The Internet as a Marketing Tool for Marketing the Higher Education

The use of the Internet as a marketing tool for marketing a university is a new strategy that became popular in recent years. Nowadays, life conditions have diversified the needs of the individuals and intensive competition has become one of the tough realities of marketing. In this competitive marketing environment, traditional practices prove to be insufficient in satisfying the needs of the consumers. In this context, in addition to the traditional means of mass media, the Internet started to be used as a marketing tool. In this study, an-inhouse questionnaire is designed and administered to 1000 Turkish and international students studying at the Eastern Mediterranean University located in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the 2005-2006 academic year. The results indicate that the Internet as a marketing tool is not very effective on its own but is a very helpful tool for marketing the Eastern Mediterranean University only as a complementary to other marketing strategies. Further research is suggested for improving the EMU's web site and looking at the other marketing strategies employed by the Eastern Mediterranean University.