Management of Ethical University Brand Promotion on the International Markets

Abstract

The export of Russian education is linked to promoting universities internationally. Following ethical standards when promoting a brand strengthens its image, reputation, and attractiveness to foreign students. This chapter identifies issues with marketing communications between Russian universities and international students. It proposes a model for managing ethical brand promotion conceptually and practically. Desk research methods were used, including synthesis, traditional content analysis, and interdisciplinary assessment. The conceptual level manages ethical promotion through social/ethical marketing from three perspectives: caring for current and future students, applying values to educational services, and legal brand responsibility. The practical level uses social/ethical tools like PR and integrated communications ethically. Recommendations were expressed by (1) in detailing approaches to social and ethical marketing based on segmentation of foreign students according to priority individual and cultural values, and behavior patterns of students from different generations Y and Z when choosing a university, based on differentiated brand positioning for target segments; (2) in the systematization of international and Russian regulatory documents establishing the rules of ethical marketing communications; (3) in systematizing the ethical principles of brand promotion via the Internet and digital channels; and (4) in developing activities that allow universities to ensure confidentiality in marketing communications with the brand’s target audience.

1. Introduction

The economic essence of the global increase in openness and interdependence of countries, educational organizations, and communities of people in the context of globalization is expressed in the formation of a single world education market. Russia is a full participant in this market along with the developed countries such as the USA, Germany, Great Britain, and so forth; however, it currently occupies only 7–8% of the global education market.

In the period before 1992, the official year of Russia’s transition from a command economy to a market economy, the main objectives of the export of Russian (Soviet) education were, to a greater extent, objectives of a strategic, political, and ideological nature. In a market economy, the tasks of exporting domestic education are implemented on the basis of a system of interaction between such participants in the public and private sectors as government, the market, and the academic community. Since a market economy involves the free exchange of educational services in conditions, including international competition, these participants act as partners that mutually reinforce each other. Equal participants in this exchange are both state and commercial educational organizations, implementing their own marketing policies to attract foreign students as part of the implementation of government tasks to increase the competitiveness of Russian education in the international market.

The regulatory documents of the Russian Federation set strategic goals to increase the export performance of Russian education. One of the most important tasks of exporting domestic education is to promote the Russian brand of education, as well as the brand of Russian universities, in the international market.

An analysis of the results of desk research on the promotion of the brand of Russian universities in international markets using a systematic and structural-functional assessment of information based on an interdisciplinary approach made it possible to identify some bottlenecks in the university’s marketing communications with the target audience. As it turned out, the difficulties of creating an attractive image of the brand of Russian universities in the minds of foreign students, among others, lie in the area of ethical issues of promoting the university brand.

Ethical aspects of promoting a university brand relate to a very wide range of issues: from compliance with the ethical principles of marketing communications when creating a communication message for the target market to a conceptual understanding of the essence of social and ethical marketing of a university in the international market. It is obvious that even small deviations from ethical principles when promoting a university brand can harm the image and reputation of the brand and reduce the attractiveness of Russian education for global consumers of educational services.

An analysis of the scientific literature available to us on the study of ethical issues of university promotion in international markets has shown that the main directions of scientific research on the designated topic cover only its individual aspects. In particular, the issues of development of the Russian education market in the international educational space have been studied by scientists in the framework of the monograph of the same name [1]; trends in the export of Russian education, including in new socio-economic and political conditions, have been studied in the work of Nikolaev [2].

Researchers Okolnishnikova and Dyachenko analyzed marketing practices of promoting Russian university education in general [3], scientists Olkhova, Hemraeva, and Paramonov contributed to the understanding of universities’ strategies to attract foreign students [4], and researcher Bondarenko devoted his work to the study of factors of attractiveness of Russian universities for foreign students [5].

The issues of ethics and socially responsible marketing are studied by scientists in different aspects. For example, the managerial aspect of this topic was studied in scientific articles by Joshua [6], Afanasyeva [7], marketing aspect in the context of marketing of consumer-brand relationships is presented in the works of Jung-Yong Lee and Chang-Hyun Jin [8], marketing ethics in the promotion of goods that are harmful to the life and health of consumers is studied in the book by Jared D. Cohen [9]. An analysis of the corporate social responsibility of a university, regardless of marketing activities, was carried out by the authors Fedenkova and Bibikova [10].

