Effect of product/program advertising on organizational growth of universities in the coastal counties of Kenya

The competition for students is intensifying across the globe and creating a need for competitive strategies in order to attract students and partners. In Kenya, however, little is known regarding the influence of product/program advertising on organizational growth of universities in the coastal region of Kenya. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to determine the effect of academic program advertising on organizational growth of universities in the coastal region of Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design targeting16 universities, both public and private located in the coastal region of Kenya. From these the accessible population comprised 160 management level employees. Naissuma formula was used to generate a sample size was 65 respondents who were selected from the universities through systematic random sampling. Data was collected through copies of questionnaires and was analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis methods. From the findings of this study, it emerged that academic program advertising positively influenced university growth in the study area in terms of; growth of facilities (p<0.05), growth in student enrolment (p<0.05) and increase in fee payment (p<0.05). The study, thus, recommends that academic programs should be regularly reviewed to match the changing market dynamics and that universities consider the market requirements during development and introduction of new programs.