Towards Sustainable Internationalization of Higher Education: Innovative Marketing Strategies for International Student Recruitment

Globalization and internationalization have received increasing attention from researchers in the field of education management over the past decade, who have found that internationalization is an indispensable component in the sustainable development of higher education (HE). This research aims to construct Innovative Marketing Strategies (IMS) for international student recruitment and contribute to the sustainable internationalization of higher education (IoHE). A literature review was used to construct an Innovative Marketing Strategies questionnaire. Data collected from 300 international students studying in Taiwan were used for a feasibility analysis in order to construct the final questionnaire, and survey data collected from 522 participants were used for more in-depth statistical analysis of the final strategies. The research results indicate that combining the marketing mix 4C with an innovative strategy (IS) approach provides sustainable recruitment marketing strategies toward higher education institution internationalization from a customer-oriented perspective. The IMS in this study includes 2 dimensions, 10 strategies, and 32 indicators. Additionally, a comprehensive analysis demonstrating the perspectives of international students with respect to the strategies was also conducted. This research contributes to the theoretical development and practical implementation of sustainable HE internationalization management. Discussions and recommendations based on the results of this study are also given.