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We all know that English is the most spoken language all over the world. Students in Taiwan are required to learn English in elementary school. Parents notice the importance of English and start sending children to English cram schools. However, how should parents pick a school that is suitable for the children? The objective of this research is to indentify the key factors that influence parent’s decision while picking English cram schools for children in Taiwan. The methodologies used in this research are focus group, mystery shopper, and online survey. The goal of the focus group is to find out what factors parents consider while choosing English cram schools. The mystery shopper would visit different schools and act as a parent searching for school for the child. To verify the analysis one step closer and to find out the public’s recognition of English cram schools, an online survey was conducted. After analyzing the data, this research indicates a conclusion that the main factors that influence parent’s decision are the learning environment, teaching quality and attitude, long-term management and commitment, and price. Bigger chain stores have strong marketing positioning and brand recognition, however, that doesn’t mean better service and quality or the final decision to pick the cram school. In the short run, large chain stores not only gain the business opportunity, but also earn the profit as they wished. Nevertheless, in the long run, parents would notice the inconsistency and unsatisfying services and eventually switched to a smaller privately owned schools that hires experienced and professional teachers. The relationship between the cram schools, parents, and teachers are very important. Therefore the best outcome for the children and for the parents to find the best school is to get a balance of all these factors. This research pointed out problems that most parents might not have noticed before. Parents put a lot of effort in their children’s education and a large portion of the household income goes to the children’s tuition. There is a big market for English cram schools in Taiwan, and large chain schools have done well on marketing the school. In order to keep and maintain the walk-in customers’ business, the larger chain stores could focus more on the quality control and provide a survey or questionnaire for the parents periodically to get their feedback or suggestions. Thus for the smaller privately owned schools to differentiate themselves and get the public’s attention, they could spend more on advertising and selling the school by showing parents that they only hire experienced and professional teachers from North America or Canada. Then the children and the parents will get the best outcome in learning English and getting the services and quality they paid for. |
