Corporate Image: Influencing Factors from the Viewpoint of Students of Distance Learning Courses

ABSTRACT New information technologies enable different interactions in the educational environment, affecting how students perceive and construct images about educational institutions that have adopted distance-learning programs. This article identifies which factors are associated with the perception of corporate image, from the viewpoint of distance-learning students at public higher-education institutions. The proposed study is quantitative in nature. The research analysis units are Higher Education Institutions in the State of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) that offer e-Learning undergraduate courses in the CEDERJ consortium. The units of observation are students enrolled at the São Fidélis hub. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using the SPSS program. The study demonstrated both the multidimensionality of the image and that the institution's Global Image is associated most strongly with its "Quality". In turn, "Virtual Environment" was the factor most strongly associated with Affective Image.