A number of scientists have studied the implementation of ethical principles in brand promotion without regard to specific markets in particular, scientists Azarova, Kudryavtseva, Shashkova devoted their works to the study of communication problems in the light of the “new ethics” [11], in the article by Bresler the ethical norms of communications of generation Z in the digital environment are investigated [12], and in the study by Parshukova [13] die problems of social responsibility and justice in marketing communications are studied. Features of promotion in the digital environment related to the ethics of using virtual influencers were studied in the scientific works of Sogomonov [14], and Madary and Metzinger [15].

The ethical principles of advertising and PR are reflected in studies [16] but are largely represented by a set of international and Russian regulatory documents: the International Code of Advertising Activities of the International Chamber of Commerce, the Code of Professional Conduct of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the Law of the Russian Federation “On Advertising,” Russian Code of Professional and Ethical Principles in the Field of Public Relations, and others.

Along with this, an integrated approach to the study of ethical issues when promoting a university brand on international markets, reflecting all aspects of this topic, is not sufficiently presented, which makes our research relevant.

Subject of this study: Ethical promotion of the university brand.

Subject of research: methodological aspects of managing the ethical promotion of a Russian university brand on the international market.

Purpose of the study: based on identifying bottlenecks in marketing communications of Russian universities with consumers of educational services from other countries, to develop a model for managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at the conceptual and instrumental levels.

Research objectives:

1. Identify the problematic field of promoting Russian university brands in the international market of educational services.

2. Reveal aspects of the university’s social and ethical marketing aimed at foreign students at the conceptual level of the proposed model for managing the ethical promotion of the university brand.

3. At the instrumental level of the developed model, detail the tools of social and ethical marketing in accordance with the ethical principles of marketing communications enshrined in Russian and international legislation.

2. Methodological aspects of managing the promotion of the Russian university brand on the international market

2.1 Management model for ethical university brand promotion

To strengthen the position of Russian education in the global education market, the country has developed comprehensive programs enshrined in the National Project “Education,” the Federal Project “Export of Education,” the Priority Project “Development of the Export Potential of the Russian Education System,” and other regulatory documents. The main goal of creating and implementing such comprehensive programs is to create conditions for ensuring the global competitiveness of Russian education.

The target indicators of the national project “Education” by 2025 are attracting 710 thousand foreign students to Russian universities for full-time studies and admitting 3 million 500 thousand foreign students to online courses.¹ The Priority Project “Development of the Export Potential of the Russian Education System” sets the task of ensuring positive dynamics of the project’s target indicators, in particular, increasing the number of foreign full-time students in Russian educational organizations (Figure 1).² This should ensure an increase in the share of domestic education in the global market of educational services to 20%, which currently stands at 7–8%.³

Figure 1.

Target indicators of the project “development of the export potential of the Russian education system”; number of foreign citizens studying full-time in Russian educational institutions of secondary vocational and higher education: Thousand people.

Along with this, the implementation of projects to increase the competitiveness of Russian education should raise the position of Russian universities in international rankings. According to QS for 2023, one of the most authoritative rankings of universities in the world, the position of the Russian university (M. Lomonosov Moscow State University) is only 75 among 100 universities in the world. The leaders in this ranking are universities in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, China, Australia, and Canada.⁴

One of the key objectives of the Priority Project “Development of the export potential of the Russian education system” for the period from 2017 to 2025 is to promote the brand of Russian education in the international educational market. The implementation of this task is entrusted to the Russian Export Center (REC), which should create a strong brand of Russian education and assist its promotion in the global educational space. The main information platforms for promoting Russian education and attracting foreign students are government online resources such as the website of the Ministry of Education and Science Study in Russia and the Russia. Study website was created by a private company on behalf of Rossotrudnichestvo.⁵

Along with this, universities play a key role in promoting Russian education as direct subjects of the export of educational services. Russian universities are included in global marketing communications, through which an attractive brand image of both the university and the brand image of Russian education as a whole is formed. An attractive university brand image is created not only to attract foreign students to universities in Russia but also when universities “physically enter” foreign markets through the creation of joint universities, branches, representative offices, and in the process of teaching activities of Russian scientists at foreign universities.

An analysis of the results of desk and field marketing research conducted by the authors on threats and opportunities when promoting a university brand in the domestic and international education markets allowed us to identify the problematic field of marketing communications of the brand with target consumers of educational services.

