Brand Image, Academic Service Quality, and Institutional Recovery Mechanisms: A Study at a Private Health Higher Education Institution
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31004/joecy.v6i1.8733Keywords:
brand image, academic service quality, institutional recovery, higher education managementAbstract
Higher education institutions are increasingly exposed to organizational disruptions that threaten institutional legitimacy, stakeholder trust, and enrolment sustainability. This challenge is particularly acute for private health higher education institutions due to stringent regulatory requirements, accreditation pressures, and high public sensitivity to professional credibility. This study investigates the role of brand image and academic service quality as institutional recovery mechanisms in health higher education institutions that experienced a temporary suspension of new student admissions. Departing from conventional studies conducted in stable institutional environments, this research adopts a post-vacancy perspective that conceptualizes recovery as a governance process involving symbolic legitimacy restoration and functional validation rather than mere operational reopening. Using a quantitative explanatory approach, data were collected from new and active students and analyzed using Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that brand image and academic service quality exert positive and significant effects on student enrollment intention. Brand image functions as a symbolic recovery mechanism that mitigates reputational risk and restores institutional legitimacy, while academic service quality operates as a functional validation mechanism that confirms institutional reliability and effectiveness. This study contributes to higher education management literature by positioning branding and service quality as integrated recovery instruments within post-crisis institutional governance.
Keywords: brand image; academic service quality; institutional recovery; higher education management.
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