that services can be innovations, as in the

introductory example of broadband internet access and broadband-enabled cell

phones. This research explores how international students use internet technologies,

websites and e-mail, to enroll in HEIs which is a new service in the market. It

changed the way we use services. International students no longer have to mail the

HEIs to contact them to collect information. Chapter 2 also explained that the ways

the new service changes how people use services. The diffusion of innovations help

explain internet technologies use by students and international institutions.

An innovation is “an idea, practice or product perceived to be new by the relevant

53
individual or group” (Neal, Quester & Hawkins, 2004:471). Hoyer and Maclnnis

(2004:471) describe an innovation as “an offering that is new to the marketplace.” An

innovation may be a completed new product that provides benefits never available

before, such as personal computers. Solomon et al (2008:245) state that an

innovation is anything that consumers perceive as new and different. In this study,

innovation is a service which is used by international students to enroll in HEIs via

the internet.

3.3.1 The categories of innovations

Innovations differ in their degree of newness, which depends on the target market’s

perception of the item. According to Solomon et al (2008:246), marketers classify

innovations into three categories or types of innovation based on their degree of

newness: continuous innovations, dynamically continuous innovations and

discontinuous innovations. However, it is better to think of these three types as

ranges along a continuum that goes from a very small change in an existing service

to a totally new service.

1) Continuous innovations: Solomon et al (2008:246) state that a continuous

innovation is a modification to an existing service. The consumer does not have to

learn anything new to use a continuous innovation. It means it is usually fairly easy

to convince consumers to adopt this kind of new service.

2) Dynamically continuous innovations: Hawkins, Best and Coney (2004:246)

propose that a dynamically continuous innovation is a pronounced modification to an

existing service that requires a moderate change in an important behaviour of low or

moderate importance to the individual; for example, the digital camera, and personal

navigator.

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3) Discontinuous innovations: Solomon et al (2008:249) propose that a

discontinuous innovation creates major changes in the way the people live. It

requires major changes of significant importance to the individual or group. To use a

discontinuous innovation, consumers engage in a great amount of learning because

no similar service has ever been on the market before.

In this research, the researcher proposed the service of enrolling in HEIs via the

internet as a discontinuous innovation because this type of service changed the way

the people shop and allowed more people to work from home or anywhere else. To

start with consumers have to learn how it works and what benefit it has for people.

3.3.2 Characteristics of the innovation

Characteristics of the innovation can affect resistance, adoption, and diffusion.

According to Hoyer and Maclnnis (2004:494), characteristics of the innovation

contain perceived value, benefits and costs which are explained in detail below.

Perceived value: consumers perceive that an innovation has value which gives

greater benefits or lower costs than existing alternatives. Services with high

perceived value are more readily adopted by consumers than those with low

perceived value (Hoyer & Maclnnis, 2004:494). Del Aguila-Obra et al (2002:391-

401) propose that there are certain competitive advantages that can benefit the

users who adopt and use the internet technologies.

Perceived benefits: an innovation’s value to consumers is affected by its

perceived relative advantage, that is, the extent to which it offers benefits

superior to those of existing services (Hoyer & Maclnnis, 2008:494).

55

Perceived costs: the consumer always perceives two types of costs. One is the

actual purchase cost. The higher the purchase cost, the greater the resistance

and hence the slower the diffusion. The other cost is switching costs, which

involves in changing from the current service to a new one. When the internet

technologies are adopted by organizations and individuals, peoples’ lives are

changed. In some developed countries, the internet is almost free, and the new

service is almost free when switching from the old service. In some developing

countries, the internet is expensive, but compare to contacting by international

mail or agencies, it is still much cheaper than the old service.

3.4 DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION

Diffusion of the innovation helps to explain the adoption of innovation. Hoyer and

Maclnnis (2004:491) state that diffusion is the percentage of the population that has

adopted an innovation at a specific point in time. For example, the diffusion of

cellphones in some developed countries, cellphones are used by more than half of

the population; however, in some other countries the diffusion of cellphones is just

beginning. Solomon et al (2008:256) propose that diffusion is how the use of a

product spreads throughout a population.

3.4.1 Diffusion process

Diffusion process is the manner in which a new service is accepted by, or spreads

through, a market. Consumers and business customers differ in how much they

would like to try something new, lengthening the diffusion process by months or even

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years. According to Neal et al (2004:476), diffusion process is classified into five

categories; innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards.

Innovators: the first purchasers of an innovative product or service are the

innovators. They tend to be younger, better educated and more socially mobile

than local peers as a reference group (Neal et al, 2004:476). They are the first

2.5 per cent of adopters. This segment is extremely adventurous and willing to

take risks with new services (Solomon et al, 2008:260).

Early adopters: make up approximately 13.5 per cent of adopters; buy

innovative service early in the diffusion process but not as early as innovators.

Hawkins, Best and Coney (2004:253) state that early adopters have tendencies

to be opinion leaders in local reference group. Differing from innovators, early

adopters are very concerned about social acceptance therefore they like to

gravitate toward products they believe will make others think they are

fashionable (Solomon et al, 2008:260-261). They are willing to take a calculated

risk on an innovation but are concerned with failure.

Early majority: they are socially active but seldom leaders, who are next to

adopt an innovative service after the early adopters. They tend to be somewhat

older, less well educated and less socially mobile than the early adopters (Neal

et al, 2004:477-478). Hawbins, Best and Coney (2004:252) propose that early

majority makes up roughly 34 per cent of adopters.

Late-majority: roughly 34 per cent of adopters are older and even more

conservative and typically have lower-than-average levels of education and

income (Solomon et al, 2008:261). They often adopt in response to social

pressures or a decreased availability of the previous service, rather than

because of a positive evaluation of the innovation (Neal et al, 2004:478).

57

Laggard: about 16 per cent of adopters are the last of the population to adopt a

new service. Laggards are typically lower in social class than other adopter

categories and are bound by tradition. By the time laggards adopt a service, it

may already be superseded by other innovations (Solomon et al, 2008:261).

3.4.2 Factors affecting the spread of the innovations

According to Neal et al (2004:474) and Hawbins et al (2004: 249), researchers have

identified 10 characteristics of innovations that affect the rate of adoption. These are

type of group, type of decision, marketing effort, fulfillment effort of felt need,

compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, observability, trialability and perceived

risk. The last five are considered the most influential and are the most often quoted

in the literature. Solomon et al (2008:262) argue that there are five characteristics of

innovations that affect the rate of adoption; relative advantage, compatibility,

complexity, trialability and observability.

1. Type of group: a group with young, highly educated, affluent members is more

accepting of change than others (Neal et al, 2004:475). In this research, the

research sample is focused on the students with higher education who are

young, highly educated and t are more accepting of the innovative service than

other groups.

2. Type of decision: this type of decision refers to an individual versus a group

decision. The fewer individuals involved in the decision, the more quickly the

innovation will spread in the population (Neal et al, 2004:475). The internet

service is only related to the person who wants to use it; therefore it involves one

person’s decision, which will spread rapidly in the population.

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3. Marketing effort: the rate of diffusion is heavily influenced by the extent of the

marketing effort involved (Neal et al, 2004:475). That is, the rate of diffusion is

not completely beyond the control of the firm.

4. Fulfillment of felt need: the more manifest or obvious the need the innovation

satisfies, the faster the diffusion (Hawbins et al, 2004:250). The internet service

offers a lot of features that satisfy the users much more than regular home

computer users. The internet users can e-mail anytime and anyplace and collect

information from all over the world.

5. Compatibility: a new service is consistent with existing cultural values, customs,

and practices (Solomon et al, 2008:262).

6. Relative advantage: the degree to which a consumer perceives that a new

service provides superior benefits (Solomon et al, 2008:262). The internet

service changed people’s lives. People used to write letters and send hand

picked cards to loved ones; these have become a thing of the past. Nowadays,

people can go shopping online, pay bills, manage bank accounts or book a

ticket. Everything can be done through the net.

7. Complexity: is the degree to which consumers find an innovative service or its

use difficult to understand. The internet is a highly complex product. The internet

is not difficult to use, but it is too complex to understand how it works.

8. Observability: the more easily consumers can observe the positive effects of

adopting an innovative service, the more rapid its diffusion will be. It seems that

the internet is a high observability innovation. Consumers benefit a great deal

from using it.

