Marketing communication: Case study of promotional event

Abstract

Promotional events are part of the marketing communication mix of higher education institutions. The aim of the article is to examine an open day as a promotional event that affects the decision-making of potential users of the services and their application for study programmes offered by a higher education institution. Research was conceived as a case study, in which we used an analysis of documents, observation with participation and a group interview to find out what meaning was ascribed to the open day by the participants of the event, what attitude they assumed towards it and how should the event be organized in order to be effective and attract candidates to apply. It was established that an open day as a promotional event represents an opportunity for a higher education institution to develop personal communication with potential users of the services and thus an opportunity for personal selling and ‘objectification’ of the educational service.