The Heart and the Mind in Higher Education Choice: An Empirical Analysis of Emotional and Rational Determinants among BBA and BCA Students

Abstract

 The selection of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) has become an increasingly complex decision-making process shaped by both cognitive evaluation and emotional interpretation. In highly competitive and market-oriented higher education environments, students evaluate institutions not only on academic and career-related outcomes but also on symbolic, social and experiential dimensions. This study examines the relative influence of rational and emotional determinants on institutional choice behavior among undergraduate students enrolled in Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelor of Computer Applications (BCA) programmes. The study further investigates the stage-wise variation and interaction between these determinants during the institutional decision-making process. The research adopts a quantitative and explanatory research design based on primary data collected from 111 students through a structured questionnaire. The study employed reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis and comparative stage-wise analysis to examine the proposed relationships among the variables. The findings reveal that both rational and emotional determinants significantly influence institutional choice behavior. However, rational determinants such as academic reputation, placement opportunities, infrastructure quality, employability orientation and programme relevance demonstrated comparatively stronger influence (β = 0.495, p < 0.001) than emotional determinants (β = 0.210, p = 0.027). The regression model explained 48.6% of the variance in institutional choice behavior (R² = 0.486), indicating moderate explanatory power. The study further demonstrates that rational considerations dominate the information search and evaluation stages, whereas emotional determinants including institutional image, campus atmosphere, belongingness and emotional comfort become increasingly influential during the final enrollment stage. The findings also indicate that students integrate objective institutional assessment with affective interpretation while making final institutional decisions, thereby supporting dual-process perspectives of behavioral decision-making. The study contributes to higher education marketing and student decision-making literature by developing an integrated cognitive–affective framework explaining institutional selection behavior within the Indian higher education context. The findings provide important managerial implications for higher education institutions by emphasizing the need to integrate rational value propositions with emotional engagement strategies in student recruitment and institutional positioning.