Digital Front Porch: A Content Analysis of Virtual Campus Tours

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 3:35 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Advancing Technology in Higher Education (Table 10)

Abstract

The campus tour is a mainstay of the college search process, but little research has considered the messages conveyed to prospective students and parents. Given the ubiquity of the virtual campus tour since the pandemic, this study uses virtual tours to examine university messaging through the genre of the virtual campus tour. The current study analyzed virtual campus tours for the institutions in the top 50 of the U.S. News rankings. The findings reveal the major trends and messages about the campuses and how they sell their institutions. The implications of this study inform practice and research about university messaging and the impact of these messages on key audiences.

Author

• Michael S. Harris, Southern Methodist University