Consumer Behavior Models of Online United State Exam Preparation Courses: Parents' and Graduates' Perspectives

Online education is becoming increasingly popular, and many organizations, even those that have traditionally conducted classes in-person, are beginning to move to a hybrid or completely distance format. Consumers are increasingly choosing to purchase goods and services online because of convenience and price. The rise in popularity of online education was also driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, when mass events were restricted or banned altogether. The pandemic created a huge need for distance education and as a result, the market grew and continues to grow even after the restrictions on mass events were lifted. The purpose of this study is to examine the behavioral patterns of 11th grade graduates and their parents in choosing USE preparation courses. The main objectives of the study are to understand what consumers of the online USE preparation market base their decision about which school they will attend; how they structure the school selection process; where they look for information and how they analyze it; whether they consider face-to-face options; which competitive advantages they pay attention to and which do not influence their decision; which course characteristics become most important for 11th grade graduates and which ones for parents. To achieve the objectives, this study conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with the target audience - parents and 11th grade graduates who plan to take the USE in 2024. The sample was selected using purposive sampling, taking into account equal numbers of parents and graduates. To collect data, an interview guide was developed, which includes questions on 5 key themes: the moment of realizing the need and value of online preparation for the USE; exploring different options and making a final decision; the influence of environment, feedback and recommendations; finalizing the choice, changing the chosen school and opinion about it; opinion about non-chosen schools. After conducting and transcribing the interviews, the data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method to identify common and group-specific behaviors. Six themes were identified, based on which the analysis was conducted: the moment of realizing the need, the choice of acceptable formats (online/offline); the influence of the environment, parents/child, the role of recommendations; the search for information, the study of options; the main aspects paid attention to, the formation of the final list, the principle of screening online schools; making the final decision, the motivation to make this decision; thoughts about changing schools, changing schools, the aspects that make one stay in school or change schools. The results of the study showed that parents and 11th grade graduates have different behavioral patterns when choosing USE preparation courses. Parents tend to focus more on the price and quality of instruction, while 11th grade graduates pay more attention to the convenience and flexibility of the schedule, as well as the presence of interactive elements in instruction. In addition, parents are more likely to seek recommendations from acquaintances and relatives, while 11th grade graduates are more likely to look for information on the Internet and pay attention to reviews from other students. Based on the findings, recommendations for schools and USE preparation courses were developed to optimize marketing strategies and improve the quality of education. In addition, this study can be useful for parents and 11th grade graduates who plan to take the USE in the future and help them choose USE preparation courses more effectively. The study has some limitations related to the sample, data collection method and data analysis method. In the future, it is planned to conduct a larger-scale study, taking into account these limitations, in order to more fully and accurately understand the behavioral patterns of parents and 11th grade graduates when choosing USE preparation courses.