9. Trialability: the ease of sampling an innovative service and its benefit. It is easy

to sample the service and its benefit via the internet if consumers have

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 knowledge of computers, otherwise it is a little bit difficult to show the customers

the internet, how it works and its benefits.

10. Perceived risk: the higher the degree of risk associated with trying an

innovation, the slower the diffusion (Neal et al, 2004:475). Risk related to the

internet is mostly financial risk. The internet users are afraid of losing bank

account and personal details. Nowadays people around the world are all using

the internet. Users only have the internet transactions perceiving e-commerce as

high risk (e.g. internet purchase)

3.5 STAGES IN CONSUMER ADOPTION OF AN INNOVATIVE SERVICE

It is important for marketers to understand how a consumer or household makes an

adoption decision of an innovation. Consumers pass through six stages in the

adoption of an innovative service; from being unaware of an innovation to becoming

loyal adopters. The stages through which the consumer passes before adopting an

innovation; namely, awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, adoption, and confirmation

are shown in Figure 3.2. The right marketing strategies at each stage help ensure a

successful adoption.

a) Awareness: information about the existence of the innovation and its unique

characteristics are the first step in the adoption process. Aggarwal, Cha and

Wilemon (1998:365) state that inaccessibility or lack of information may cause the

provider of an innovative service to miss a large segment of potential adopters. If the

consumers are made aware of the new service, there is significant potential that they

will become adopters.

b) Interest: during this stage, a prospective adopter begins to see how a new

service might satisfy an existing or newly-realized need (Solomon et al, 2008:257). If

60
the consumers lack the knowledge and inability to appreciate the relevance of

attributes and benefits of a new service, they do not actively search for information

related to a new product (Aggarwal et al, 1998:365). Enrolling in HEIs via the internet

is a complex service and for this reason it is generally consumers in well-educated

situations who use the internet service. Therefore, in this study the researcher

focuses on the international students who are well-educated and are therefore more

likely to use the internet than others.

c) Evaluation: weighing the costs and benefits of the new service. Some potential

adopters will evaluate an innovation positively enough to move on to the next stage.

One of most difficult things for consumers is finding ways to evaluate the new service

meaningfully (Aggarwal et al, 1998:365). Consumers have to overcome the

functional, social, financial, and/or personal risk, and then create trust in the service

to reach the action of purchase.

d) Trial: the stage when customers really experience or use the service for the

first time. Marketers always stimulate trials by providing opportunities for customers

to sample the product (Solomon et al, 2008:259). Sometimes even if the trial is

satisfactory some potential adopters still won’t actually adopt the new service

because it costs too much. In this research customers don’t have to worry about the

cost of the service. In comparison to the old service, the new service is perceived to

have a lower cost than old service.

e) Adoption: a prospective consumer actually buys the service.

f) Confirmation: after using the new service, customers weigh the expectation of

the new service against the actual benefit and costs. Consumers can be become

loyal adopters when they enjoy using the new services and have favourable

experiences (Solomon et al, 2008:260). Nowadays, people use the internet

61
technologies as one of the tools of their everyday lives. They use it everywhere and

any time.

FIGURE 3.2

STAGES IN CONSUMER ADOPTION OF A NEW SERVICE

Six stages

Massive Awareness
advertising

May use teaser

advertising Interest
Providing information to customers
about how the product can benefit
them
Evaluation
Demonstrations,
samples, trial size Trial
packages

Adoption
Making the product
available, providing
product use information
Confirmation
Reinforcing the customer’s choice
through advertising, sales promotion,
and other communications

Source: Adapted from (Solomon et al, 2008:257)

3.6 SUMMARY

This chapter provided an overview of literature, with the aim of providing a

conceptual framework for the empirical study. The literature study focused on the

factors that influenced the adoption of the internet technologies.

The internet technology as a new service was accepted by the students. The

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research explores whether the internet is still accepted as a tool for international

students to enroll in Higher Education Institutions via the internet. Firstly, factors

influencing the adoption of a new service were proposed. Secondly, the researcher

identified the definition of new service, its categories which were continuous

innovations, dynamically continuous innovations, discontinuous innovations and its

characteristics. Thirdly, diffusion of the innovation was explained, including the

diffusion process, the factors influencing diffusion of innovation. Finally, stages in

adoption of a new service were explained. The empirical findings and the verifying

factors influencing adoption of the internet technologies are reported in Chapter 4.

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 CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 give an explanation of a conceptual framework for the

empirical study which addresses the research objectives. This chapter mainly solves

the research problem which can be explained by a specific methodology, which

provides a set of techniques and principles for systematically collecting, recording,

analysing and interpreting data.

4.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

A good research design can ensure the research project is effective and efficient. A

research design specifies the details of the procedures necessary for obtaining the

information needed to structure and/or solve marketing research problems (Malhotra,

2004:74). Research design may be classified as exploratory, descriptive or causal

research. The following sections will explain the three research design in detail.

4.2.1 Exploratory research

Burns and Bush (2003:122) define exploratory research as “most commonly

unstructured, informal research that is undertaken to gain background information

about the general nature of the research problem.” Malhotra (2004:75) states that

exploratory research is used in cases when the researcher needs to define the

problem more precisely and identify relevant courses of action, or gain additional

insights before an approach can be developed. An exploratory study is used for any

or all of the following purposes (Churchill & Iacobucci, 2005:77; Cant, 2003:28;

64
Malhotra, 2004:76):

Formulating a problem for more precise investigation or for developing

hypotheses

Establishing priorities for further research

Gathering information about the practical problems of carrying out relevant

research

Increasing the marketer’s familiarity with the problem

Clarifying concepts

In general, any problem about which little is known is appropriate to exploratory

study. It is also the foundation for a good study. Exploratory research is used in a

number of situations (Burns & Bush, 2003:122-123):

Gain background information: when there is little background information, and

the problem has not been clearly formulated, exploratory research may be used

to gain much-needed background information.

Define terms: exploratory research helps to define terms and concepts.

Clarify problems and hypotheses: exploratory research can be beneficial in

the formulation of hypotheses, which are statements describing the speculated

relationships among two or more variables.

Establish research priorities: exploratory research can help a firm prioritize

research topics in order of importance.

The exploratory research methods are highly flexible, unstructured and qualitative

(Aaker, Kumar & Day, 1998:73). There are a variety of methods available to conduct

exploratory research; namely, secondary data analysis, experience surveys, case

analysis, focus groups and projective techniques.

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For the purpose of the study, it is important to start gaining information about the

choices of HEIs using the internet (website and email) to recruit prospective

international students and the factors influencing the international students using the

internet as a communication tool to register at the HEIS. According to the above

research, the information provides support to meet the research objective or assist in

gathering current information necessary to conduct a descriptive or causal research

design.

4.2.2 Descriptive research

Descriptive research generates data describing the composition and characteristics

of relevant groups of units such as; customers, salespeople, organizations and

market areas (Parasuraman, Grewal & Krishnan, 2007:64). Malhotra (2004:78)

states that descriptive research is a type of conclusive research which has as its

major objective the description of something – usually market characteristics or

functions. A good descriptive study presupposes much prior knowledge about

phenomenon studied (Churchill & Iacobucci, 2005:107). There are two basic

descriptive research studies which are cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.

Descriptive studies are systematic, and fixed in format and structure. The research

methods involved in this study are secondary data analysed in a quantitative, as

opposed to a qualitative manner, surveys, panels, observational and other data

(Malhotra, 2004:80).

Descriptive research is essential in many situations. In this study, descriptive

research is focused on describing the factors influencing the prospective students’

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choices of enrolling in HEIs via the internet; namely, perceived usefulness, perceived

ease of use, consumer involvement, consumer innovatetiveness, opinion leadership,

perceived risk and trust.

4.2.3 Causal research

Causal research is a type of conclusive research where the major objective is to

obtain evidence regarding causes-and-effect relationships (Malhotra, 2004:85).

Parasuaman, Grewal and Krishnan (2007:73) proposed that causal method

overcomes the lack of control suffered by descriptive research projects through

collecting data in an environment in which the hypothesized causal variable is

manipulated and the effects of other relevant variables are controlled. Causal

research is appropriate for the following purposes, which are defined by Malhotra

(2004:85) as follows:

To understand which variables are the cause (independent variables) and which

variables are the effect (dependent variables) of a phenomenon.

To determine the nature of the relationship between the causal variables and the

effect will be predicted.

