The Influence of Digital Promotion, School Service Quality, And Brand Image on Parents' Decisions In Choosing SMP Swasta Rk Bintang Timur Pematangsiantar
Keywords:
digital promotion, service quality, brand image, parental decisionAbstract
Introduction/Main Objectives: The intensifying competition among private educational institutions requires schools to excel not only academically but also in building trust and appeal to parents as the primary decision-makers in school selection.
Background Problems: Enhancing teacher performance requires more than professional skills alone; it also depends on effective social interaction and strong teaching motivation, which are often overlooked in professional development efforts.
Novelty : The novelty of this study lies in the simultaneous testing of the influence of digital promotion, school service quality, and brand image on parental decisions within the context of private schools in non-metropolitan areas, a setting that remains empirically under-researched, particularly at the junior high school level.
Research Methods: This study employs an associative quantitative approach with a survey method. The research population consisted of 376 parents of grade VII students for the 2025/2026 academic year. A sample of 194 respondents was determined using the Slovin formula with a 5% margin of error, selected through simple random sampling. Data were collected via Likert-scale questionnaires and analyzed using multiple linear regression in SPSS.
Finding/Results: The findings indicate that partially, digital promotion has a positive but non-significant effect on parental decisions. Conversely, service quality and brand image have a positive and significant influence. Simultaneously, digital promotion, service quality, and brand image significantly influence parents' decisions in choosing the school.
Conclusion: This study concludes that parental decisions in choosing a school are more heavily influenced by perceived service quality and trust in the school's image than by digital promotion alone. Therefore, schools should prioritize enhancing service quality and strengthening their brand image while continuing to utilize digital promotion as a supportive tool for communication and information.
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