Skip to main content
Article | Journal of Digital Marketing and Communication | Volume 6 - Issue 2 - 2026 | 175−195 |
© 2026 by the author(s), and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License

Relational Marketing Communication and Institutional Reselience: Evidence from Ganesha Operation

Author(s): Nur Indah Kumala 1 , Ismatul Kholilah 2 , Muhammad Imam Syafi'i 1
Author(s) information:
1 Program Studi Magister Ilmu Komunikasi FISIPOL, Universitas Gadjah Mada, 55281, Indonesia
2 Doctoral Educational Management, Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia

Corresponding author

Journal of Digital Marketing and Communication

Volume 6 - Issue 2 - 2026

 About the journal
Submit your article

This study examined how relational marketing communication practices sustained the institutional resilience of Ganesha Operation (GO), Indonesia’s longest-operating tutoring institution, amid the digital disruption of non-formal education. Using a qualitative embedded single-case design, data were collected from eight informants, marketing staff, branch managers, tutors, and alumni, across GO’s Cimanggis and Kranggan branches in the Greater Jakarta (Jabodetabek) area through in-depth interviews and document analysis. The data were analysed thematically using a hybrid inductive–deductive coding approach guided by Varey’s relational communication framework. The findings revealed six interlocking practices: personalised tutorial services, gamified competition, an unbundled digital product, appreciation-based pricing, inclusive positioning, and the management of operational pressure. Together, these practices functioned as relationship-constituting forms of communication. Personalised services generated trust and organic word-of-mouth advocacy, while pricing and product decisions operated as social communicators of value, sustaining enrolment without heavy reliance on paid promotion. However, the model became fragile when target-driven communication became non-humanistic, potentially threatening student retention. The study’s novelty lay in extending Varey’s marketing-mix-as-communicator thesis, previously applied mainly in commercial and formal education settings, to conventional non-formal tutoring institutions. Practically, the findings suggested that tutoring institutions should manage service delivery, competition, digital products, and pricing as an integrated relational communication system while maintaining a humane approach to performance-oriented management to support student retention and long-term institutional resilience.

Read Full-Text
Previous article
Next article

Varey, R.J. (2002). Marketing Communication: Principles and Practice, 1st ed.; Routledge: London, UK.

Gordon-Isasi, J.; Narvaiza, L.; Gibaja, J.J. (2025). An exploratory approach of the association between integrated marketing communication and business performance in higher education institutions. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 35, 80–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2022.2070938.

Finne, Å.; Grönroos, C. (2017). Communication-in-use: customer-integrated marketing communication. European Journal of Marketing, 51, 445–463. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-08-2015-0553.

van Dijck, J.; Poell, T.; de Waal, M. (2018). The Platform Society: Public Values in a Connective World; Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA.

Connolly, R. (2023). Datafication, Platformization, Algorithmic Governance, and Digital Sovereignty: Four Concepts You Should Teach. ACM Inroads, 14, 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1145/3583087.

Gillespie, T. (2014). The Relevance of Algorithms. In Media Technologies; Gillespie, T., Boczkowski, P.J., Foot, K.A., Eds.; The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA; pp. 167–194. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262525374.003.0009.

Couldry, N.; Hepp, A. (2017). The Mediated Construction of Reality; Polity Press: Cambridge, UK.

Lu, W. (2024). Inevitable challenges of autonomy: ethical concerns in personalized algorithmic decision-making. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, 1321. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03864-y.

Christensen, C.M. (2016). The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, Paperback ed.; Harvard Business Review Press: Boston, MA, USA.

Iqbal, M.; Najahan, M.N.; Surya, B.I.; Wilda, N.K. (2025). Strategi Edupreneurship Bimbingan Belajar Konvensional dalam Menghadapi Disrupsi Platform Online. Jurnal Ilmiah Bisnis Digital, 2, 21–31. https://doi.org/10.69533/68d4nj11.

Christensen, C.M.; Raynor, M.E.; McDonald, R. (2015). What is Disruptive Innovation? Harvard Business Review, 93.

Duncan, T.; Moriarty, S.E. (1998). A Communication-Based Marketing Model for Managing Relationships. Journal of Marketing, 62, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299806200201.

Grönroos, C. (2004). The relationship marketing process: communication, interaction, dialogue, value. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 19, 99–113. https://doi.org/10.1108/08858620410523981.

Rehman, S.U.; Gulzar, R.; Aslam, W. (2022). Developing the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) through Social Media (SM): The Modern Marketing Communication Approach. Sage Open, 12, 21582440221099936. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221099936.

Morgan, R.M.; Hunt, S.D. (1994). The Commitment-Trust Theory of Relationship Marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58, 20–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299405800302.

Nasir, M.; Adil, M.; Dhamija, A. (2021). The synergetic effect of after sales service, customer satisfaction, loyalty and repurchase intention on word of mouth. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 13, 489–505. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-01-2021-0015.

Ulfatus Sa'adah, V.; Mugiono; Susilowati, C. (2023). The impact of corporate image and relationship marketing on customer loyalty in mediated customer satisfaction at SMEs. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 12, 126–135. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v12i7.2878.