Hair, Bush and Ortinau (2003:42) state that causal research can be used to

understand the functional relationships between the causal factors and the effect

predicted on the market performance variable under investigation. According to the

purpose of the study, causal study will focus on the relationship between the factors

influencing the use of the internet to enrol in the HEIs and its adoption in the market.

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4.3 QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

After the research problem is defined and clearly specified, the research effort

logically turns to data collection. During the data collection, there are two research

methods often used; quantitative research and qualitative research. Cooper and

Schindler (2006:214) state that qualitative research is “interpretive techniques that

seek to describe, decode, translated, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning,

not the frequency, of certain phenomena.” Burns and Bush (2003:204) define

quantitative research as “research involving the use of structured questions in which

the response options have been predetermined and a large number of respondents

involved.”

In quantitative research methodologies, research methods are more directly related

in descriptive and causal research designs than exploratory designs. Success in

collecting primary data, scale measurement, questionnaire design, sampling, and

statistical data analysis skills is the main goal of quantitative research (Hair, Bush &

Ortinau, 2003:212). Qualitative research is often used in exploratory designs to gain

preliminary insights into decision problems and opportunities (Hair et al,

2003:212).Qualitative research tends to focus on the collection of primary data from

small samples by asking questions which use open-ended questions. The

differences between the two research methodologies are summarized in Table 4.1

TABLE 4.1 QUALITATIVE VERSUS QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Qualitative Research Quantitative Research

Objective To gain a qualitative To quantify the data and
understanding of the underlying generalize the results from
reasons and motivations the sample to the population
of interest.

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Sample Small number of Large number of
nonrepresentative cases representative cases
Data Unstructured Structured
collection
Data Nonstatistical Statistical
analysis
Outcome Develop an initial understanding Recommend a final course of
action
Adapted from Malhotra (2004:137).

For the purpose of the study, quantitative research is appropriate to evaluate the

factors influencing international students’ choices of enrolling in HEIs. This research

is also collected data from a large number of international students at the NMMU.

4.4 DATA COLLECTION

In this section, the methods used in the quantitative research in the current study will

be explained within the context of a literature review. Four types of survey will be

discussed in the following study, which are personal interviews, telephone interviews

and self-administered questionnaires.

1) Personal interviews

Personal interviews are distinguished by the presence of a trained interviewer who

asks questions and records the subject’s answers. Personal interview has the ability

to explore topics in great depth, achieve a high degree of interviewer control, and

provide maximum interviewer flexibility for meeting unique situations (Cooper &

Schindler, 2006:297). Personal interviews are classified as the door-to-door

interview, the executive interview and the mall-intercept interview.

Door-to-door interviews

In a door-to-door interview the researcher interviews the consumers at their

69
 homes. This was at one time thought to be the best survey method. It is a

personal, face-to-face communication with the respondents, where the

researcher is able to receive feedback from the consumers immediately

(Mcdaniel & Gates, 2007:170). An interviewer is able to help the respondent skip

through a relatively complex questionnaire and can explain terminology and

instructions. A skilled interviewer can work wonders from sensitive data which

can be accurately collected face to face.

Executive interviews

In an executive interview the researcher interviews businesspeople about

industrial products or services at their offices. This is the industrial equivalent of

a door-to-door interview (Mcdaniel & Gates, 2007:170). This type of interviewing

is expensive and requires highly skilled interviewers as they frequently interview

on topics they know little about. Executive interviews have the same advantages

and disadvantages as door-to-door interviews.

Mall-intercept interviews

A mall-intercept interview is a face-to-face personal interview that takes place in

a shopping mall. Researchers ask for respondents’ feedback on one or more

products or services. The survey may take place in a common area of the mall or

in the researcher’s on-site offices (Hair et al, 2003:260). This type of interview is

more efficient when the interviewer comes to the respondent than the other way

around. It always has high response rates, just slightly lower than a door-to-door

interview. It costs less than door-to-door surveys with a similar degree of

expense as the only travel costs for an interviewer are those to the mall.

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2) Telephone interviews

Telephone interviews are question-and-answer exchanges that are conducted via

telephone technology. It is cheaper, faster and more suitable for collecting data from

large numbers of respondents than any other survey method (Hair et al, 2003:260).

There are three basic approaches to obtaining telephone numbers when selecting

respondents for telephone interviews; namely, a prespecified list, a directory or a

random dialing procedure (Aaker, Kumar & Day, 1998:239).

3) Self-administered surveys

A self-administered survey is a data collection technique in which the respondent

reads the survey questions and records his or her own responses without the

presence of a trained interviewer (Hair et al, 2003:265). There are three types of self-

administered surveys, namely computer-assisted self-interviews, surveys via the

telephone and personal interview surveys (Cooper & Schindler, 2006:282-292). Self-

administered surveys of all types typically cost less than surveys via personal

interviews. Telephone and mail costs are lower if in the same general range.

In this study a self-administered survey was used.

4.5 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

A questionnaire is a method of collecting specific information about a defined

problem so that the researchers can analyse and interpret the data in order to have a

better appreciation of the defined problems (Chisnall, 2005:134). A good

71
questionnaire can engage the respondent and stimulate his/her interest in providing

complete and accurate answers (Malhotra, 2004:278). A questionnaire is an

important tool in conducting surveys and serves five key functions:

It translates the research objectives into specific questions.

It standardises questions so respondents respond to identical stimuli.

It fosters cooperation and keeps respondents motivated.

It serves as permanent records of the research.

It speeds up the process of data analysis (Burns & Bush 2006:300).

The questionnaire used in the current study is directed at international students who

are studying at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. The three stages of

questionnaire content are described as follows:

The first stage: an introductory covering letter which gives the essential

introduction of the research project and the research to the respondent and

ensures the respondent of anonymity and communicates the instructions

The second stage: deals with the demographic information about the

respondents. Which countries they come from and for what course they are

registered at the NMMU.

The third stage: here the overall plan of the research is defined and includes an

outline of the main areas of questioning. The following sections will explain the

details clearly.

4.5.1 Question structure

The questionnaire can be structured (researchers present the participants with a

fixed set of choices) or unstructured (researchers do not limit responses but provide

a frame of reference for participants’ answers) (Cooper & Schindler, 2006:398).

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Unstructured observation is used for the research in which the formulation of the

problem is not specific; there is more flexibility for the observers in terms of what

they note and record. Unstructured observation is well suited for exploratory

research (Churchill & Iacobucci, 2005:229). Structured observation is applicable

when the research objectives are defined precisely enough to clearly specify the

behaviours that will be observed and categories that will be used to record and

analyse the observations. It can be quite precise (Churchill & Iacobucci, 2005:229)

Parasuraman et al (2007:285) state that the effort, time and space required to

answer the unstructured observation obviously vary considerably. Starting an

interview with an unstructured question is worthwhile if it will be easy to answer and

aids the smooth completion of the rest of the interview. In doing so the respondents

are more likely to form a favourable attitude towards the interviewer, and be more

willing to answer the remainder of the questions. A trained interviewer must choose

the type of the question intelligently in order to obtain the research objectives

efficiently and correctly.

The questionnaires in the current study followed both the structured and

unstructured approach. The questionnaires began with Section A which consisted of

4 multiple-choice questions and dichotomous questions, aimed at identifying the

demographics information of the respondents (questionnaire directed at international

students in NMMU). Question contents included gender, age, home country and

major for registration at the university. Section B consisted of 25 Likert scale closed

questions aimed at identifying the agreeableness of selected elements providing

clues to the factors effecting the adoption of a new service. Respondents had to

73
indicate the level of the agreement of the statements with responses that ranged

from (1) strongly disagree to (5) strongly agree. Section C also followed a structured

and unstructured approach, which used multiple-choice and dichotomous questions,

aimed at the online service quality at the NMMU.

4.5.2 Question type

Generally, there are two main types of questions which are commonly used in a

survey: open-ended questions and closed questions.

4.5.2.1 Closed question

Closed questions are structured questions which specify the set of response

alternatives and the response format. A closed question can be multiple-choice,

dichotomous or scaled question (Malhotra, 2004:290).

a) Multiple-choice question

Multiple-choice questions are an extension of simple alternative questions.

Respondents are able to choose from a range of alternatives given, which are

designed to have different shades of opinion or variations of the use of a product or

service (see Figure 4.1). Alternatives must be mutually exclusive, so that

respondents are able to differentiate between them without difficulty. Multiple answer

lists generally include a coding (‘other’) for unusual answers, which should be

qualified by interviewers (Chisnall, 2005:147).

