EXAMINING THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY ONLINE WEBSITE PRESENCE AND STUDENT ENROLLMENTS
Keywords:
Higher Educational Institutions, Websites, Higher Education Marketing, Student enrollment, behavioural intentions.Abstract
This study examined the relationship between Nigerian university websites and student enrollment
decisions in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and other
related constructs, the research developed hypotheses aligned with specific objectives. A survey
research design was adopted, and data were collected from 296 respondents using a structured
questionnaire. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression with the aid of the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15.0. The results revealed that the perceived
enjoyment of higher education institution (HEI) websites had a significant positive effect on
students’ intention to use them. Conversely, the information quality of HEI websites exhibited a
negative but statistically insignificant effect on usage intention. Notably, the system quality of HEI
websites had a significantly negative influence on students’ intention to use the websites. However,
facilitating conditions for HEI website usage significantly enhanced students’ intentions to use
them for enrollment purposes. These findings suggest that students’ willingness to adopt
educational technology is more influenced by perceived enjoyment and ease of use than by the
technical aspects of the system. Consequently, universities and marketers should emphasize
engaging and user-friendly website features when deploying digital platforms. The study
recommends removing barriers to technology adoption by ensuring the availability of resources
such as online assistance, appropriate hardware and software, reliable internet access, user training,
and technical support.
