American values and their effect on higher education choice: A laddering analysis

Abstract

How American students use the decision-making process to choose a university and degree program has long been studied. A number of methodologies have been used to research the how and why of this process. This study aims to successfully implement the methodology of laddering, which has been widely utilized in consumer psychology studies, in the application of uncovering the values that drive American students’ decision-making process in pursuing a degree of higher education. In addition, the study uses a novel, yet validated, data collection process that takes place via online chat. The main findings show that the laddering interviews produced have successfully illuminated several key values important to American students, and provide managerial implications with actionable suggestions as well as a solid groundwork for future research in the field.