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FIGURE 4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE CONTINUUM

Highly structured response Unstructured response

Series of formal questions designed Formal questions replaced by free
to attract answers of limited response style of investigations.
‘Discussion’ style interview to attract
relatively uninhibited answers.

e.g. ‘closed’ questions: e.g. ‘open’questions:

YES/NO What do you do in your spare time?
GOOD/BAD
Questionnaires frequently ‘mix’ the styles of questioning
Source: Adopted from Chisnall (2005:147)

Multiple-choice questions overcome many disadvantages which open-ended

questions always have, because the interview bias is reduced and these questions

are organized quickly. Coding and entering data into Excel are much less costly and

time consuming. Also in self-administered questionnaires respondents answer the

questions more easily if the majority of the questions are structured (Malhotra,

2004:291).

b) Dichotomous Questions

The dichotomous question is also a fixed-alternative question but one in which there

are only two alternatives (Churchill & Iacobacci, 2005:246). The dichotomous

questions are very easy to code and tabulate for the respondents and are also the

most popular kind of survey question. An example of a dichotomous question used in

the current study is:

75
Have you used the internet for information about different overseas Higher Education

institutions before?

A YES B NO

c) Scaled questions

A scaled question is one where the multiple choice alternative provided gives some

idea of a progression in size or order of something (Ferreira, 2005:44). There are

four kinds of ratings for scaled questions; graphic rating scales, semantic differential

questions, staple scales and Likert scales.

Graphic rating scales have a vertical or horizontal continuum and the respondent

is asked to mark his response from the whole range e.g.

Internet service quality:

Very good service Very poor service

Semantic differential questions have a series of pairs of opposite descriptions

with a seven point scale in between. This type of question is useful in providing a

graphical representation of the comparison of two or more brands when the

points are joined up e.g.

76
 Internet service quality

Good Bad

Efficient Inefficient

Stapel scale

Stapel scale is similar to the Likert scales except that the pairs of descriptions are

replaced with a single phrase and there are ten scale positions e.g.

Internet service quality

+5 +5

+4 +4

+3 +3

+2 +2

+1 +1

High speed good design

-1 -1

-2 -2

-3 -3

-4 -4

-5 -5

Likert scales

Likert scales are used to obtain people’s attitudes about something by asking them

the extent of their agreement or disagreement with a series of statement. In the

current study, 25 Likert scales questions are used in this research in section B e.g.

I am usually among of the first to try out a new service.

STRONGLY DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE AGREE
1 2 3 4 5

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4.5.2.2 Open-ended question

Unstructured questions are open-ended questions that respondents answer in their

own words. It is thought best to proceed from general to specific topics in

constructing questionnaires, so it is better to start with an open-ended question

which will give a sense of the respondent’s frame of reference (Churchill & Iacobucci,

2005:243).

Unstructured questions are useful in exploratory research. Unstructured questions

have a much less biasing influence on response than structured questions.

Respondents can talk freely to express their views. Their opinions and explanations

can provide rich insights to the interviewers (Malhotra, 2004:289). The major

disadvantage of unstructured questions is that coding and tabulation of data is costly

and time consuming. No open ended questions were used in this study

4.5.3 Pretesting

The purpose of a pretest is to ensure that the questionnaire meets the researcher’s

expectation in terms of the information that will be obtained. According to Ferreira(

2005:50), a pretest is the cheapest insurance that:

The data collected will be as useful as possible to answering the management

problem.

The target respondents will cooperate as fully as possible.

The collection and analysis of the data will proceed as smoothly as possible.

Interviewers should make improvements to the questionnaire. The questionnaires

which lack important variables, request for explanations, doubts, ambiguous, ill-

defined, loaded, or double-barreled questions are noted to correct these deficiencies

78
(AAker et al, 1998:323). Effective pretesting demands that the researcher be open to

criticism and be willing to pursue the deficiencies.

There are some research concerns about the questionnaire as a whole, such as the

order of questions. Others concerns that should be pretested are the following:

Flow of the questionnaire: the questions must appear in a logical sequence and

be part of a coherent flow. Pretesting is to ensure that the transitions from one

topic to another are clear and logical.

Skip patterns: the skip questions are dependent on the answer to a previous

question. Whether the skip patterns are followed by the respondent or by the

interviewer, they must be clear and well laid out.

Length: each section of the questionnaire should be timed to ensure that none of

them is too long.

Respondent interest and attention: capturing and maintaining the interest of a

respondent throughout the entire questionnaire and should be pretested (AAker

et al, 1998:325).

Fifteen NMMU international students were chosen on a convenience basis to take

part in the pretesting of the questionnaire. After feedback, a few minor adjustments

were made before the questionnaire was distributed to the sample.

4.5.4 Sampling design

Sample design is an integral part of the total research design and contributes

significantly to its integrity. The success of research surveys rests largely on the

quality of the sampling, and great care is needed at every stage in the development

79
of suitable samples. For the current study, the target population was focused on the

international students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

Sampling techniques are mainly classified as nonprobability sampling and probability

sampling. Nonprobability sampling does not use chance selection procedures.

Rather, it relies on the personal judgment of the researcher (Malhotra, 2004:320).

Usually used techniques are: convenience sampling, judgmental sampling, quota

sampling and snowball sampling. Probability sampling procedures are those in which

each element of the population has a fixed probabilistic chance of being selected for

the sample. Commonly used sampling techniques are simple random sampling,

systematic sampling, stratified sampling and cluster sampling (Malhotra, 2004:320).

For the purpose of the study, convenience sampling and cluster sampling were

employed. Cluster sampling occurs when interviews are concentrated in a relatively

small number of groups or clusters which are selected at random (Chrisnall,

2005:110). Cluster sampling is much cheaper and quicker since the interviews are

concentrated in a localized area which reduces travel time and expense. For

example, the locations Annis Cove, Omega Lodge and Villages 3,5 and 6 are

connected to the NMMU and are occupied by international students. A small number

of groups can be selected here at random which is a common method to generate a

cluster sample.

A convenience sample is one where respondent participation is voluntary or where

the interviewer selects sampling units (Ferreira, 2005:93). Convenience sampling is

the least expensive and least time consuming of all sampling techniques. The

sampling units are accessible, easy to measure, and cooperative (Malhotra,

80
2004:321). For example, the international office at NMMU is also a place where the

interviewer may select sampling units. This is also a method of generating a

convenience sample.

4.6 DATA ANALYSIS

Analysis means placing the collected data into some order or format so that it takes

on meaning. For the purpose of the study, four steps in data analysis were studied;

namely, data preparation, reliability and variability analysis, descriptive analysis and

inferential analysis.

4.6.1 Data preparation

Data preparation is the processes that ensures the accuracy of data and their

conversion from raw form into classified forms appropriate for analysis. The process

of data preparation is tedious and boring, but it is a very important factor in the

accuracy and usefulness of the entire project. The main stages are data validation,

editing, coding and data capture (AAker, Kumar & Day 2007:432-433).

The first step is to determine whether interviews were conducted correctly and free

of fraud or bias. Respondents are asked for their contact details (name, address and

telephone numbers) not to analyse this data but to check that the interview actually

took place. Data validation covers the following five areas which are fraud,

screening, procedure, completeness and courtesy (Ferreira, 2005:98).

The second step in data preparation is to edit the collected raw data to detect errors

and omissions that would compromise quality standards (Cooper & Schindler,

81
2006:509). Each questionnaire is checked for legibility, understandability,

consistency and completeness before the data is captured on the computer. The

editor is responsible for making sure the data are accurate, consistent with other

data, uniformly entered, and ready for coding.

Coding is the process of assigning numbers and other symbols to answers so that

the researchers can classify the responses into categories (Cooper & Schindler,

2006:509). Coding is vital if the data will be analysed by computer as a machine is

unable to understand qualitative and descriptive answers. It is often helpful to

prepare a codebook containing the coding instructions and the necessary

information about the variables in the data set (Malhotra, 2004:422).

The last step is data capture which is the transference of data from acceptable data

collection instruments/questionnaires into the computer. Data capture contains a few

steps; namely, clearing the dataset, generating new variables and weighting and

storing.

Clearing the dataset: removing possible coding and data capture errors

Generating new variables: adding data to be used in later analysis.

Weighting: a process whereby numerical coefficients are assigned to each of the

elements in a set to provide them with a desired degree of importance to one

another.

