Abstract:

In the last years there has been a great change in the Spanish University context, as a consequence of the adaptation to European Space of Higher Education; the new prevailing philosophy has meant an appeal to the competitiveness of the different universities, going to play an important role in certain aspects that until recent dates were exclusive of the lucrative field. In this context, the institutions of higher education need to develop and/or maintain a favourable distinctive image, with the purpose of creating a competitive advantage (Paramewaran and Glowacka, 1995). If we consider that individuals can choose among more options of higher education, and that rankings in terms of the reputation of offering institutions are increasingly relevant (Corley y Giogia, 2000) the creation and care of a positive image by the entity becomes an indisputable goal, for being a determinant element of the selection process of the student.
Although plenty of literature exists with respect to image concept, it seems that there isn’t a clear delimitation between projected image and perceived image. Most common image definitions are proposed from consumer point of view, as they are focused on the perceived image (e.g. Bernstein, 1984; Chavez, 1988, Alvesson, 1990; Le Blanc y Nguyrn, 1998; Kazoleas et al., 2001). However, we also may refer to the projected image, i.e., the image before being interpreted and filtered by the consumer (Andreu, Bigne and Cooper, 2001). This nuance between perceived and projected image is important as there may be lack of correspondence between them (Moutinho, 1987; Sirakaya et al., 1996), especially if we consider that projected image can be intentional and/or non intentional (Kozma and Ashworth, 1993).
So, to be able to influence on the perceived image it will be essential to control in the best possible way the projected image. Taking as a point of reference the scale developed by Beerli et al. (2002) to measure image (validated and used in the Spanish University field), the goal of this work has been to measure Valencia University image, projected by newspapers. Using content analysis, NVIVO software, and the participation of three researchers, a total of 483 pieces of news (taken randomly from the four main Valencian Community newspapers – two of them local and two of them national) were analysed. Study results reveal that, although in general terms newspapers project a positive image, not all the image dimensions appear at the same level, projecting as a consequence an incomplete Valencia University image. According to the results, several recommendations are proposed.

Keywords:

Projected image, university, content analysis, NVIVO, press.