Who are they? : Communication of brand personality by business schools inan online environment

Abstract: Title: Who are they: a study about Communication of brand personality by business schools inan online environmentCourse: 4FE02E, Master Programme Degree Thesis, 15 ECTSAuthors: Arber TahiriSamira YoukhannaTutor: Dr. Rana MostaghelExaminer: Dr. Sarah PhilipsonIntroduction: MBA programs have increased from having 3200 awarded degrees during the50‟s to 1695 business schools offering different types of MBA. Researchers claim that thegrowth of MBA programs may have changed human perception of the offered program, thatMBAs have gone from being a first class ticket to a successful career to a more accommodatedservice. Brand and brand personality is another discussed aspect. Researchers suggest thatorganizations should implement more strategic communication based on brand personality, ontheir websites to attract a large audience and clearly communicate what and who they are as anorganization.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the brand personality communication ofEuropean business schools MBA Programs in an online environment.Methodology: The study includes a comparative study were a correspondence analysis wasconducted. Aakers (1997) model of brand personality dimension was used as an inspirationaltool and randomly selected two samples; Cluster one, consisting of five Top European businessschools according to Financial Times, and Cluster two, five general European schools.Conclusion: According to findings, there are some areas such as the usage of Aaker‟s brandpersonality dimensions and their synonyms that are different between top ranked Europeanbusiness schools and other business schools in Europe. Also, top European business schoolsappear not to be closely associated to Aaker‟s brand personality traits whilst other Europeanschools are closely knitted and communicated clear brand personality dimensions.