Transnational Education Marketing (TNE) between the U.K. and China: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Institutional Marketing Communications.

The phenomenon of transnational education (TNE) marketing from the UK to China is an increasingly important mode of economic, educational and cultural exchange between the two countries. The ‘product’ being exchanged between nation-states is not simply the degree or diploma; it is also the culture, the social role, the people and the institutional interests (overt or covert) of the institution which shapes how it is perceived by its ‘customers’. In this sense, TNE is conceptualised in our research as the promotion of a set of discourses which collude to construct an image for customers. We seek to analyse the ways universities manage this discursive reality through promotional materials (e.g. student prospectuses, videos, posters, press advertising, websites) targeted at students and people who influence their decision to enrol at a particular institution. We believe the example of Sino-British educational marketing provides a unique opportunity for important discoveries to be made about the nature of the ‘product’ which is being marketed and the politics of promotion which underpins it.