Factors affecting corporate image from the perspective of distance learning students in public higher education institutions

New information technologies enable different interactions in the educational environment, affecting how the image of educational institutions adopting distance-learning programmes is perceived. This article identifies factors affecting the perception of corporate image from the viewpoint of distance-learning students at public higher education institutions. The results indicate that the institution’s image is a translation of impressions generated from the individual’s interaction with various organisational components, based on relevant cognitive and affective aspects according to the way of observing the environment. The study demonstrated both the multidimensionality of the image and that the institution’s overall image is associated most strongly with its affective image. The study also demonstrated that the virtual environment was the factor most strongly associated with affective image. © 2016 European Higher Education Society.