The Collegiate Student Orientation Scale (CSOS): Application of the Marketing Concept to Higher Education

Today's administrators in higher education face a dynamic marketplace that offers students an array of educational options and alternatives. Much like organizations more traditionally associated with marketing strategies and tactics, colleges and universities are gradually moving towards and embracing the marketing concept and a focus on consumer orientation. The fundamental objective in this study was to develop and empirically test a multi-item scale called the Collegiate Student Orientation Scale (CSOS). The results of the study showed that the CSOS demonstrated adequate internal reliability. Implications of the results and administrative applications for the new scale are discussed. Finally, avenues for future research are presented. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)