Parents also want to choose a school that is suitable for their children's learning process and the needs of the parents themselves. According to the Mood of the Motherhood website, which compiled a list of kindergartens in Bangkok in 2019, there are 140 kindergartens in Bangkok, of which 53 are international curriculum schools. Pitchaya T., 2019, “Mood of the Motherhood”) So Bangkok's international curriculum schools must now create a strong identity and try to access the needs and expectations of parents in each generation to create a dynamic marketing plan that synchronizes with the expectations of each customer group.
Therefore, one of the groups of people who are looking very carefully for a good kindergarten school for their children are the parents of generation Y, also called "Gen Y".
Research questions
Therefore, this study aims to study the factors that influence Generation Y's decision of which international curriculum schools to choose at kindergarten level in Bangkok for their children or their family, which will be beneficial for improving the international curriculum schools' educational management to meet the needs of their consumers and direct the marketing plans of those schools to the Gen Y target audience.
Research objectives
Scope of study
Expected benefits
LITERATURE REVIEWS
- Thailand’s Educational System
- Overview of education in Thailand
- Kindergarten schools
- Factors that influence the selection of a school
- Personal socio-economic factors
- School factors based on the 7Ps Marketing Mix
- Brand Image
- The conceptual framework
- Opinion from prior researchers on key factors
International schools in Thailand are categorized as international schools in transition under the Private Education Act in 1983. They aim to provide the best for their children, including what they see as the best schools. In this study, Physical Evidence will be used to refer to the school environment and atmosphere in the school.
Analysis of the factors that influence parents' satisfaction when choosing a music school for their children.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Research Design
- Data Collection Methodology
- Instruments
- Quantitative research
- Qualitative research
- Data Analysis
The purpose of the in-depth interviews is to obtain more in-depth information about the factors that influence Generation Y individuals when choosing kindergartens for their children or their family in Bangkok. These analysis methods used logistic regression analysis for quantitative analysis and content analysis for qualitative analysis. After collecting the survey from the sample via Google Form, data will be analyzed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program to generate inferential statistics and provide basic descriptive statistics such as numerical scales and the mean, including a graph to show the data in order to answer the research question: "What are the factors that Generation Y looks for in choosing international curriculum schools at the kindergarten level?" and "What is the most important factor influencing their final decision?".
Furthermore, the interviews of this paper used in-depth interviews with a sample of six respondents in order to gain a deep understanding of the factors that influence Generation Y's decision-making when choosing international curriculum schools for their children or their relatives at the kindergarten level. .
RESEARCH FINDINGS
- Results from Survey Method
- The respondents’ profiles
- Results from Survey Method – Key Findings
- Descriptive statistics: 7Ps Marketing Mix
- Descriptive statistics: Brand Image
- Logistic regression
- In-Depth Interviews with Parents – Key Findings
- Household income
- Brand Image
- Product
- People
- Place
- Promotion
- Price
- Process
Respondents indicated degrees of importance and indifference to the school factors based on the 7Ps Marketing Mix and Brand Image. Regarding the school factors based on the 7Ps Marketing Mix, previous research provides support for this study's findings. In addition, the respondents also see physical evidence as an important factor, because the environment and atmosphere of the school is important to support the students' learning process.
They feel more confident sending their children or family members to a school with a positive brand image, as they believe this reflects the school's standards and success. Out of a total of six interviews, there were four interviewees who considered the school's brand image to be very important. They feel more confident sending their children or family members to a school with a positive brand image because, in their minds, this reflects the school's standards and success.
Some consider the teaching approach of the school because they want to find an approach that suits their child's skills and abilities. One parent mentioned that the management team is key, and that the vision of the school's management team is very important to develop the school. The management team had to be dynamic and constantly evaluate their approach so that the school could produce positive outcomes for their students.
Most of them stated that the longest acceptable travel time to school is 30-40 minutes. Out of a total of six respondents, three respondents saw the promotion factor as important because they felt that the school offered them value through this factor.
CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions
For the image of the brand, it is considered from the first stage by the parents of the generation when they choose the school. This is because the brand image and positive reputation make them feel more confident in sending their children or their relatives to study at a school and they feel that this reflects the school's standards and the school's success. For physical evidence, it is a must for the school to attract the attention of Generation Y parents.
