• Priyanka Singh
• Dr. H. S. Srivatsa

India has grown economically and financially from the past two decades, attracting under-graduate and post graduate students from all over the world in the global market place. With a number of new Universities being set up, it has been a challenge for the students to make a choice amongst the Universities. Mater of Business Administration Programs (MBA) are sought by students pursuing Business Management as a career choice. It has been a difficult process for students to choose their University MBA programs. This study has been an attempt to understand the variables that influence the student’s choice of University MBA programs. Students extensively use Social Media to gather information, to compare choices and to make a decision to choose University MBA programs. This study is also an attempt to understand the role of Social Media in the customer journey of MBA program selection. This study was carried out in the city of Bengaluru, a Metropolitan city in India, to study the variables that influence the choice of a University MBA program. Compared to the earlier studies of sampling method and population criteria, Hypotheses testing revealed that Availability of Incubation Opportunities, Location of the Campus and UGC Approved Rankings were the new influencing variables along with the others. In the students’ Customer Journey of selecting a University MBA program Social Media played an important role across all the stages - Pre-Admission, During Admission and Post-Admission.

Students selection criteria, Student’s Customer Journey, Social Media, MBA programs, University Grants Commission (UGC), University MBA Programs, Exploratory Factor Analysis, Bangalore, India.

"Students’ Selection Criteria of University MBA Program and Role of Social Media in Students’ Customer Journey ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.255-271, June-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906F43.pdf

"Students’ Selection Criteria of University MBA Program and Role of Social Media in Students’ Customer Journey ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp255-271, June-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906F43.pdf