Parents are an important category of education consumer but there is little hard data about how involved they are in decisions to study overseas and what they have the most influence over. Austrade recently partnered with IDP Connect to expand its Student Buyer Behaviour Survey to examine parents' perceptions and the factors that influence their decisions.
The first Parents of International Students' Buyer Behaviour study examined over 720 parents whose child or children were currently studying internationally; had applied to study internationally or were thinking about studying in the main English-speaking countries.
The four key findings of the survey are:
- Parents want to prepare their child for a future career, globally or in their home country
- Parents are more likely to drive the decision about where a child studies (city and country), while decisions about course and institution are more likely to be made by the student
- Safety is the top concern for parents, regardless of their child's age or level of study
- Parents are active in the research process, seeking out information both on their own and in collaboration with their child
Parents are more involved than their children think. These findings have implications for how the sector engages with parents as consumers.
Headline findings were presented at AIEC in Perth in October 2019. The full media release and IDP infographic is available on IDP's website.