Firstly, it should be noted that in the highly competitive environment of the global market for educational services, marketing strategies in general and marketing communications in particular are aimed not only at attracting the attention of potential consumers but also at retaining actual consumers, university students, forming their loyalty to the university. It is students who are loyal to the university brand who become a source of information for their immediate environment, which makes it possible to convey information to applicants in an unobtrusive and confidential form. To understand the bottlenecks in marketing strategies and marketing communications to retain actual consumers and build loyalty to the university, the authors conducted a field marketing study of the degree of student loyalty to their university.

A survey of Russian and foreign students using Fred Reichheld’s method on 6 random samples with volumes from 30 to 115 elements in 2023 made it possible to calculate the consumer loyalty index Net Promoter Score (NPS), which was presented in different samples with values in a very wide range: from −19% to +54%. If we take into account that a good NPS in education is considered to be 70%, then there is a problem that students’ loyalty to the university brand is not very high. In addition to the first question “How likely would you be to recommend a university for education to your friends/colleagues?” and this survey asked a second question in the online questionnaire “Why would you not be willing to recommend a university to your friends/colleagues?” Most of the “critics” (more than 72%) named the main reasons for dissatisfaction not with the quality of education, accessibility of teaching, and so on, but with the discrepancy of the educational service with the expectations formed by the university in the process of marketing communications with applicants at the stage of collecting information and choosing a university for study.

The obtained results of field research lead us to the problem of noncompliance with ethical rules in marketing communications/promotion of the university brand in both the Russian and international markets of educational services. Violation of rules, principles, and norms of behavior by educational organizations in the process of promoting the university brand, such as honesty, openness, trust, and respect for consumers, causes serious harm to the image and reputation of the university brand.

Secondly, the attractiveness of a university brand on the international market is determined not only by the ethics of the brand’s marketing communications with the target audience but also, in general, by the social ethics of the brand. General trends in consumer attitudes toward brands in the global market, regardless of the subject of purchase and sale, are manifested in favor of socially responsible brands and, conversely, in boycotting brands that do not contribute to solving socio-economic problems. According to Dentsu 2022 data, 64% of global consumers choose or boycott brands based on their social position, 86% are convinced that brands need to help solve social problems, and 33% of consumers choose products from brands that benefit society and the environment.⁶

Thus, the problematic field of brand marketing communications with the target audience in the Russian and international education markets, among other things, lies in the area of ethical issues of promoting the university brand. From the authors’ point of view, leveling the ethical problems of brand promotion on the international market can be done through managing marketing communications (promotion) at the instrumental and conceptual levels. In this regard, based on the collection and analysis of secondary and primary data on the promotion of a university brand in the international education market, the authors proposed a model for managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at the conceptual and instrumental levels (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Model for managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at the conceptual and instrumental levels. Source: Developed by the authors.

Elements of a model for managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at the conceptual and instrumental levels will be discussed below in more detail.

2.2 Conceptual level of the ethical university brand management model

At a conceptual level, ethical university branding is managed through socially ethical marketing. The main task when a brand applies the concept of social and ethical marketing is to implement the mission of the university on the basis of a mutually beneficial exchange of values between the educational organization, potential and actual consumers, and society.

Social and ethical university marketing is based on researching the needs, benefits, and values of consumers and providing the sought benefits and values in a better way than competitors, taking into account the interests of society in environmental, moral, legal, and other aspects. At the same time, social and ethical marketing is manifested in three interconnected perspectives: concern for present and future generations, an axiological (value) approach to interaction with consumers and brand stakeholders, and the legal responsibility of the brand in the process of this interaction. Let us consider the possibilities of applying the concept of socially ethical marketing from these perspectives in more detail.

2.2.1 Promoting the welfare of current and future generations through social and ethical marketing

Concern for the well-being of present and future generations within the framework of social and ethical marketing is manifested in such marketing activities of organizations that comply with the principles of the ESG concept of sustainable development. Organizations’ adherence to ESG principles involves activities that are associated not only with responsible behavior with respect to the environment but also with responsible behavior in relation to the corporate environment and solving social problems.

The priority of social ethics and responsibility in the marketing communications of companies, including universities, has become the norm of marketing in global markets since the 80s of the last century and is a necessary condition for consumer decision-making on choosing a product, service, and brand in international markets. In addition to the examples outlined above, we add that, for example, 87% of Americans are willing to buy products from a company that helps solve problems that concern consumers;⁷ 66% of global consumers are willing to pay a premium for products and services from socially conscious brands.⁸

Therefore, for potential and actual foreign students, the university’s participation in solving social problems, response to what is happening in society, and real assistance to those who need it are a given and the norm. Foreign students will have a more favorable attitude toward those Russian universities that implement the concept of social and ethical marketing, and accordingly will adequately respond to the communication arguments of the university.

