The role of instructor experiential values in shaping students’ course experiences, attitudes and behavioral intentions

Purpose: Students’ experiences with instructors and courses determine an institute’s identity. With the instructor analogous to a brand spokesperson and the course to a brand, this study aims to examine the impact of the instructor experiential values on the student’s course experiences, as well as their attitudes and behavioral intentions towards the instructor. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a mixed-method approach that combines literature review and qualitative research, with two stages of empirical validation using structural equation modeling. Findings: The instructor experiential values comprise appearance, entertainment, escapism, intrinsic enjoyment, efficiency and service excellence. The course experiences are composed of sensory, sentimental, behavioral and intellectual experiences. Strong effects of the instructor experiential values on the course experiences and, in turn, on the students’ attitudes and behavioral intentions are found. Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to higher education literature by leveraging the theories of meanings transfer, experiential value and brand experience for a unique perspective to the students’ interactions with higher education institute instructors and courses. Originality/value: The paper’s analogy of an instructor as a brand spokesperson endorsing the course brand is an original contribution to this domain.