The implementation of marketing in private early childhood education centres in Hong Kong: an investigation of the effect on marketing ethics

A neo-liberal premise underlies the early years education provision in Hong Kong where the market determines the form, promotion and quality of early years provision with little or no Government oversight. Such reliance and acceptance of the market mechanism especially where participants’ knowledge may be limited and the consequences of market distortions can serious hurt vulnerable participants, i.e. children and parents, require a level of marketing ethics higher than in other consumer markets. This is acute when parents believe that they are equipping their children from a very young age with the skills and knowledge needed for their future development but have no way of determining independently the quality of the schools other than through their own marketing. This is not to assume that the marketing is poor, only that where private early childhood education centres compete in the market for students that such risks exist. This study investigates the effect of marketing management might use of many features of schooling including teaching quality, which is difficult to easily verify, to increase the attractiveness of specific schools. Positively this work to increase the importance of quality teaching practice to substantiate such claims, negatively it can lead to misrepresentation. Such considerations and a number of other issues are core to ethical marketing practices in the marketplace and are investigated in this study.
Private early childhood education centres use marketing to promote themselves in the market, while parents use this information when making choices. Given that marketing is a seductive voice of neo-liberalism, a sustainable marketing measure needs to be backed by a wide range of practices which improve the products and protect the vulnerability of parents and children. At the same time, parents can collect information and other people’s comments for further consideration and analysis. This will allow them to be better informed when choosing a private early childhood education centre for their children, thereby making sure that the interests and well-being of their children are protected. Educational marketing, marketing ethics, and teaching quality in early childhood education centres forms the framework of this study, which will also use a mixed method approach. Phase 1 consists of a quantitative method in the form of a survey. Phase 2 consists of a qualitative method in the form of focus groups, followed by analysis and discussion of the results.
The results indicate that young parents, females, parents with lower education qualifications, and parents with lower income show a higher trust and are more reliant on private early childhood education centres on promotions. The research also determined that online marketing is extremely important. It was also found that communication between parents and private early childhood education centres is crucial. Furthermore, participants felt that no additional regulations should be added to the industry, although the government does have a number of ordinances regarding education at regular schools.
Positionality
Being a researcher and owner of a private early childhood education centre, I contribute to knowledge by offering an understanding of the market and marketing ethics in the early childhood education sector in Hong Kong. From such a position I recognise that the sustainability of my business is based on the reputation of the quality that achieves and retains. Misrepresentation in marketing are not only unethical but also poor business practice whereas good quality education which is evidenced in the practice and resource that I devote to teaching and enhance my business proposition, supports sustainability but above this secure a flourishing learning environment for the children.
As an insider researcher, and having the dual role of both operator and researcher adds a multidimensional aspect to project. However, it is vital that I remain objective and neutral in order to solve and mitigate personal and professional conflicts. In the interests of confidentiality, the sensitive information of the companies and organizations has not been disclosed. The data has also been rigorously evaluated to ensure credibility. The discussion of insider researcher implications can be referred to page 5 in this thesis.