2.2.2 Consumer-centric values orientation

The basis of social and ethical marketing is an axiological (value) approach to interaction with consumers and brand stakeholders, as one of the aspects of managing the ethical promotion of the university brand at the conceptual level. According to the theory of consumer values by scientists Sheth, Newman, and Gross, the consumer’s choice of one or another alternative when making decisions is determined by his value system—a set of ideas about the perceived usefulness of a good [25]. Scientists identify five types of values that make a differentiated contribution to consumer choice:

• Functional value—the usefulness of a good due to its functional and utilitarian characteristics;

• Social (associative) value—the usefulness of a good due to its association with behavioral stereotypes of social groups, the ability to emphasize the status of the consumer in the social hierarchy;

• Emotional value—the usefulness of a good due to its ability to evoke positive emotions toward it;

• Cognitive value—the usefulness of a good due to the ability to create novelty, encourage new knowledge, expand intellectual horizons;

• Relative value—the utility of a good due to the special situation created during choice [25].

Understanding the value system of potential and actual consumers of educational services—foreign students—allows us to position the university brand based on the priority values of students. With this approach to interaction with the consumer, there really is a mutually beneficial exchange of values between the university brand and its target segments. With this approach to consumer interaction, there is indeed a mutually beneficial exchange of values between the university brand and its target segments: Consumers of educational services receive the desired values, and the university receives an influx of foreign students, strengthens its position in the competitive market of educational services, and improves the attractiveness of the brand image.

Analysis of secondary data—The results of a study of 650 foreign students studying at Russian universities in the Volga Federal District [5] made it possible to classify the values of students from near and far abroad countries according to the value system of Sheth, Newman, and Gross (Table 1).

Values of international students*	For students from neighboring countries, %	For students from non-CIS countries, %
Functional Values
Affordable tuition fees	65.91	56.57
Convenience and comfort of living	24.06	34.26
Location of the university in Russia	23.81	22.31
Opportunity to study on a budget basis	20.30	13.94
Cognitive values
High-quality education	71.68	79.28
Opportunity to learn Russian as a foreign language	14.54	77.69
Conducting joint scientific research with foreign partners	3.01	9.96
Social values
Recognition of a Russian university diploma in one’s home country	85.21	63.75
Demand and employment of graduates in the labor market/	62.66	74.10
Fame, prestige, and popularity of the university	27.82	58.96
Detailed and reliable information about the university and admission rules on the Internet in a foreign language	25.06	74.10
Availability of a double degree program	23.56	24.70
Place of the university in world university rankings	6.27	11.95
Emotional values
Opportunity to communicate at the university with foreign students from your home country	23.06	20.72
Good conditions for sports	3.76	9.96

Table 1.

Value system of foreign students when choosing a Russian university (in %—the share of students who noted the importance of this value).

*

This study does not reflect the relative value according to the theory of Sheth et al.

Source: Compiled by the authors from Ref. [5].

Based on the results of the analysis of the value system of foreign students [5], it can be seen that the social value of Russian education for them is of rather high importance compared to the cognitive and functional value. Since the prestige and recognition of a Russian diplomat in the home country, the fame and image of the university brand, its place in the ranking, and so forth are important social values for foreign students, when promoting the brand of Russian universities, it is necessary to place emphasis on these values, which are a priority for consumers.

A comparison of data on the sought-after values of foreign students from near and far abroad countries shows the different importance of their value orientations. The greatest difference was revealed in the block of cognitive and, to a greater extent, in the block of associative (social) values for such values as: “The opportunity to study Russian as a foreign language” (the difference in assessments is ∆63.15%), “Recognition of a diploma from a Russian university in native country” (∆21.46%), “Fame, prestige, and popularity of the university” (∆31.14%), and “Detailed and reliable information about the university and admission rules on the Internet in a foreign language” (∆49.04%).

Such significant differences should be subjected to marketing analysis, and based on its results, foreign students should be segmented according to psychographic characteristics: priority individual consumer values and cultural values inherent in the residents of the students’ country of residence. Segmentation of consumers based on these characteristics should become the basis for making decisions regarding differentiated marketing communications with different communication arguments for selected target segments.