Storing: keep a master copy of the spreadsheet in case the original becomes

corrupted.

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4.6.2 Reliability and validity

It is important to ensure that the criteria of a well-designed research project are

imbued in the overall design framework of this study. Two basic sets of criteria are

used to evaluate a well-designed research project (Sekaran 2003:202-203).

According to Cooper and Schindler (2006:761), “reliability is a characteristic of

measurement concerned with accuracy, precision, and consistency; a necessary but

not sufficient condition for validity.” For the purpose of the study the internal

consistency of the measuring instrument was determined by testing the interitem

consistency reliability. The Cronbach’s coefficient alpha is used here for calculating.

“Validity is a characteristic of measurement concerned with the extent that a test

measures what the researcher actually wishes to measure; and that differences

found with a measurement tool reflect true differences among participants drawn

from a population” (Cooper & Schindler, 2006:765). Researchers may assess

content validity, criterion validity, or construct validity (Malhotra, 2004:269).

4.6.3 Descriptive analysis

Descriptive analysis simply describes the data by providing statistical measures like

measures of central location or dispersion. Descriptive statistics include measures of

central tendency (mean, median and mode), measures of dispersion (range and

standard deviation), and measures of position (quartiles, deciles and per centiles)

(Ferreira, 2005:111; Antonius, 2003:9).

83
4.6.4 Inferential analysis

Inferential analysis attempts to draw conclusions from the analysis e.g. drawing

conclusion about the likely area in which the population parameter will fall, based on

the value of the sample statistics. Sample statistics can be divided into two

categories (Ferreira, 2005:111):

Univariate analysis where only one question will be analysed at a time e.g.

measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion.

Multivariate analysis where two or more questions are analysed at a time e.g.

cross tabulation, coefficient of variation and correlation and regression analysis.

4.7 SUMMARY

This chapter gives details about the research methods followed in this study.

According to the exploratory and descriptive nature of the study, self-administered

surveys are used to address the research problem. Structured questions including

multiple-choice, dichotomous, and Likert scale questions are used in self-

administered surveys. The findings from the empirical study will be discussed in

Chapter 5.

For the purpose of the study, the target population is NMMU international students.

Convenience sampling and cluster sampling were used to select a sample of two

hundred respondents at four NMMU campuses. Four steps were followed to analyse

the collected data; namely, data preparation, reliability and validity analysis,

descriptive analysis and inferential analysis.

84
 CHAPTER 5

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

Chapter 4 gives a description about the techniques used in the overall study, which

are data collection methods and data analysis methods. This chapter will present the

findings of the empirical study. Data analysis provides valuable insights and guides

the rest of the data analysis as well as the interpretation of the results.

The chapter begins with a brief description of the demographic information collected

from the international students, followed by a frequency distribution analysis

obtained for the each variable in the data. This analysis produces a table of

frequency counts, percentages, and cumulative percentages for all the values

associated with that variable. It indicates the extent of out-of-range, variance or

standard deviation, coefficient of variation.

5.2 DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

The demographic details collected from international students, the country from

which they come, age, gender, and the faculty they registered in are presented in the

following figures. The data preparation is collected from Section A of the

questionnaire.

85
5.2.1 Respondents by countries of origin

The NMMU is a University in Africa for Africa.

Africa. Its international student body of more

than 2000 comes mostly from other African countries (Postgraduate Prospectus,

2007/2008). International students come from different countries, e.g. Zimbabwe,

Mozambique, America, China, Angola, Sudan, Angola et cetera,

cetera, which are divided

into four continents; namely, Africa, America, Asia, and Europe (See Figure 5.1).

FIGURE 5.1 COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN

COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN

1.50%

8.50% 11%

75.50%

Africa America Asia European

Source: Results obtained by analysis of respondents replies regarding countries of

origin.

Figure 5.1 represents the percentage of international students per continent in the

university.. The finding above reflects that 75.5 per cent of respondents who

participated in the survey were from Africa; 1.5 per cent of respondents were from

European Countries; 11 per cent of respondents were from Asia; 8.5 per cent were

from America.

86
5.2.2 Respondents by age

FIGURE 5.2 AGE CATEGORIES

AGE CATEGORIES

1%1%
31% under 18
18-21
over 21
missing
67%

Source: Results obtained from analysis of the respondents’ replies regarding age.

The finding above reflects that most international students in the survey are over 21,

which makes up 67per cent of the respondents. The second is the age category 18-

20 which makes up 31per cent of the respondents. Both under 18 and missing data

account for 1per cent of the total.

87
5.2.3 Respondents by gender

FIGURE 5.3 GENDER CATEGORIES

GENDER CATEGORIES

41.5%
male
female
58.5%

Source: Results obtained from analysis respondents’ replies of gender categories

The pie chart above illustrates that 58.5 per cent of the respondents were males and

41.5 per cent of the respondents were females.

5.2.4 Respondents by faculty in which they enrolled

NMMU offers seven different faculties; namely Arts, Business & Economic Science,

Education, Engineering, the Built Environment & Information Science, Health

Science, Law and Science. Table 5.1 illustrates the registered faculty distribution of

international students. 7.5per cent (N=15) of the respondents are Arts students;

28.5per cent (N=57) of the respondents are Business & Economic Science students;

4per cent (N=8) of the respondents are education students; 18.5per cent (N=37) of

the respondents are Engineering, & Built environment & information science

students; 14per cent (N=28) of the respondents are Health Science students; 5per

cent (N=10) of the respondents are Law students; 13.5per cent (N=27) of the

respondents are Science students.

88
TABLE 5.1 Registered faculty distribution of students
FACULTY FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE VALID
（N） PERCENTAGE
Arts 15 7.5 8.2
Business & Economic 57 28.5 31.3
Science
Education 8 4 4.4
Engineering, the Built 37 18.5 20.3
environment &
Information science
Health science 28 14 15.4
Law 10 5 5.5
Science 27 13.5 14.8
Missing 18 9 9.9
Total 200 100.0 100.0
Source: Results obtained from analysis of respondents’ replies regarding faculty in

which they enrolled

5.3 MAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMERS USE OF A NEW SERVICE

In this section, seven factors which influence customers use of a new service are

discussed; namely, innovativeness, perceived usefulness, trust, perceived risk,

consumer involvement, opinion leadership and perceived ease of use. Based on the

data preparation, each factor will be analysed in the following section.

89
5.3.1 Consumer innovativeness

TABLE 5.4 INNOVATIVENESS AS A MAIN FACTOR

Statement Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
disagree agree
1. I am usually among of
the first to try out a new 15 32 89 47 17
service. 7.5% 16%t 44.5%t 23.5% 8.5%
23.5% 44.5% 32%
2. I often try new services 11 37 82 55 15
before my friends do. 5.5% 18.5% 41% 27.5% 7.5%
24% 41% 35%
3. New technologies on 11 13 35 85 56
the website are beneficial 5.5% 6.5% 17.5% 42.5% 28%
for customers.
12% 17.5% 70.5%
Source: Results obtained from analysis of respondents’ responses regarding

innovativeness.

FIGURE 5.4 INNOVATIVENESS AS MAIN FACTOR

80.0% 70.5%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0% 44.5%
41.0%
35.0% Disagree
40.0% 32.0%
Neutral
30.0% 23.5% 24.0%
17.5% Agree
20.0% 12.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Qst 1 Qst 2 Qst 3

Hirschman (1980:283-95) defines consumer innovativeness as the desire to seek out

arousal and novelty from new products. Kamarulzaman (2007:711) states that the

relationship between consumer innovativeness and use explains that individual traits

are important in an individual adopting new technology. Consumers who are

90
characterized by a high degree of innovativeness are usually very open to new

experiences and tend to “make constructive use of information received” (Leavitt &

Walton in Bauer et al 2005: 184).

Table 5.4 and Figure 5.4 illustrate that questions 1 to 2 were central tendency, as

one does not know to which side their sentiments were inclined, whether positive or

negative. Thirty-five per cent (35per cent) of the respondents indicated that they

tried new services before other people. Forty-one per cent (41per cent) of

respondents indicated that they have neutral opinion in trying new services before

other people. Twenty-four (24per cent) of respondents indicated that they disagreed

with trying a new service before other people. Question 3 indicates by the high

scores obtained that people agree new technologies do benefit the customers.

