Rice University: Image and Reputation Survey

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Rice UniversityImage and Reputation Survey

• Administrators Forum
• Feb. 12, 2008

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• Objective
• Measure awareness of, attitudes about and support
  for Rice among opinion leaders in strategic
  markets
• Understand Rices standing among target
  competitors
• Understand Rices performance in priority areas
• Methodology
• Oct. 19 Oct. 30, 2007
• 800 interviews of opinion leaders
• Age 35 and older, college-educated, affluent,
  civic participants
• 150 in Houston 150 in greater Texas 250 East
  Coast (New York, D.C., Miami) 250 West Coast
  (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle)

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Findings
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Competitive Set
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Overall respondents are familiar with Rice,
though intensity lags its competitors
I am going to read you a list of colleges and
universities. For each one, please tell me how
familiar you are with that college or university.
If you have never heard of it or are not sure,
please just say so.
Not Familiar
Total Familiar
Total
All respondents
Very/ Somewhat Familiar
88
12
84
16
81
19
73
25
59
37
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Proximity drives familiarity Houstonians feel
most familiar
I am going to read you a list of colleges and
universities. For each one, please tell me how
familiar you are with that college or university.
If you have never heard of it or are not sure,
please just say so.
Not Familiar
Total Familiar
Total
Rice University
Very/ Somewhat Familiar
73
25
BCD
93CD
6
90CD
10
CD
60D
36AB
D
49
48ABC
Superscript indicates significant difference at
95 confidence level
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Geography impacts feelings of familiarity
I am going to read you a list of colleges and
universities. For each one, please tell me how
familiar you are with that college or university.
If you have never heard of it or are not sure,
please just say so.

• Among the competitive set, Houstonians are most
  familiar with Rice. Eight in 10 feel very
  familiar with Rice 93 familiar overall
• Those in the rest of Texas (outside of Houston)
  also feel more familiar with Rice than they do
  with Rices competitors, though the intensity is
  lower than in Houston
• East Coast respondents feel less familiar with
  Rice than with Rices competitors, though 60
  feel familiar
• Half of West Coast respondents feel familiar with
  Rice (47). They are most familiar with Stanford