Primary and secondary data, which became the basis for segmenting foreign students according to psychographic characteristics, can be supplemented with data regarding differences in the values of students belonging to different generations. The main contingent of today’s international students is the students of generations Y and Z, who differ in their values in relation to education, career, changes, as well as value systems in the decision-making process about choosing a university. The low rates of admission of foreign students to Russian universities can be explained, among other things, by the weak degree of consideration in the process of promoting the university brand of personal qualities, value systems, and behavior patterns of consumers belonging to different generations.

Models of behavior of consumers of educational services of generations Y and Z at different stages of decision-making differ due to the differentiation of their value systems. This is confirmed by the data in Table 2, compiled based on the analysis of secondary data on the differences in the value systems of the two generational groups [26].

Decision stage	Generation Y behavior patterns	Generation Z behavior patterns
1. Stage of awareness of needs and values	The value of education for millennials is expressed in maximum network integration, confirmed by diplomas and certificates. There is a clear focus on self-development to gain competitive advantages, new knowledge. Level of education is an indicator of status, prestige, and exclusivity.	The value of education for zoomers is expressed in the presence of formal education, confirmed by relevant documents.; Education is compulsory, but not entirely important and clear in application. There is no certainty that the education received will lead to the goal.
2. Search and collection of information	The main thing is to receive specific information. They like to set tasks specifically and clearly, indicating the nuances of the task. They love guides.; They are too trusting of information and often do not check the authenticity of Internet information.	The main thing is to capture as much information as possible in a short time. They prefer to watch information rather than read. Icons, emoticons, and pictures often replace text. Websites are simply “crawled.” The average period of concentration on one object is 8 seconds. Information is consumed in small portions. They suffer from attention deficit disorder and “clip thinking.” They do not divide the world into digital and real.
3. Assessment of alternatives, choice	When choosing services, they are guided by the opinions of real people, and not by the promises of the performer.; The main criterion for choosing a university is the affordable cost of education.; An important criterion for choosing a direction of training is its compliance with abilities and values.	One of the important criteria for choosing a university is the high ranking of the university.; When choosing a direction of training, they are guided by the desire to meet the expectations of their parents.
4. Decision-making	The main thing is success, achieving ambitious goals, and a decent life.	The main thing is a change of interests, life “here and now,” and enjoying life and pleasure.
5.Consumption, evaluation of choice, formation of satisfaction	The main criteria for assessing the choice of a university and the direction of training are achieving ambitious goals, diversity of the learning process, and the opportunity to get a prestigious job and adapt to market demands.	The main criteria for assessing the choice of university and field of study are ease of achieving goals; achieving popularity at work, among friends, and on social networks; and positive public opinion.

Table 2.

Models of behavior of consumers of educational services of generations Y and Z at the stages of decision-making in choosing a university and educational program.

Source: Compiled by the authors from Ref. [26].

An analysis of differences in the behavior patterns of foreign students and their values allows us to avoid stereotyping errors. Although the use of stereotypes is considered in the theory of marketing communications as a simple and effective way of promotion, such practices do not allow reaching attractive consumer segments for marketing, which differ from others more by psychographic and behavioral characteristics than by demographic and geographical ones.

The university’s understanding of the differences in the values of students of different generations makes it possible to create an effective system of market segmentation and differentiated marketing communications with foreign students of generations Y and Z. It should be taken into account that representatives of generation Z, who were born in the digital environment and perceive it as a natural environment for life, themselves formulate ethical norms and rules of network interaction. Such users value freedom, independence, social justice, and online solidarity and therefore are more sensitive to others’ violation of ethical standards in communications, compared, for example, with millennials [13].

2.2.3 The university’s adherence to social and ethical marketing aligns with the requirements of domestic legislation and international norms

An important component of success when managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at the conceptual level is the university’s social and ethical marketing activities, which comply with the requirements of domestic legislation and international standards

Currently, in the Russian and world practice of marketing communications, a set of laws, codes, other regulations, and rules has been created that regulate the ethics of brand promotion (Table 3).

Russian regulatory framework

International regulatory framework

Law of the Russian Federation “On Advertising,” 1995 Russian Code of Professional and Ethical Principles in the Field of Public Relations, 2001 Russian Advertising Code, 2002 Industrial standards of the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (ACAR), 2010 Russian Code of Practice for Advertising and Marketing Communications, 2012 General principles for the implementation of activities by participants in the advertising and marketing communications market (ACAR), 2018

International Code of Advertising of the International Chamber of Commerce, 1937 Code of Practice for Marketing and Social Research, 1948 Code of Professional Conduct of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), 1961 The Athens Code of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), 1965. Declaration of Helsinki (10 principles for the activities of a PR specialist), 1997 European Code of Professional Conduct in areas of PR (Lisbon Code), 1999 Stockholm Charter—a set of professional standards for the PR industry, 2003

Table 3.

