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Rice University: Image and Reputation Survey

Rice University: Image and Reputation Survey. Administrators Forum Feb. 12, 2008. Objective Measure awareness of, attitudes about and support for Rice among opinion leaders in strategic markets Understand Rice’s standing among target competitors

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Rice University: Image and Reputation Survey

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  1. Rice University:Image and Reputation Survey Administrators Forum Feb. 12, 2008

  2. Objective • Measure awareness of, attitudes about and support for Rice among opinion leaders in strategic markets • Understand Rice’s standing among target competitors • Understand Rice’s performance in priority areas • Methodology • Oct. 19 – Oct. 30, 2007 • 800 interviews of opinion leaders • Age 35 and older, college-educated, affluent, civic participants • 150 in Houston; 150 in greater Texas; 250 East Coast (New York, D.C., Miami); 250 West Coast (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle)

  3. Findings

  4. Competitive Set

  5. Overall respondents are familiar with Rice, though intensity lags its competitors I am going to read you a list of colleges and universities. For each one, please tell me how familiar you are with that college or university. If you have never heard of it or are not sure, please just say so. Not Familiar Total Familiar Total All respondents % Very/ Somewhat Familiar 88% 12% 84% 16% 81% 19% 73% 25% 59% 37%

  6. Proximity drives familiarity; Houstonians feel most familiar I am going to read you a list of colleges and universities. For each one, please tell me how familiar you are with that college or university. If you have never heard of it or are not sure, please just say so. Not Familiar Total Familiar Total Rice University % Very/ Somewhat Familiar 73% 25% BCD 93%CD 6% CD 90%CD 10% D 60%D 36%AB 49% 48%ABC Superscript indicates significant difference at 95% confidence level

  7. All respondents Total favorable: 91% Total unfavorable: 5% Total favorable: 89% Total unfavorable: 8% Total favorable: 89% Total unfavorable: 5% Total favorable: 88% Total unfavorable: 7% Total favorable: 78% Total unfavorable: 5% Those who know Rice are favorable – and intensely; more than half are very favorable Now I am going to read you the same list of colleges and universities. For each one, please tell me how favorable you are, in general, about that particular college or university. Do you feel very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable toward … ? [Asked only of those who are familiar with the college or university]

  8. Rice University Total favorable: 89% Total unfavorable: 5% Total favorable: 97% Total unfavorable: 3% Total favorable: 98% Total unfavorable: 1% Total favorable: 79% Total unfavorable: 6% Total favorable: 75% Total unfavorable: 10% Favorability toward Rice is high across markets; intensity drops outside of Texas Now I am going to read you the same list of colleges and universities. For each one, please tell me how favorable you are, in general, about that particular college or university. Do you feel very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable toward … ? Base: those who are familiar with Rice, Houston N=143, Rest of Texas N=146; East Coast N=196; West Coast N=158 Superscript indicates significant difference at 95% confidence level

  9. Media Environment & Connections

  10. In which of the following ways, if any, are you connected with Rice University? Do you … ? All respondents 37% have some connection to Rice Most respondents do not have any connection to Rice University

  11. Connection % Very/Somewhat Positive Response Total familiar: 93% Total favorable: 94% No connection Total familiar: 62% Total favorable: 64% A connection to Rice leads to increased familiarity and favorability O indicates significant difference from those with no connection at 95% confidence level

  12. When you think of Rice University, what comes to mind? Base: those who are familiar with Rice, Total N=643 Total familiar: 73% of all respondents All respondents Reputation is largely driven by perceptions of academic excellence (32%) Reputation, athletics and science programs are top-of-mind associations with Rice

  13. Have you seen, heard or read anything recently about Rice University? Base: those who are familiar with Rice, Total N=643; Houston N=143; Rest of Texas N=146; East Coast N=196; West Coast N=158 Outside of Houston, there is a soft news environment for Rice University AB AB BCD CD Prospects (39%) and very affluent respondents (35%) are most likely to have heard something recently Superscript indicates significant difference at 95% confidence level

  14. What did you see, hear or read? Anything else? Base: Respondents who had seen, heard, or read anything recently about Rice, Total N=176 All respondents Respondents across geographies cited news about sports. On the West Coast, most recalled general news (note: small n size on the West Coast. N=20) News recall focuses on sports and lacks specificity

  15. Where did you see, hear or read this news about Rice University Base: Respondents who had seen, heard, or read anything recently about Rice, Total N=176 All respondents Overall, respondents most often get Rice news from their local paper

  16. Did this information – what you saw, read or heard about Rice University – make you much more favorable, somewhat more favorable, somewhat less favorable or much less favorable? Base: Respondents who had seen, heard, or read anything recently about Rice, Houston N=90, Rest of Texas N=47, East Coast N=19, West Coast N=20 (note: small N size for East and West Coast respondents) Total more favorable: 62% Total less favorable: 4% Total more favorable: 63% Total less favorable: 4% C Total more favorable: 61% Total less favorable: 2% C Total more favorable: 57% Total less favorable: 11% Total more favorable: 63% Total less favorable: 5% When respondents do hear or see news about Rice, it drives positive feelings

