University Brand Management in the Digital Environment: Faculty as Co-Creators and Brand Ambassadors

Abstract

University brand management in the digital environment increasingly depends on distributed faculty participation because institutional visibility is produced not only by central communication units but also through academics’ professional pages, publications, project communication and external engagement. This study examines faculty members as co-creators of the university brand and as potential voluntary brand ambassadors and identifies the managerial conditions under which favourable attitudes toward institutional positioning are converted into sustained, evidence-based professional visibility. The empirical analysis uses a consent-based sample of 372 faculty members and facilitators from the Erasmus+ SEAL-NR project. Descriptive statistics, contingency analysis, Pearson chi-square tests, Cramer’s V and rule-based behavioural profiling are applied. The results reveal a marked attitude-action gap: 95,1% of respondents use the university brand professionally regularly or sometimes, 61,7% use branded assets, while only 30,4% maintain an active professional page or blog. Digital competence is significantly associated with page status, branded-asset use and co-creation role, but effect sizes are small, showing that competence alone does not substitute for organisational support. A behavioural typology identifies active brand agents/ambassador candidates, potential or limited co-creators and brand sceptics. The study contributes by separating broad faculty brand co-creation from the more intensive voluntary ambassador role and by linking these roles to a differentiated six-layer management architecture integrating capability development, reusable assets, editorial support, recognition, governance and analytics. The findings indicate that universities can strengthen credible digital visibility by reducing participation costs and supporting faculty autonomy rather than imposing uniform promotional obligations. The management implication is a shift from campaign-based communication to a supported participation system in which differentiated faculty roles, reusable workflows and performance feedback connect academic activity with institutional visibility.