International and Russian regulatory documents establishing the rules of ethical marketing communications.

Source: Compiled by the authors.

Promoting a university on the international market requires a scrupulous analysis of the content of these regulatory documents, understanding the differences in the norms and rules when promoting a university brand in the Russian and international markets, and identifying those ethical “voids” that are not reflected in Russian rules.

2.3 Instrumental level of the ethical university brand management model

The instrumental level of ethical promotion of the university brand is represented by social and ethical marketing tools, in particular, public relations (PR) tools and integrated marketing communications (IMC) tools, which are implemented in accordance with the ethical principles of communications.

2.3.1 PR tools in ethical university brand promotion

PR tools are aimed at creating trust and mutual understanding of the university with society in general and the target audience, in particular, through systematically implemented measures to gain and maintain a high reputation of the university in the Russian and international educational space. Creating a high reputation for the university is based on the principles of openness, publicity, reliability, dialog, relevance of social programs, avoidance of conflicts, and so on.

PR tools in the context of social and ethical marketing showed their great diversity, which leads to the need for some typification of this toolkit (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Typification of PR tools in the context of social and ethical marketing.

Among the PR tools for ethical promotion of the university, one should note such a tool as support for social projects, the use of which has some specifics. In contrast to the use of these tools in social and ethical marketing of various organizations, which mainly financially support social projects, at the university, projects are implemented by employees and students whose social activities go beyond the scope of their official and academic responsibilities (Table 4).

Social projects for Russian society	Social projects involving foreign students
Development of social entrepreneurship	International volunteer camp
Programs of social and psychological assistance and medical rehabilitation for patients	Designing a communication environment based on interreligious dialog
Mentoring programs for adolescents with deviant behavior	Projects to study cross-cultural variations in the behavior of students from different countries
Career guidance projects for schoolchildren	Youth Parliamentary School
Project to create a favorable environment for communication between representatives of different population groups to prevent conflicts	Intercultural exchange of knowledge about the features of higher education systems in Russia and in foreign countries.
Social and charitable projects (“Share the Good”)	International Youth Festival
Project to build a creative community	Project for the development of communication skills of youth (English spearing club)
Legal assistance program for people in difficult life situations	Digest on the history of cultures of different countries
School of Lean Production and Consumption	Creation of a network of young researchers studying national cultures

Table 4.

Social projects as a tool for promoting the university in the Russian and international education markets.

Source: Compiled by the author from the Ref. [27].

Projects and programs of the university involving foreign students in the socially transformative practices of universities, on the one hand, contribute to the mutual promotion of Russian cultural values and the values of national cultures to which foreign students belong. On the other hand, such practices increase the perceived value of the university brand in the minds of international students.

2.3.2 Integrated marketing communications as a means to generate consumer value

Creation of consumer value is carried out through integrated marketing communications with target consumer segments.

The value approach in social and ethical marketing is manifested in the use of integrated marketing communications, which the authors understand as a complex of all relationships with consumers to create a unified image of the university brand in the minds of target consumers, which is implemented through the 7 Ps. As you know, in marketing, there is a set of tools in the form of 7 Ps, which act as motivating factors when a consumer makes a decision to purchase services: product (product policy), price (pricing policy), sales (place policy), promotion (communication policy), people, process, and physical evidence.

Indeed, the university’s product policy, which includes a range of educational programs in various areas of bachelor’s/master’s training, grant programs with foreign partner universities, continuing education programs, as well as the quality of education, indicates a certain level of competitiveness of the university and is an important source of information for foreign students’ decision-making about choosing a university and educational program.

The university’s pricing policy, including tuition fees, payment terms, payment frequency, discounts, installments, and so forth, can be considered as a set of signals conveying information about the price competitiveness of a university.

As for the university’s sales policy, then, undoubtedly, the network of university branches both in the Russian Federation and abroad, the presence of universities in megacities, the system of selective sales of services, and the coverage of the domestic and international markets speak about the scale and position of educational organizations in the Russian and global market.

Accordingly, the university’s communication policy, based on a system of traditional, informal, and digital communications, is designed to organize the process of promoting the university brand, emphasizing the advantages of product, price, sales, and other policies aimed at providing the desired values to target consumers in domestic and foreign markets.

With an axiological approach to social and ethical marketing, integrated marketing communications are aimed at consumers receiving the entire set of values according to the theory of consumer values by Sheth et al. [25].

