Preliminary Study of International Students in Malaysia on Perceived University and Destination Image towards Intention to Recommend

The mobility of international students worldwide has grown exponentially over the years. The Malaysian government has similarly aimed to bring in higher number of international students due to the significant economical benefits towards the country development. In task of increasing the number of international students in Malaysia, the images of the country and university plays an important role due to the global competitiveness. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants that lead the international students in choosing their place to further their tertiary education in terms of both country (destination) and university. Destination image was found to be associated with affective image which may affects the intention to recommend this destination to others. Additionally, the individual university image also affects the student’s perception in its enrolment. This study is not without limitation whereby the data collection is still limited and it is recommended to include other constructs for model testing and validation.