They consider that the environment and atmosphere in the school will be very important in supporting the learning process of the students and it should be appropriate, safe and clean. The researcher also found that the most important factor influencing their final decision is Product, which is the school factor based on the 7Ps marketing mix. Their curriculum or teaching method is a core value that determines the direction of the school.
They will focus on the qualifications of the teacher and teacher's assistants, and are also concerned with the management style of the management team of the school. They will give the brand factor more weightage when comparing to make the final decision.
Recommendations
They will give more weight to the brand factor when comparing to make a final decision. school for their children. In terms of implications for schools and educational institution management teams, these findings could help schools to provide offerings that meet customer needs and demands and lead to higher quality education for students with satisfaction along the customer journey. The teaching approach or teaching methods should be clearly stated and consistent, so that parents can choose a school that responds to their child's unique abilities and skills, including their own differing parental expectations.
For the academic-oriented method at the kindergarten level, schools should pay special attention to the methods of knowledge transfer to students, which must not impose too much professional knowledge on students, and teachers must also pay close attention to the teaching process, otherwise it will cause the children to become too stressed. Another recommendation is that the management team of international schools, regardless of the nationality of the leaders, must formulate their attitudes and goals in the same direction as that of the host school, otherwise it will create confusion and the school's development will be interrupted. The approximate acceptable travel time for them to school was 30 minutes to an hour at most.
Parents consider the value they get in return, but if the tuition fee is lower than they expect, it leads to doubts whether the school provides good educational services or not. If schools want to attract parents with their facilities, school facilities can be improved to attract more attention by promoting additional safety and hygiene. For the kindergarten level, there should be one teacher and one teacher's aide for every ten students in the class.
Similarly, parents can track the status of their children's learning and get updates, which will lead to customer journey satisfaction in the education sector. Even if they send their children to a school with an international curriculum, they expect the school to integrate and teach Thai culture to their children.
Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research
Therefore, some institutions that cause high tuition fees may not be attractive to parents of Generation Y. Therefore, the results may not be applicable to all cases, such as other levels of education or other types of schools. Although the findings show that income, product, brand image and physical evidence have a large influence on Gen Y's decisions when choosing an international school at the kindergarten level, it is important to clarify that the survey was conducted only in Bangkok and may not represent an accurate picture of the actual demographics of Thailand.
For future research, researchers should conduct the same study with Generation Y in different age categories, because Generation Y is defined by different, varying age categories, and not just between 1980 and 2000. These different age categories face different situations in their lives that are their deciding factors and attitudes in very different ways. Therefore, although they are also classified as belonging to the same generation, they may have some different influential factors.
We recommend future studies that focus on teaching approach or methods that are trends that can attract Gen Y parents based on their expectations.
Factors influencing parents' decision to send their children to Bangkok International School in Singapore at nursery and kindergarten level.
APPENDICES
Appendix A: SPSS Statistics
Descriptive Statistics
Logistic Regression
Appendix B: Questionnaire
- Screening
- Personal information 1. Gender
- Factors influencing the selection of a school based on the 7Ps marketing mix
- Attributes 5
- Factors influencing the selection of a school based on brand image
- Decision-making process
- International Curriculum Schools
- Personal information 1. Gender
- Factors influencing the selection of a school based on the brand image Do you think that the brand image has an effect on your decision making or not? How?
Please answer this questionnaire using the following rating scale to indicate your responses and level of satisfaction as follows:. Factors Influencing the Selection of an International Curriculum School at Kindergarten Level for Generation Y in Bangkok. Are you currently sending, or planning to send, your child or any of their siblings to study in an international curriculum (i.e. an international school or a bilingual curriculum at a private school).
Do you have any experience as a key decision maker or have you been involved in the decision making process of choosing an international curriculum school at Kindergarten level for a child. What are the factors that influence you to choose the international curriculum schools at Kindergarten level. Do you think that the brand image has an effect on your decision making or not.
Please describe how you personally make a decision when choosing an international curriculum school at the Kindergarten level, especially if your decision-making process includes any factors not discussed above.
