¹Dr. Kennedy Ntabo Otiso PhD,² Dr. Rael Mandago PhD

¹Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Department of Business Administration and Management Science, Koitaleel Samoei University College,(A constituent College of the University of Nairobi), P.O. Box 5-30307- Mosoriot, Kenya

²Lecturer, School of Business, Department of Business Administration and Management Science, Koitaleel Samoei University College,(A constituent College of the University of Nairobi), P.O. Box 5-30307- Mosoriot, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to focus on the influence of promotion strategy on student enrolment in Kenyan Universities. This study was guided by the Resource-Based View Theory. The study will adopt a descriptive cross-sectional study design. The target population for this study senior administrative staff, heads of departments/faculties and marketing managers at the universities. The researcher considered these groups for the population since they have accurate information on the performance of the universities. The target population comprised a total of senior personnel comprising of top administrative staff, heads of departments/faculties and marketing managers of the University. Stratified sampling was adopted for this study; there were four strata which include senior personnel in private universities. The researcher adopted structured questionnaires to collect data for the study. A pilot study was done to test the research instruments for validity and reliability. Before the collection of data, the researcher obtained a letter of authorization from the university as well as a permit from NACOSTI to undertake the study. Further, permission was sort from the management of the universities whose personnel participated in the study. Descriptive statistics was applied in the analysis of the quantitative data. Analysis of data was done and the findings presented using, charts, table and graphs. Additionally, a linear regression analysis was conducted to establish the relationship between the variables. From the findings, 46% of the respondents were marketing managers, 23% were heads of departments, 15% were senior lecturers while 16% were senior administrative officers. The findings imply that accurate data was obtained for the study since majority of the respondents had adequate knowledge on the strategy used by private universities. The findings revealed that the university charges fees based on the technicalities of programmes offered and that charges fees based on the demand for programmes offered. The findings also revealed that the university relies on social media advertising and internet uses outdoor advertising such as billboards, higher education exhibitions, print media such as newspapers, journals and magazines to promote their programmes in order to increase student enrolment. Finally, the findings revealed that the university offers unique programmes compared to other universities has a variety of programmes/courses for student to choose from and there are foundation programmes at the university for student who do not have minimum university entry requirements. It was concluded that the promotion strategy that were considered in the study if adopted effectively would result to increased levels of student enrolment in Kenyan private universities.

Promotion, strategy, enrolment.

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VOLUME 04 ISSUE 11 NOVEMBER 2021