The analysis indicates that consumer innovativeness is an uncertain factor in

influencing international students in using the internet to enrol in the HEIs. Thus,

students with high level of education are expected to use the e-shopping medium

and are more likely to engage in web features when logging on to the internet.

5.3.2 Perceived usefulness

Kamarulzaman (2007:713) states that consumers perceive the internet purchasing

as useful for purchasing because it serves all aspect of purchasing convenience.

Table 5.3 indicates that perceived usefulness is positively correlated with the use of

applying to the HEI on the internet. High scores for the Questions 4 to 5 were

obtained where respondents both agreed and strongly agreed to the question on

perceived usefulness in using the internet. To have a better understanding of the

91
results, Table 5.5 and Figure 5.5 indicate that statements and questions are worded

in such a way that perceived usefulness is significant as a positive point in the

questions.

TABLE 5.5 PERCEIVED USEFULNESS

STATEMENT STRONGLY DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE AGREE
4. Surfing on 7 9 19 57 108
the internet
keeps me up-to- 3.5% 4.5% 9.5% 28.5% 54%
date with the
latest
information.
8% 9.5% 82.5%

5. I like to 5 16 13 62 104
search for
information that 2.5% 8% 6.5% 31% 52%
interests me
personally.
10.5% 6.5% 83%

6. The internet 7 7 36 85 65
leads to better
communication 3.5% 3.5% 18% 42.5% 32.5%
between HEI
and me.
7% 18% 75%
7. The internet
is a convenient
way of 6 7 24 75 88
connecting with
HEI for
international 3% 3.5% 12% 37.5% 44%
students
6.5% 12% 81.5%
Source: Results from analysis of respondents’ responses regarding perceived

usefulness in using a new service.

92
FIGURE 5.5 PERCEIVED USEFULNESS

90.0% 82.5% 83.0% 81.5%

75.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
Disagree
50.0%
Neutral
40.0% Agree
30.0% 18.0%
20.0% 9.5% 10.5% 12.0%
8.0% 6.5% 7.0% 6.5%
10.0%
0.0%
Qst4 Qst5 Qst6 Qst7

Nowadays, the data collected from international students shows that consumers

perceive e-commerce as useful because it is more convenient. Most of international

students perceive that it is useful in using the internet service.

5.3.3 Trust

Pavlous (2003:101-34); Gefen and Staub (2004:402-7) and Wu and Cheng,

(2005:937-54) state that online trust plays a key role in creating satisfied and

expected outcomes in online transactions. Trust can reduce the worries about the

risk of losing personal information and bank account details as international students

apply to a HEI via the internet.

93
TABLE 5.6 TRUST

STATEMENT STRONGLY DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE
8. I trust the
website as a 44 39 80 24 13
safe medium 22% 19.5% 40% 12% 6.5%
for financial
transaction.
41.5% 40% 18.5%
9. One
should be 13 9 35 36 107
very cautious 6.5% 4.5% 17.5% 18% 53.5%
when
transacting
on the
website.
. 11% 17.5% 71.5%
10. I use the
internet 8 20 43 76 53
when I think 4% 10% 21.5% 38% 26.5%
it is safe.
. 14% 21.5% 64.5%
11. I am
prepared to
give my 24 31 54 62 29
personal 12% 15.5% 27% 31% 14.5%
information
to HEI when
I apply on
the internet.
. 27.5% 27% 45.5%
Source: Results obtained from respondents’ analysis of their responses regarding

trust

According to Table 5.6 and Figure 5.6 in question 8, a large number of respondents

indicated that they disagreed that a website was a safe medium for financial

transactions. From Question 9 to Question 11 the high scores obtained indicated that

respondents agreed that people usually preferred to use the internet in a safe and

protected environment. Trusting the quality and safety of a website is a very

important factor for people when using the internet. In the case study, the analysis

indicates that trust is uncertain as a response in influencing international students

when using the internet to enroll in the HEIs.

94
FIGURE 5.6 TRUST

80.0% 71.5%
64.5%
70.0%
60.0%
45.5%
50.0% 41.5%
40.0% Disagree
40.0% Neutral
27.5%
27.0% Agree
30.0% 18.5%
21.5%
17.5%
20.0% 11.0% 14.0%

10.0%
0.0%
Qst8 Qst9 Qst10 Qst11

5.3.4 Perceived risk

Mowen (1987:74) states that perceived risk is a consumer’s perception of the overall

favorability of a course of action based upon an assessment of the possible

outcomes and of the likelihood that those outcomes will occur. In the case study,

perceived risk is focused on the financial risk and physical risk when the transaction

is processed.

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TABLE 5.7 PERCEIVED RISK

STATEMENT STRONGLY DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE AGREE
12. The internet
will lead to a loss
of privacy for me 11 35 63 52 39
because my 5.5% 17.5% 31.5% 26% 19.5%
personal
information would
be used without
my knowledge.
. 23% 31.5% 45.5%
13. Depending
on the expected 12 31 87 56 14
level of quality of 6% 15.5% 43.5% 28% 7%
the internet
service
performance, it is
risky to use it.
21.5% 43.5% 35%
14. It is risky to 35 54 67 28 6
apply to HEI 17.5% 27% 33.5% 14% 3%
online.
44.5% 33.5% 17%

Source: Results of the analysis of respondents’ replies regarding perceived risk

FIGURE 5.7 PERCEIVED RISK

50.0% 45.5% 44.5%

43.5%

40.0% 35.0% 33.5%

31.5%
30.0%
23.0% 21.5% Disagree
17.0% Neutral
20.0%
Agree
10.0%

0.0%
Qst 12 Qst 13 Qst 14

Table 5.7 and Figure 5.7 indicate that high scores for Questions 13 to 14 were

96
obtained for the Neutral field. Question 12 indicates the respondents agree that there

will be privacy loss because customers’ information will be used without their

knowledge. Marketers should therefore create ways to reduce the perceived risk and

encourage consumers to make transactions online so that more people may gain

access to the internet. The analysis indicates that the perceived risk is uncertain as a

response in influencing international students in using the internet to enroll in the

HEIs.

5.3.5 Consumer involvement

TABLE 5.8 CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT

STATEMENT STRONGLY DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE AGREE
15. I enjoy reading 7 4 20 78 91
different information on 3.5% 2% 10% 39% 45.5%
the websites.
5.5% 10% 84.5%
16. I enjoy contacting 8 10 14 62 106
people via e-mail 4% 5% 7% 31% 53%
9% 7% 84%
17. I enjoy all the 11 7 39 55 88
applications (flash, 3D 5.5% 3.5% 19.5% 27.5% 44%
pictures, video) offered
on the internet.
9% 19.5% 71.5%
18. I enjoy searching 7 8 11 75 99
for information via the 3.5% 4% 5.5% 37.5% 49.5%
internet because it is
convenient.
. 7.5% 5.5% 87%
Source: Results obtained by analysis of respondents replies regarding consumer

involvement

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FIGURE 5.8 CONSUMER INVOLVEMENT

84.5% 84.0% 87.0%

90.0%
80.0% 71.5%
70.0%
60.0%
Disagree
50.0%
Neutral
40.0% Agree
30.0% 19.5%
20.0% 10.0% 9.0% 9.0% 7.5%
5.5% 7.0% 5.5%
10.0%
0.0%
Qst15 Qst16 Qst17 Qst18

Table 5.6 indicates that high scores for Questions 15 to 18 were obtained in both the

fields where respondents agreed or strongly agreed. This indicates a high level of

consumer involvement amongst the respondents who participated in the survey. 84.5

per cent, 84 per cent, 71.5 per cent and 87 per cent of the respondents agreed that

they enjoyed surfing on the internet.

The analysis indicates that based on the convenience of the internet, people are all

highly involved in the online business. The analysis indicates that the consumer

involvement is a positive point as a response in influencing international students in

using the internet to enroll in the HEIs.

5.3.6 Opinion leadership

Opinion leadership is the process whereby one person receives information from the

mass media or other marketing sources and passes that information on to others. It

98
influences the adoption process by acting as a social role model whose innovative

behaviour is imitated by others.

TABLE 5.9 OPINION LEADERSHIP

STATEMENT STRONGLY DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE AGREE
19. I am often 10 36 73 64 17
influenced by 5% 18% 36.5% 32% 8.5%
people’s opinions
about new service.
23% 36.5% 40.5%
20. I like to get 5 20 46 85 44
others’ opinions 2.5% 10% 23% 42.5% 22%
before I buy a new
service.
12.5% 23% 64.5%
21. I feel more 11 25 49 73 42
confident buying a 5.5% 12.5% 24.5% 36.5% 21%
new service when I
have received other
people’s opinions on
it.
18% 24.5% 57.5%
Source: Results obtained by analysis of respondents’ answers regarding opinion

leadership.

