Abstract:
There is now intense competition among tertiary education providers due to proliferation of private and public
universities offering online and offline courses. The role of marketing is becoming more important among universities as
competition in the environment is getting more intense. One main approach that can facilitate the universities marketing
activities is understanding what determines students' online course preference. This study aims at examining the factors that
influence student's preference for online education. The purpose of this research is two fold: to investigate the number of
attributes that are important for a student in opting for pursuing online course and to help universities marketing effort and
the understanding of what determines a student's preference for online education. Conjoint analysis was used to investigate
the number of attributes in prospective students in Ghana and Iran. The results indicate that the four most important
determinants of preference for online course were course suitability, quality of teaching, quality of the course and library
services which are important for education strategist to consider when developing and rolling out marketing campaigns and
programmes.
Keywords: Online education; Course selection; Conjoint analysis
