Profitable Market

This will be a critical point for the firm, because the main message has not to be forgotten,

as the women target is the main one of Avon Cosmetics. It has to be cleverly positioned in

a way that the two different messages do not mix with each other creating confusions

among the exciting profitable market.

Because the UK market under analysis has reached its maturity stage (reference) in its life

cycle(reference), the suitable strategy to implement it will be focused on offering a

sustainable brand differentiation, in terms of:

* benefit that is superior from the competitors: lower price

*Abstract

Purpose - In this study, the aim is to empirically examine the relationship between students'

perceptions of themselves as customers of their university and their educational attitudes and

behaviors. It also seeks to investigate the extent to which students' characteristics predict their

involvement with education.

Design/methodology/approach - The authors obtained data by surveying 1,025 students from a

medium-sized university in the southern United States.

Findings - Consistent with exchange theory, students who perceived themselves as customers were

more likely to feel entitled and to view complaining as beneficial. Satisfaction with their university, but

not their perceptions of themselves as university customers, predicted educational involvement. Not

surprisingly, students who were more involved in their education tended to be older, have higher grade

point averages, and attend class more often. However, these students also felt more entitled to

outcomes, although they did not differ in their perceptions of whether or not they were customers of

the university.

Practical implications - Students who view themselves as customers are likely to hold attitudes

and to engage in behaviors that are not conducive to success. However, if the aim is to increase student

involvement, how the student's role is defined is less important than efforts to build student

satisfaction with the university.

Originality/value - This is one of the first studies to examine empirically the prevalence and effects

of student-as-customer perceptions. In addition, this study serves as a basis for better understanding

the drivers of student involvement.

Keywords Students, Attitudes, Individual perception, Universities, United States of America,

Customer satisfaction

Paper type Research paper

University administrators count increased competition for students as one of the most

important drivers of organizational change at their institutions (Kemelgor et al., 2000).

Rankings, such as those found in the U.S. News and World Report in the USA or league

tables in the UK, inform students of which universities best fit their needs. Student

satisfaction may contribute to these rankings. For example, the National Student

Survey (NSS) in the UK elicits student opinions and overall satisfaction ratings as a

way to help prospective students compare institutions (Williams and

Cappuccini-Ansfield, 2007). Since the 1990s, an increasing number of colleges have

created programs in order to compete for well-qualified students (George, 2007).

Specifically, many universities have chosen to implement corporate-style,

"customer"-oriented programs to increase enrollment (Ferreri, 2008). To the extent

that universities see their students as paying customers, they are accountable for

eliciting student opinions and for sharing improvements that have been made a s a

result

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