Measuring the image of private university as a generic product: Validation of a scale

The compulsory nature of online training in university education, brought about by COVID-19, has opened the door to the emergence of several potential competitors in the university space. Thus, measuring a university's image may have even greater importance for the management and differentiation of universities in the new post-COVID-19 horizon. This study aims to test whether a standardized scale of brand image measurement is valid for measuring the image of the 'private university' product. A non-probabilistic convenience sample was chosen, collecting information from 728 citizens from the same territory (Andalusia). The procedure to validate the scale involves dividing the sample (728) into two sub-sets: one to establish the scale, and the other to validate the results. The methodology applied is Confirmatory Factor Analysis using EQS 6.3 software. The scale was validated, and the main results show that people favor the quality of private universities, their commitment to society, and the perfect option that they are. Additionally, results show the idea that private universities present characteristics absent from public ones as non-significant, and do not agree that private universities provide a high value concerning the price that has to be paid.