  17. Performance & Goals

  18. Now I am going to read you some goals a PRIVATE college or university may have may have. Using a scale of 1 to 10, where a 1 is “not at all important” and a 10 is “very important,” please tell me how important you feel each of the following goals should be for a private college or university. First Tier Goals All respondents % Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Important 96% 88% 85% 86% 85% 85% Respondents prioritize a high-quality education and world-class faculty Total First tier goals are those about which respondents feel most intense – that is have the highest percentage saying “very important”

  19. Second Tier Goals Total All respondents 80% 77% 76% 74% 73% 76% 70% 73% State of the art classrooms and research are second-tier priorities Now I am going to read you some goals a PRIVATE college or university may have may have. Using a scale of 1 to 10, where a 1 is “not at all important” and a 10 is “very important,” please tell me how important you feel each of the following goals should be for a private college or university. % Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Important

  20. Now I am going to read you some goals a PRIVATE college or university may have may have. Using a scale of 1 to 10, where a 1 is “not at all important” and a 10 is “very important,” please tell me how important you feel each of the following goals should be for a private college or university. Third Tier Goals Total All respondents % Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Important 69% 57% 49% Third tier goals lack intensity 24%

  21. Those familiar with Rice describe it as providing a high-quality education Now I’d like to read you the same list and ask you how well that describes Rice University. Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is “does not describe at all” and 10 is “describes completely,” please tell me how well that attribute or phrase describes Rice University. Base: those familiar with Rice, N=643 First Tier Descriptions Neutral/DK Total All respondents % Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Describes 74% 25% 67% 30% 72% 26% 60% 38% 59% 38% 64% 35% 57% 41% First tier descriptors are those about which respondents feel most intense – that is have the highest percentage saying “describes very well”

  22. On a second tier, respondents describe Rice as prestigious and a value Now I’d like to read you the same list and ask you how well that describes Rice University. Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is “does not describe at all” and 10 is “describes completely,” please tell me how well that attribute or phrase describes Rice University. Base: those familiar with Rice, N=643 Neutral/DK Second Tier Descriptions Total All respondents % Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Describes 57% 33% 52% 44% 51% 44% 56% 43% 61% 36% 52% 47%

  23. Now I’d like to read you the same list and ask you how well that describes Rice University. Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is “does not describe at all” and 10 is “describes completely,” please tell me how well that attribute or phrase describes Rice University. Base: those familiar with Rice, N=643 Third Tier Descriptions Total All respondents % Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Describes 48% 42% 43% 36% Respondents are least likely to describe Rice as having a growing student body Neutral/DK 47% 56% 51% 47% 70% 23%

  24. The ability to rate Rice diminishes with distance Now I’d like to read you the same list and ask you how well that describes Rice University. Base: those who are familiar with Rice, Total N=643; Houston N=143; Rest of Texas N=146; East Coast N=196; West Coast N=158 • Houston and Texas respondents see Rice as high-quality, highly ranked and well-located • East and West Coast respondents often do not know how to describe Rice. They are more likely than Houston and Texas respondents to say they “don’t know” if an attribute describes Rice. They are not more likely to say an attribute does not describe Rice

  25. Location

  26. Have you ever been to Houston, TX? CD CD AB AB CD The majority – even those outside of Texas – have visited Houston before Superscript indicates significant difference at 95% confidence level

  27. Outside of Texas, the Houston location does not impact feelings toward Rice As you may or may not know, Rice University is located in Houston, TX. Hearing that, does that make you feel more favorable or less favorable about Rice University? 67% of those who know Rice say being “located in a city or town that offers lots of educational and entertainment opportunities” describes the University Total more favorable: 37% Total less favorable: 20% Total more favorable: 72% Total less favorable: 6% BCD D Total more favorable: 35% Total less favorable: 25% BC A A Total more favorable: 23% Total less favorable: 23% AB A A Total more favorable: 18% Total less favorable: 27% A A AB

  28. Conclusions & Implications

  29. Positive Starting Point • Rice University enjoys a relatively positive position across markets • At least half in all markets are aware of Rice • Those who know Rice are positive • No entrenched negatives • Quality (in academic offerings, faculty and student experiences) is associated with Rice across markets • Location is seen as having either a neutral or positive impact • Familiarity breeds positive reactions: Houston respondents are more likely to feel favorably toward Rice and to rate Rice higher on attributes

  30. Areas for Work • Rice will need to reinforce positives within Texas outside of Houston • In East and West Coast markets, Rice must introduce itself to key audiences • Awareness of Rice is lower in East and West Coast markets • Though overall levels are high, there is a lack of intensity in favorability levels among those who know Rice in these markets • The media environment tends to be soft – recall of Rice in the news is vague or athletics-driven • While negatives are not entrenched, many feel unable to rate Rice on key performance metrics

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