Abstract

Purpose: Research focuses on private universities' professional education in a competitive educational environment. Due to increased competition in the higher education industry, private universities are under pressure to improve their marketing strategies and better understand their prospective students. This study intends to investigate how information sources are used and modified by Indonesian university students when making decisions. Research design, data and methodology: This research is a case study in Riau province, which includes active university students registered in the government database. Data was collected using a questionnaire distributed via Google Forms to students at a private university, and 164 students completed the questionnaire. Results: The results show that the influence of technical quality, functional quality, and image cannot affect word of mouth, and technical quality cannot affect consumer attitudes. The results show that the distribution of high service quality and high image will encourage people to share their experiences by word of mouth to build evaluation attachment in college selection. and found that a good campus image has no direct impact on word of mouth. The spread of an excellent campus image only attracts students to evaluate it. The more talk about the distribution of service quality, the higher the decision to choose the service.