Mediating Role of Brand Image: Competitive Advantage and School Selection Decisions in Islamic Education

Abstrak

This study explores how Digital Marketing and Competitive Advantage affect students' school selection decisions at an Islamic boarding school in South Kalimantan, with Brand Image as a mediator. Despite strong quality indicators and digital marketing efforts, enrollment trends have fluctuated. Using a quantitative design, data were collected from 121 students via purposive sampling (response rate: 85.2%) and analyzed with PLS-SEM. The results show that Digital Marketing and Brand Image significantly influence school selection decisions, while Competitive Advantage only predicts Brand Image. Brand Image fully mediates the relationship between Competitive Advantage and Selection Decision and partially mediates the effect of Digital Marketing. The model explains 61% of the Brand Image variance and 42.2% of the Selection Decision variance. The study concludes that competitive advantages only affect enrollment when they are transformed into a credible brand image, addressing contradictions in prior research. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and reliance on student respondents, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. This study contributes a framework positioning Digital Marketing and Competitive Advantage as key drivers of Brand Image, clarifying how institutional strengths influence enrollment decisions.