In order to ensure that the values of the educational service declared by the university meet the expectations of foreign applicants and students, it is important to monitor these expectations and make adjustments to marketing activities to create the desired values. Providing reliable information about the university, educational program, and admission conditions and ensuring information openness and transparency of social and ethical marketing activities are necessary conditions for trust and the formation of loyalty to the university brand.

Data on the attractiveness of factors that influenced the choice of a university in Russia by foreign students [5] in Figure 4 show that, within the framework of social and ethical marketing, it is necessary to focus on the product and pricing policy of the university, and accordingly, in marketing communications, provide honest and reliable information about their representation at the university, about the advantages of receiving education in Russia. The key task of such communications is to prevent discrepancies between the information of the university-communicator and the objective state of the factors influencing the choice of university, as well as the opinion of employees, actual students, and graduates who are carriers of information about the perceived value of the university’s educational services.

Figure 4.

Factors influencing decision-making by foreign students about choosing a university in Russia. Source: Ref. [5].

2.3.3 Ethical principles of brand promotion

Ethical principles when promoting a university brand can be supplemented due to universities choosing a digital channel as a significant promotion channel. Indeed, the introduction of new generation marketing communications through the Internet and digital channels into the practice of promoting universities leads to the emergence of new ethical problems.

The universal ethical principles of international and Russian advertising activities: Legality, decency, honesty, correctness, and reliability must be supplemented with principles that reflect the specifics of digital promotion of services. For example, the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (AKAR) and the Association of Interactive Agencies (AIA) have developed ethical principles of practice when promoting a brand and goods/services via the Internet and digital channels,⁹ which are very relevant for universities (Table 5).

Ethical principles	Examples of violations of ethical principles in communications	Consequences of violating ethical principles
1. The consumer can understand that this is an advertising message.	Using virtual influencers to promote a brand: Humanoid, anime-like, and virtual influencers are not human.	Lack of transparency in communications, misleading perception of the content of virtual influencers.
2. Communications (advertising) do not create a feeling of mass participation	Creating accounts for sale through mass purchasing of contacts on social networks	Reduced user trust in the brand community and its pages in social networks.
3. Marketing communications do not increase explicit and implicit costs for the consumer	Mass mailings of information via the Internet and digital channels	Increased time and money costs for consumers, deterioration of brand reputation in the minds of users
4. No manipulation of Internet searches	Generation of junk content and search spam	Low degree of trust in information media
5. Marketing communications on the Internet meet generally accepted ethical standards and are not subject to revision.	Abuse of teaser technologies in banners and links	Inconsistency between the link and the content misleads the user

Table 5.

Ethical principles for brand promotion via the internet and digital channels.

Source: Compiled by the author. Ref. [29].

Brand promotion by universities via the Internet and digital channels leads to a loss of consumer control over personal data, which is also associated with ethical problems of marketing communications. As a result, when choosing a brand or goods/services, the consumer feels the risk of losing personal space—a degree of uncertainty regarding the use of personal information by third parties without the consumer’s knowledge.

In this regard, the authors have developed measures that allow educational organizations to reduce the consumer’s perception of the risk of losing personal space in the process of marketing communications with the target audience:

1. Obtaining consent to provide personal information before using it.

2. Sending communication messages and advertising only to those users who have agreed to receive it.

3. Using the site or application without mandatory registration and provision of personal data.

4. Ensuring privacy and allowing consumers to choose what data they want to share and what not.

5. Training of consumers on the protection of personal data, organized by an educational organization.

6. Developing applications and online services for secure data transfer (e.g., data encryption services).

7. Developing and distributing free data protection tools (antivirus programs, programs for blocking unwanted messages).

8. Monitoring vulnerabilities in the security system of an educational organization when providing services and eliminating them.

9. Providing information in marketing communications about measures to protect personal data of consumers.

From the authors’ point of view, managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at the conceptual and instrumental levels in the international educational space is based not only on the application by universities of the concept of socially ethical marketing but also on the social responsibility of the creators of communication messages. Those norms and rules that are accepted by society and passed down from generation to generation are difficult to document and approve by law. The level of upbringing and education of communicators, the degree of respect for moral principles in culture, and the preservation of cultural traditions and language lay the foundations for the ethical promotion of a brand, in particular, a university brand, the activities of which initially have a pronounced social vector.