FIGURE 5.9 OPINION LEADERSHIP

70.0% 64.5%
57.5%
60.0%
50.0%
40.5%
36.5%
40.0% Disagree
30.0% 23.0% 23.0% 24.5% Neutral
18.0% Agree
20.0% 12.5%
10.0%
0.0%
Qst 19 Qst 20 Qst 21

99
Table 5.9 illustrates that high scores for Questions 19 to 21 were obtained in the field

of ‘agree’. This indicates a high level of opinion leadership influencing the use of the

new internet service. The analysis indicates that people are likely to be influenced by

others’ opinions. It is a good idea to find out other people’s experiences before trying

a new service.

5.3.7 Perceived ease of use

Perceived ease of use is defined as the degree to which the prospective user

expects the target system to be free of effort. In the case study, international

students all have a higher education and it is not difficult for them to access to the

internet or the target system they require. Marketers of Higher Education Institutions

also develop ease-of-use for the websites in order to enhance the students’

perception of the website’s ease-of-use.

TABLE 5.10 PERCEIVED EASE OF USE

STATEMENT STRONGLY DISAGREE NEUTRAL AGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE AGREE
22. I have a very 9 11 34 73 73
good knowledge 4.5% 5.5% 17% 36.5% 36.5%
about how to surf on
the internet.
10% 17% 73%
23. I am satisfied 14 36 60 67 23
with the speed of 7% 18% 30% 33.5% 11.5%
response which is
perceived as quality
of the website.
. 25% 30% 45%
24. I like searching 6 13 30 93 58
for information on the 3% 6.5% 15% 46.5% 29%
internet because it is
effective.
9.5% 15% 75.5%
25. It is easy to find 13 33 41 70 43

100
information on the 6.5% 16.5% 20.5% 35% 21.5%
NMMU site that I
need.
. 23% 20.5% 56.5%
Source: Results obtained from the analysis of the responses given by the

respondents regarding perceived ease of use.

FIGURE 5.10 PERCEIVED EASE OF USE

73.0% 75.5%
80.0%
70.0%
56.5%
60.0%
45.0%
50.0% Disagree
40.0% 30.0% Neutral
25.0% 23.0% Agree
30.0% 20.5%
17.0% 15.0%
20.0% 10.0% 9.5%
10.0%
0.0%
Qst22 Qst23 Qst24 Qst25

Respondents obtained high scores in the category ‘agree’ from Question 22 to 25,

which points to a high level of perceived ease-of-use of online business. The

analysis indicates that the high level of perceived ease-of-use influences

international students in enrolling in HEIs via the internet. The research finding

showed by the high scores obtained by international students that they were easily

able to access information from the website or were able to contact people via the

internet.

101
5.4 NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

The research sample is collected from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University,

which has a large number of overseas students. From the research done at the

international office results show that there were 2002 international students

registered at the University in 2006, 2028 international students in 2007 and 1845

international students enrolled in 2008 with the NMMU education service provider.

The following questions show how international students apply for entrance to the

university. Table 5.9 indicates that 143 international students, which is 70.9 per cent

of the international students use the internet when searching for information about

different overseas Higher Education Institutions. 29.1 per cent of international

students do not use it at all. Table 5.9 indicates that 94.3 per cent of the respondents

visit the NMMU website and 5.7 per cent of the respondents do not visit the website

at all. 43.8 per cent of the respondents accessed the NMMU website through a

search engine. 58.4 per cent of the respondents state that the NMMU website gives

sufficient information.

TABLE 5.11 NMMU ANALYSIS

STATEMENT AMOUNT PERCENTAGE

1. Did you use the internet for information abouta* 141 70.9%
different overseas higher education institutions?b 58 29.1%
2. Did you go to the homepage of NMMU’s a 133 94.3%
website? b 8 5.7%
3. How did you find the NMMU’s website? a 60 43.8%
b 13 9.5%
c 35 25.5%
d 20 14.6%
e 9 6.6%
4. Was the information posted on NMMU’s a 26 20%
website sufficient for you to decide to enrol in b 80 58.4%
the university? c 31 22.6%
Source: Results obtained from respondents’ analysis of NMMU.

102
* Refer to Annexure A to see what the letters stand for

Table 5.10 indicates that 63.4 per cent of the respondents e-mailed to NMMU to

make further enquire and 36 per cent of the respondents did not e-mail for further

enquiries. High scores were obtained where NMMU replied to the students within

3—5 days, 26.7 per cent of the respondents received a reply within 1—2 days and

19.8 per cent of the respondents received a reply within one day. 84.1 per cent of the

respondents received a reply via e-mail from NMMU. 55.2 per cent of the

respondents indicated that the University’s e-mail response influenced their decision

to enroll at this university.

TABLE 5.12 NMMU ANALYSIS

5. Did you e-mail to NMMU to make further enquires? a 87 63.4%

b 49 36%
6. How long did it take for NMMU to reply to your a 17 19.8%
enquiry? b 23 26.7%
c 33 38.4%
d 13 15.1%
7. How did NMMU reply to you? a 69 84.1%
b 3 3.7%
c 10 12.2%
8. Did the e-mail response influence your decision to a 25 28.7%
enrol with this university? b 48 55.2%
C 14 16.1%
Source: Results obtained from respondents’ analysis of teamwork

TABLE 5.11 indicates the key decision maker for the international students’ choices

of studying overseas. 49 per cent of the respondents made the decision by

themselves. 20 per cent of the respondents’ key decision makers were their parents.

5.5 per cent of the respondents’ key decision maker was an independent agency in

their home country or other relatives or friends. 10.5 per cent of the respondents’

decision to study overseas depended on the government of the home country. 1.5

103
per cent and 8 per cent of the respondents’ decision makers are companies they

work for or scholarships.

TABLE 5.13 NMMU ANALYSIS

9. Who was the key decision maker for your choice of a 98 49%
an overseas Higher Education Institution? b 40 20%
c 11 5.5%
d 11 5.5%
e 3 1.5%
f 21 10.5%
g 16 8%
Source: Results obtained by analysis of respondents’ choice of NMMU as a Higher

Education Institution.

5.5 SUMMARY

This chapter reported on the empirical findings of the research. The report was

introduced with a description of the respondents’ demographics which included

gender, age, the country they come from, course registered for, followed by an

assessment of frequency distribution instrument. By conducting the factor analysis,

the data was reduced into seven factors; namely, consumer innovativeness,

perceived usefulness, trust, perceived risk, consumer involvement, opinion

leadership and perceived ease of use. The analysis indicates that only consumer

involvement, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and opinion leadership

have positive points in influencing international students in enrolling in HEIs via the

internet.

104
By analysing the data collected from the international students, most of the

respondents indicated that they were likely to use the internet to apply to a Higher

Education Institution. In the research completed at the NMMU, 70 per cent of the

respondents indicated they would use the internet to apply to the HEI or use e-mail

to make further enquiries.

Throughout the whole research, the analysis indicates that using the internet brings

lots of advantages; people can contact each other at any time, they are able to

search for information and contact friends and family. Students with a higher

education are more likely to accept the new internet service provided by the

international department.

105
 CHAPTER 6

SYNOPSIS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 INTRODUCTION

The main objective is to determine the factors that influence the international

students enrolling in a HEI via the internet. In Chapter 5, the results of the research

were interpreted with the intention of presenting the findings of the survey

conducted. This chapter briefly presented a synopsis of the previous chapters and

gives conclusions and recommendations based on the empirical findings.

6.2 SYNOPSIS OF THE STUDY

Chapter 1 began with a brief description of the research design of the dissertation.

Firstly, the researcher presented the research problems, which contained the main

problem and sub-problems, followed by the research objectives. Secondly, the

research significance was outlined, followed by the literature review and the

explanations of the main factors which influence international students enrolling at

the HEIs via the internet. Important cores were identified and defined to ensure

clarity of interpretation, followed by the research methodology which was introduced

in the next section

Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 gave an overview of selected literature related to the topic.

Chapter 2 focused on who, what and how of international marketing by giving an

overview of the concept of international business, and international marketing

environment analysis which influences international business success or failure.

