A Communication Based Towards Marketing Strategy for Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST)

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify and describe NEGST's target audiences, determine the audiences' image of NEGST, and determine the audiences" information acquisition patterns, all of which could be used to develop a commu- nication-based marketing strategy for NEGST. Two hundred (200) respondents were randomly selected from 20 purposively chosen Nairobi evangelical churches. A self-administered questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Closed-ended responses were coded in the questionnaires. The responses to the open-ended questions were coded by SPSS (6.1 release) and analyzed in terms of percentages and frequencies. Cross tabulations were done between audiences image of NEGST and their demographics; audiences' information ac- quisition patterns and their demographics; and audiences' needs/preferences and their demographics. The in-depth interviews were synthesized thematically. The following were the key findings: Most respondents (90.0%) would be involved with NEGST's activities if they received more information, NEGST cooperated with their churches, NEGST's programs were cheaper, and if NEGST had undergraduate courses. Nearly nine in ten respondents knew about the existence of NEGST, although two in five respondents knew about NEGST from 1996-2000. Three in five respondents did not know how NEGST was financially sup- ported though a substantial proportion of the respondents (70.0%) were willing to contribute financially to NEGST. A large majority of the respondents (80.0%) felt that the greatest weaknesses of NEGST were lack of aggressive publicity, marketing, and transparency. A large majority of the respondents (80.0%) would like to know about the programs, the scholarships, and the eligibility criteria to study at NEGST. The same proportion of respondents wanted information from NEGST. A large majority of the respondents (90.0%) received information about Chris- tian institutions through the radio, television, bulletins, word of mouth, posters, newspapers, and other unidentified sources.