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Those who know Rice are favorable and
intensely more than half are very favorable
Now I am going to read you the same list of
colleges and universities. For each one, please
tell me how favorable you are, in general, about
that particular college or university. Do you
feel very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat
unfavorable or very unfavorable toward ? Asked
only of those who are familiar with the college
or university
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Favorability toward Rice is high across markets
intensity drops outside of Texas
Now I am going to read you the same list of
colleges and universities. For each one, please
tell me how favorable you are, in general, about
that particular college or university. Do you
feel very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat
unfavorable or very unfavorable toward ? Base
those who are familiar with Rice, Houston N143,
Rest of Texas N146 East Coast N196 West Coast
N158
Superscript indicates significant difference at
95 confidence level
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Media Environment Connections
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Most respondents do not have any connection to
Rice University
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A connection to Rice leads to increased
familiarity and favorability
O indicates significant difference from those
with no connection at 95 confidence level
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Reputation, athletics and science programs are
top-of-mind associations with Rice
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Outside of Houston, there is a soft news
environment for Rice University
AB
AB
BCD
CD
Prospects (39) and very affluent respondents
(35) are most likely to have heard something
recently
Superscript indicates significant difference at
95 confidence level
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News recall focuses on sports and lacks
specificity
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Overall, respondents most often get Rice news
from their local paper
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Outside of Texas, word of mouth, the Internet and
Rice publications are sources
Where did you see, hear or read this news about
Rice University? Base Respondents who had seen,
heard, or read anything recently about Rice,
Houston N90, Rest of Texas N47, East Coast
N19, West Coast N20 (note small N size for
East and West Coast respondents)
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When respondents do hear or see news about Rice,
it drives positive feelings
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Performance Goals
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Respondents prioritize a high-quality education
and world-class faculty
Total
First tier goals are those about which
respondents feel most intense that is have the
highest percentage saying very important
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State of the art classrooms and research are
second-tier priorities
Now I am going to read you some goals a PRIVATE
college or university may have may have. Using a
scale of 1 to 10, where a 1 is not at all
important and a 10 is very important, please
tell me how important you feel each of the
following goals should be for a private college
or university.
Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Important
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Third tier goals lack intensity
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Those familiar with Rice describe it as providing
a high-quality education
Now Id like to read you the same list and ask
you how well that describes Rice University.
Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is does not
describe at all and 10 is describes
completely, please tell me how well that
attribute or phrase describes Rice
University. Base those familiar with Rice, N643
First Tier Descriptions
Neutral/DK
Total
All respondents
Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Describes
74
25
67
30
72
26
60
38
59
38
64
35
57
41
First tier descriptors are those about which
respondents feel most intense that is have the
highest percentage saying describes very well
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On a second tier, respondents describe Rice as
prestigious and a value
Now Id like to read you the same list and ask
you how well that describes Rice University.
Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is does not
describe at all and 10 is describes
completely, please tell me how well that
attribute or phrase describes Rice
University. Base those familiar with Rice, N643
Neutral/DK
Second Tier Descriptions
Total
All respondents
Very (9-10)/ Somewhat (7-8) Describes
57
33
52
44
51
44
56
43
61
36
52
47
25
Respondents are least likely to describe Rice as
having a growing student body
Neutral/DK
47
56
51
47
70
23
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Top descriptors for Rice are similar across
regions
Now Id like to read you the same list and ask
you how well that describes Rice University.
Base those who are familiar with Rice, Total
N643 Houston N143 Rest of Texas N146 East
Coast N196 West Coast N158
Superscript indicates significant difference at
95 confidence level
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The ability to rate Rice diminishes with distance
Now Id like to read you the same list and ask
you how well that describes Rice University.
Base those who are familiar with Rice, Total
N643 Houston N143 Rest of Texas N146 East
Coast N196 West Coast N158

• Houston and Texas respondents see Rice as
  high-quality, highly ranked and well-located
• East and West Coast respondents often do not know
  how to describe Rice. They are more likely than
  Houston and Texas respondents to say they dont
  know if an attribute describes Rice. They are
  not more likely to say an attribute does not
  describe Rice

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Location
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The majority even those outside of Texas have
visited Houston before
Superscript indicates significant difference at
95 confidence level
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Outside of Texas, the Houston location does not
impact feelings toward Rice
As you may or may not know, Rice University is
located in Houston, TX. Hearing that, does that
make you feel more favorable or less favorable
about Rice University?
67 of those who know Rice say being located in
a city or town that offers lots of educational
and entertainment opportunities describes the
University
Total more favorable 37
Total less favorable 20
Total more favorable 72
Total less favorable 6
BCD
D
Total more favorable 35
Total less favorable 25
BC
A
A
Total more favorable 23
Total less favorable 23
AB
A
A
Total more favorable 18
Total less favorable 27
A
A
AB
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Conclusions Implications
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Positive Starting Point

• Rice University enjoys a relatively positive
  position across markets
• At least half in all markets are aware of Rice
• Those who know Rice are positive
• No entrenched negatives
• Quality (in academic offerings, faculty and
  student experiences) is associated with Rice
  across markets
• Location is seen as having either a neutral or
  positive impact
• Familiarity breeds positive reactions Houston
  respondents are more likely to feel favorably
  toward Rice and to rate Rice higher on attributes

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Areas for Work

• Rice will need to reinforce positives within
  Texas outside of Houston
• In East and West Coast markets, Rice must
  introduce itself to key audiences
• Awareness of Rice is lower in East and West Coast
  markets
• Though overall levels are high, there is a lack
  of intensity in favorability levels among those
  who know Rice in these markets
• The media environment tends to be soft recall
  of Rice in the news is vague or athletics-driven
• While negatives are not entrenched, many feel
  unable to rate Rice on key performance metrics

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(No Transcript)