3. Conclusion

This chapter presents an integrated approach to studying the problems of ethical promotion of a university brand in the international market, which can be considered as scientific novelty and determines the academic contribution of the study. Compliance with ethical principles in university marketing communications with target consumers of educational services from different countries is one of the factors in shaping the attractiveness of Russian education, in general, and Russian universities in particular.

In order to level out ethical problems in promoting a university brand, the authors have developed a model for managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at the conceptual and instrumental levels. The methodological approach created by the authors to managing the ethical promotion of a university brand at two levels and methodological recommendations for implementing this model at the conceptual and instrumental levels, a certain contribution should be made to the development of the theory and models of integrated marketing communications in the context of compliance with the principles of ethics in communications. The authors’ methodological recommendations for implementing the proposed model at the conceptual level are as follows:

1. In detailing approaches to social and ethical marketing based on a mutually beneficial exchange of values between the university brand and consumers of educational services from other countries: The authors show that consumers’ choice of a Russian university is determined by such a priority value in their value system as social value: The status that Russian education gives to foreign students.

   Due to differences in the priority values of foreign students from near and far abroad countries, the authors see in the segmentation of consumers by individual and cultural values inherent in the residents of the country of permanent residence of students segmenting consumers according to individual and cultural values inherent in residents of the students’ country of permanent residence. This segmentation can be complemented by dividing foreign students into segments/niches (generations Y and Z), which differ in their behavior patterns when choosing a university and educational program due to different generational values. Such segmentation can become the basis for differentiated positioning and marketing communications, which will make it possible to fully take into account the needs and values of foreign students in relation to Russian education.

2. In the systematization of international and Russian regulatory documents establishing the rules of ethical marketing communications: Some discrepancies in the rules and norms of ethical brand promotion in international and Russian legislation, international ethical standards not specified in Russian regulatory documents, need to be understood and taken into account when promoting the Russian university brand in the international educational space.

At the instrumental level of the management model for ethical promotion of the university brand, methodological recommendations are expressed as follows:

1. In the typification of PR tools in the context of social and ethical marketing and systematization of social projects as a promotion tool in the Russian and international markets: In the totality of social projects of universities, projects are highlighted that involve foreign students in the socially transformative practices of universities and contribute to the mutual promotion of Russian cultural values and the values of the national cultures of students from other countries. It should be noted that all Russian universities have marketing and PR departments in their structure, which have a wide range of different PR tools for creating an attractive image of the university brand and Russian education in general, both in the domestic education market and in international markets. Fulfilling this task is greatly facilitated in the context of digitalization of marketing communications of the university brand with the target audience.

2. In considering integrated marketing communications (IMC) within the framework of social and ethical marketing as a complex of all relationships with target consumers through product, pricing, sales, communication, and other university policies: Monitoring the state of university IMC elements and students’ opinions about their contribution to the creation of consumer value will allow universities to assess the extent of the gap between students’ expectations regarding the representation of IMC elements in the process of consuming educational services and the university’s declared values of these services.

3. In systematizing the ethical principles of brand promotion through digital channels, which universities consider as a significant resource for marketing communications with the target audience: The ethical principles for promoting a brand through digital channels complement the existing universal ethical principles for advertising and PR. It should be emphasized that students belonging to generation Z establish their own ethical standards for communication, for example, on social networks, and are very sensitive to violations of these standards by third parties.

4. In developing activities to address unethical behavior of universities in matters of confidentiality when promoting a brand. Such events conducted by the university should lead to a reduction in the consumer’s perception of the risk of losing personal space in the process of marketing communications with the university.

In addition to the methodological strengths of the study results, some limitations should be noted. First, the results of the study are summarized from survey data based on non-probability samples at two Russian universities. In addition, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the extent to which the opinion of foreign students about the social and ethical brand of a Russian university will be transmitted to their friends and family as potential students of Russian universities. Secondly, the use of a methodological approach based on quantitative research methods may reduce the reliability of the results, as well as understanding the relationship between the degree of attitude of foreign students to the university brand and the university’s compliance with ethical principles of promotion.

The identified limitations of the study determine the directions for future research on the development of this topic, which the authors see as follows. Firstly, this is an empirical study of the social and ethical practices of Russian universities when promoting the university brand in the educational services markets of near and far abroad. Secondly, the use of qualitative methods to study the degree of relationship between the attitude of foreign students to the university brand and the university’s compliance with ethical principles of promotion. Conducting research on this topic on several representative samples of both capital and regional universities will make it possible to make informed decisions to increase the attractiveness of Russian universities and Russian education in the international market.