Digitalization, Communication, and Identity Formation: Directions for Research in Higher Education

Nowadays, digitalization is evident in various aspects of our daily lives, ranging from individual activities to business operations. The subject of digitalization has gained particular prominence in the marketing discipline, whereby digital marketing plays a central role in creating brand awareness, communicating brand image, and connecting with the target audience, as well as acquiring and retaining customers. The aim of this chapter is to address the importance of social media marketing in facilitating communication and identity formation for both business institutions and their relevant stakeholders. It particularly explores this phenomenon in the context of higher education institutions. With the prominence of active social media users, higher education institutions worldwide are heavily reliant on social media platforms to connect and communicate with various stakeholders, such as alumni, employees, collaborators, policymakers, and current and prospective students. Akin to any other business, the main objective of higher education institutions within the private sector is to increase revenue and maximize profit. As such, while higher education institutions seek to deliver value to their stakeholders, in return, stakeholders serve as both consumers and co-creators of value. In particular, students, both prospective and current, represent the core stakeholder group of higher education institutions, and therefore, are the focus of this chapter. This chapter highlights the moderating role of social media marketing in facilitating brand–consumer communication and identity formation within higher education institutions. Relatedly, the chapter also emphasizes the importance of exploring differences in cross-cultural adaptation of social media marketing in higher education institutions, with emphasis on Middle Eastern Arab countries. The chapter also offers directions relating to social media marketing for higher education institutions for Middle Eastern Arab countries.