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Setting Marketing GoalsMarket Position or Image: Adult
education providers must realize that they compete with work, family, and
community responsibilities for potential students’ time and interest.
“Marketing is really a process in which organizations battle for
position in the consumer’s mind” (Ries and Trout, 1980).
Historically, adult education has held a position in the public eye as
something connected to the public education system.
Providers should recognize that adult education’s public image affects
choices regarding participation as much as educational values held by the
individual. The location of sites
in schools and the emphasis on the GED as high school equivalency strongly ties
adult education to “school” in the minds of the public.
Recent efforts to associate adult education with vocational education
with the location of programs within KCTCS and One-Stop centers may serve to
shift this association toward workforce development. In its current form,
however, adult education has to struggle to be considered part of everyday adult
priorities.
Our research indicates that associations with “school” for many of
our respondents are negative; thus, adult education suffers from anti-school
sensibilities. Alternatively,
vocational education or training is recognized as valuable and/or necessary for
financial stability; however, adult education is often seen as an obstacle to
that opportunity. You will soon
have to have your GED to be admitted into most post-school programs, thus
putting post-secondary educational opportunities out of reach for many
individuals. The GED and, by
association, adult education, is a hurdle to overcome in order to gain access to
training opportunities. In these
ways, adult education currently occupies a negative market position.
Effective marketing of adult education means positioning programs in such
a way as to serve the interests of potential clients and avoid negative
attributions. If adult education is seen as an obstacle to vocational
training, for example, this is something that needs to be addressed.
Finally, strategic marketing of adult education should focus on changing
the reputation, structure, and position of current programs in their local
contexts rather than public attitudes regarding education in general.
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