Later in Chapter 2, internet marketing was introduced and the internet usability which

106
supports e-business was studied.

Chapter 3 provided the guidelines for marketers on what elements affect the

international students’ choices in enrolling in HEIs via the internet. The factors which

address these elements are the following; perceived usefulness, perceived ease of

use, consumer involvement, consumer innovativeness, opinion leadership, perceived

risk and trust. Secondly, the topic of enrolling in HEIs via the internet was defined as

an innovation (new service) existing in the market. Then the categories of innovation,

the characteristics of the innovation and the diffusion of innovation were identified,

followed by the stages in consumer adoption of an innovation.

Chapter 4 gave an explanation of the methodology used in this study. Exploratory

and descriptive research were introduced at the beginning of the study. The

appropriate methods of the study were then introduced in the light of the

requirements of the study and self-administered surveys and Likert scale questions

are explained here. Lastly, the data analysis methods of the study were explored in

terms of the different techniques being required.

Chapter 5 gave a description of the results and empirical findings of the study. It

began with a brief explanation of demographic information collected from the

international students, followed by a frequency distribution analysis obtained of each

of the variables in the data. The methods were, table of frequency counts,

percentages and cumulative percentages for all the values which were used to

analyse the data.

107
6.3 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Chapter 5 introduced the empirical findings of the whole study. The purpose of this

chapter is to conclude with the remarks on the survey based on the finding of the

literature and the empirical study, so far as to provide recommendations for the

international students.

As discussed in Chapter 3, there are seven factors namely, perceived risk, perceived

ease of use, perceived usefulness, consumer involvement, trust, consumer

innovativeness and opinion leadership that influence the international students

enrolling in the HEIs via the internet.. Chapter 5 analysed to what extent these seven

factors affect the use of the internet. Therefore analysis of the seven factors is critical

because it may prove to be an extremely useful tool for marketing management to

identify the service problems or service failure points.

Overall evaluation of the factors influencing the use of the internet for enrolling in the

HEIs was determined largely by four factors; namely, perceived usefulness,

consumer involvement, perceived ease of use and opinion leadership. These factors

are explained in detail in the following section.

Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use

As predicted, both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were positively

correlated with the adoption of enrolling in HEIs via the internet. The relationship is

expected, as many previous studies have found the same effects of perceived ease

of use on perceived usefulness and behaviour intention (Kamrulzaman,

2007:710).The results suggest that perceived usefulness is a major determinant

108
influencing the international students enrolling in the HEIs via the internet. E-service

adopters use website resources that are perceived to be useful and easy-to-use

interfaces. Both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness generate

favourable feelings toward using the internet, leading to a greater likelihood of

adopting internet services. Thus, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness

have been demonstrated to be fundamental determinants of e-service adoption

behaviour.

Consumer involvement

The result of a positive direct relationship between consumer involvement and

adoption explains that individual traits are as important as perceived usefulness for

an individual in adopting a new service. The results indicate that consumer

involvement is an essential contributor to the adoption of the new service.

Opinion leadership

This result is expected, as opinion leadership is found to have a strong correlation

with the adoption of new service, which eventually demonstrates a strong effect on

e-service adoption. Kamrulzaman (2007:711) states that since opinion leadership

may be an indication of innovativeness, opinion leaders may be created from early

adopters to persuade later adopters to try new service.

6.4 FURTHER RESEARCH

The empirical model resulting from the current research shows high validity and

reliability for evaluating the factors influencing the NMMU international students in

enrolling in HEIs via the internet. Its future applications are not limited to the NMMU,

109
but are appropriate for assessing the factors influencing the NMMU international

students’ choice in using the internet to enrol in HEIs.

This study targeted only 200 international students at the NMMU. It is recommended

that further research which includes a large sample of international students be

conducted. Therefore, further research can be focused on whether the factors

influencing international students’ adoption of the e-service differs from university to

university. Further, a comparison of the choices of international students from

different universities’ in the adoption of e-service in enrolling in HEIs via the internet

can be elicited from further research.

110
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ANNEXURE – International students’ questionnaire cover letter

4 Gomery Place
Summerstrand
6001
Port Elizabeth
June. 2009

Dear Sir/Madam
This survey is conducted in fulfillment of a Master Degree in Business Administration
for which I am currently enrolled at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. The
purpose of the questionnaire is to find out the factors influencing the international
students’ choice of enrolling at the Higher Educational Institutions via the internet.

It would be appreciated if you could complete the attached questionnaire, and your
information will be treated confidentially. Please complete the questionnaire as
honestly as possible and please ensure that you have answered all the questions.

Thank you for participating in this survey.

Ning Yang

119
Section A: Demographics

1 Which country do you come from?

2 What is your highest qualification?
3 What is your age range? a. under 18
b. 18-21
c. Over 21
4 What is your sex? a. male b. female
5 For what qualification are you registered?

Section B
Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement below. Note
that 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neutral, 4=agree, 5=strongly agree.

N Questions
o
Factor 1 Innovativeness Strongly
Strongl
y
disagree agree
1 I am usually among of the first to try out a new 1 2 3 4 5
service.
2 I often try new services before my friends do. 1 2 3 4 5
3 New technologies on the website are beneficial for 1 2 3 4 5
customers.
Factor 2 Perceived usefulness
4 Surfing on the internet keeps me up-to-date with the 1 2 3 4 5
latest information.
5 I like to search for information that interests me 1 2 3 4 5
personally.
6 The internet leads to better communication between 1 2 3 4 5
HEI and me.
7 The internet is a convenient way of connecting with 1 2 3 4 5
HEI for international students.
Factor 3 Trust
8 I trust the website as a safe medium for financial 1 2 3 4 5
transaction.
9 One should be very cautious when transacting on the 1 2 3 4 5
website.
10 I use the internet when I think it is safe. 1 2 3 4 5
11 I am prepared to give my personal information to HEI 1 2 3 4 5
when I apply on the internet.
Factor 4 Perceived risk
12 The internet will lead to a loss of privacy for me 1 2 3 4 5
because my personal information would be used
without my knowledge.
13 Depending on the expected level of quality of the 1 2 3 4 5
internet service performance, it is risky to use it.
14 It is risky to apply to HEI online. 1 2 3 4 5

120
Factor 5 Consumer involvement
15 I enjoy reading different information on the websites. 1 2 3 4 5
16 I enjoy contacting people via E-mail. 1 2 3 4 5
17 I enjoy all the new applications (e.g. flash, 3D pictures, 1 2 3 4 5
video) offered on the internet.
18 I enjoy searching for information via the internet 1 2 3 4 5
because it is convenient.
Factor 6 Opinion leadership
19 I am often influenced by people’s opinions about new 1 2 3 4 5
service.
20 I like to get others’ opinions before I buy a new 1 2 3 4 5
service.
21 I feel more confidence buying a new service when I 1 2 3 4 5
have gotten other people’s opinions on it.
Factor 7 Perceived ease of use
22 I have a very good knowledge about how to surf on the 1 2 3 4 5
internet.
23 I am satisfied with the speed of response which is 1 2 3 4 5
perceived as quality of the website.
24 I like searching for information on the internet because 1 2 3 4 5
it is effective.
25 It is easy to find information on the NMMU site that I 1 2 3 4 5
need.

Section C
1 Did you use the internet for information about a. yes
different overseas higher education institutions? b. no
2 Did you go to the homepage of NMMU’s a. yes
website? b. no
3 How did you find the NMMU’s website? a. through a search
engine
b. through promotional
materials
c. through an
educational portal
d. through education
agent’s website
e. others, please specify

.
4 Was the information posted on NMMU’s website a. highly sufficient
sufficient for you to decide to enrol in the b. sufficient
university? c. not enough
5 Did you e-mail to NMMU to make further a. yes (go to question 6)
enquires? b. no (skip from question
9)
6 How long did it take for NMMU to reply to your a. within 1day
enquiry? b. 1-2 days

121
 c. 3-5 days
d. Over five days
7 How did NMMU reply to you? a. via E-mail
b. via fax
c. via ordinary mail
8 Did the E-mail response influence your decision a. highly influence
to enrol with this university? b. influence
c. no influence
9 Who is the key decision maker for your choice of a. self
overseas higher education institution? b. parents
c. independent agent in
home country
d. other relatives or
friends
e. scholarship from
NMMU
f. home country
government
g. other, please specify.
.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME !!!

122