Characterization of the brand of a public university in the dimensions of brand personality from the perspectives of current students and graduates

Abstract

The educational environment has undergone several transformations in recent decades, among them, the high rate of competitiveness to the detriment of the emergence of new higher education institutions both in private and public sectors. One of the possible differentials of an institution would be the strengthening of its brand before its internal stakeholders (students, staff, teachers) and external stakeholders (government, development agencies, competitors). One of the ways to identify brand behavior would be to attribute human characteristics to it, as consumers would make their decision compatible with their own personality. Therefore, the objective of this article is to evaluate the brand personality of the Federal University of Uberlândia from the perspective of its students and graduates of undergraduate courses located on the campuses of the city of Uberlândia-MG. The research has a descriptive quantitative approach and simple random sampling. Data collection is based on the survey method. The instrument used is the Brand Personality Dimensions Scale proposed by Muniz and Marchetti (2012), who molded Aaker's scale (1997) to the Brazilian context. The results show that UFU’s brand personality is perceived primarily by the Credibility dimension, with emphasis on the statements "I believe that UFU is respectable", "I believe that UFU is responsible" and "I believe that UFU is reliable"; secondly, Audacity, with emphasis on the updated, creative and modern characteristics; and, finally, Fun.