Reflection of positioning dimensions in higher educationinstitutions to the marketing mix, the effect ofpositioning and marketing mix on performance indicatorsof universities

The main purpose of the study is to determine the positioning typoligies, marketin mix and performance indicators applied by higher education institutions, to reveal the relationship between preferred positioning dimensions and marketing mix elements, to detect the effect of preferred positioning dimensions on marketing mix elements, to examine the effect of positioning and marketing mix on performance indicators and to offer suggestions for universities. The universe of the research is all higher education institutions operating in Turkey. With the purposeful sampling method, three foundation and three state universities, which were at the top of the rankings published between 2012 and 2017 by URAP, were at the bottom and had the highest increase in the specified period, were determined as the sample of the research. In the study, which was carried out with the quantitative research method, the survey technique was preferred as the data collection method and 262 questionnaires were obtained with the participation of the senate representatives of the universities. Within the scope of the study, 5 different positioning dimensions of universities have been identified as prestige, campus opportunities, research opportunities, student orientation and international orientation. Among these dimensions, it has been concluded that the most preferred positioning dimension of universities is student orientation and the universities position themselves primarily in Social, Humanities and Administrative Sciences. In addition, it has been determined that the positioning dimensions have an effect on the marketing mix elements, but the preferred positioning dimension is not effective on all marketing components. Furthermore 4 different performance criteria of universities have been determined as education-research, contribution to society, internationalization and entrepreneurship. It has been concluded that positioning dimensions and marketing mix elements are generally effective on these performance criteria. In addition, it has been seen that the prestige dimension from the positioning dimensions and the distribution element from the marketing mix elements affect all performance criteria. Another result obtained within the scope of the study is that there are differences in perception of positioning dimensions, marketing mix elements, and performance criteria in state universities and foundation universities. While the perception of the members of the senate towards all marketing components differs according to the type of university, it has been concluded that there is a difference in the perception of the dimensions of prestige, campus facilities, research opportunities, student orientation from the positioning dimensions, and the perception of the criteria of contribution to the society and entrepreneurship as the performance criteria. Keywords: Higher Education, Positioning Typologies, Marketing Mix, Performance Indicators