Karadağ, H.; Tosun, P.; Ayan, B. (2024). User-generated and brand-generated content as indicators of university brand personality and business strategy. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 34, 646–668. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2022.2056281.

Parasuraman, A.; Zeithaml, V.A.; Berry, L.L. (1988). SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perception of Service Quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, 12–37.

Anderson, E.W. (1998). Customer Satisfaction and Word of Mouth. Journal of Service Research, 1, 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/109467059800100102.

Anonymous. (2025). The Impact of Relationship Marketing on Customer Loyalty: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Marketing Communication and New Media, 13, 139–168. https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2025.v.13.n.24.139-168.

Huotari, K.; Hamari, J. (2017). A definition for gamification: anchoring gamification in the service marketing literature. Electronic Markets, 27, 21–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-015-0212-z.

Eisingerich, A.B.; Marchand, A.; Fritze, M.P.; Dong, L. (2019). Hook vs. hope: How to enhance customer engagement through gamification. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 36, 200–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2019.02.003.

Hofacker, C.F.; De Ruyter, K.; Lurie, N.H.; Manchanda, P.; Donaldson, J. (2016). Gamification and Mobile Marketing Effectiveness. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 34, 25–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2016.03.001.

Kotler, P.; Keller, K.L. (2016). Marketing Management, 15th ed., Global ed.; Pearson: Boston, MA, USA.

Buil, I.; De Chernatony, L.; Martínez, E. (2013). Examining the role of advertising and sales promotions in brand equity creation. Journal of Business Research, 66, 115–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.07.030.

Büyükdağ, N.; Soysal, A.N.; Kitapci, O. (2020). The effect of specific discount pattern in terms of price promotions on perceived price attractiveness and purchase intention: An experimental research. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 55, 102112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102112.

Ercan, U.; Büyükdağ, N.; Kasalak, M.A.; Ozekicioglu, H. (2025). Price Promotion Effect on Purchase Behavior Under the Time Limit/Pressure. Sage Open, 15, 21582440251327270. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251327270.

Dwityas, N.A.; Briandana, R.; Marta, R.F.; Aliagan, I.Z. (2021). Marketing communication strategy for creative talents service providers a case study of an online marketplace in Indonesia. International Journal of Communication and Society, 4, 82–91. https://doi.org/10.31763/ijcs.v4i1.352.

Abednego, A.; Haumahu, A.A.; Laturake, H.I. (2026). Strategic Management Strategies in Nonformal Education Program Administration in Indonesia's 3T Region. International Journal of Education, Language, Literature, Arts, Culture, and Social Humanities, 4, 37–50. https://doi.org/10.59024/ijellacush.v4i2.1713.

Anonymous. (2025). The Impact of Relationship Marketing on Customer Loyalty: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Marketing Communication and New Media, 13, 139–168. https://doi.org/10.54663/2182-9306.2025.v.13.n.24.139-168.

Yin, R.K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods, 6th ed.; SAGE Publications, Inc.: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.

Denzin, N.K. (2017). The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group: New York, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315134543.

Lincoln, Y.S.; Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry; Sage: Newbury Park, CA, USA.

Creswell, J.W.; Poth, C.N. (2017). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design, 4th ed.

Patton, M.Q. (2015). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice, 4th ed.; SAGE: Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Guest, G.; Bunce, A.; Johnson, L. (2006). How Many Interviews Are Enough?: An Experiment with Data Saturation and Variability. Field Methods, 18, 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903.

Kallio, H.; Pietilä, A.; Johnson, M.; Kangasniemi, M. (2016). Systematic methodological review: developing a framework for a qualitative semi-structured interview guide. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72, 2954–2965. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13031.

Brinkmann, S.; Kvale, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing, 3rd ed.; Sage: Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Bowen, G.A. (2009). Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9, 27–40. https://doi.org/10.3316/QRJ0902027.

Braun, V.; Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.

Fereday, J.; Muir-Cochrane, E. (2006). Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5, 80–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500107.

Miles, M.B.; Huberman, A.M.; Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook, 3rd ed.; Sage: Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Birt, L.; Scott, S.; Cavers, D.; Campbell, C.; Walter, F. (2016). Member Checking: A Tool to Enhance Trustworthiness or Merely a Nod to Validation? Qualitative Health Research, 26, 1802–1811. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732316654870.

NS. (2026). GO Cimanggis Tutor. Personal interview, Cimanggis, Indonesia, 12 May 2026.

CN. (2026). Cimanggis Alumnus. Personal interview, Cimanggis, Indonesia, 10 May 2026.

MG. (2026). GO Kranggan Tutor. Personal interview, Kranggan, Indonesia, 15 May 2026.

Coco. (2026). Kranggan Marketing Staff. Personal interview, Kranggan, Indonesia, 13 May 2026.

Rasheed, R.; Rashid, A. (2024). Role of service quality factors in word of mouth through student satisfaction. Kybernetes, 53, 2854–2870. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-01-2023-0119.

Santini, F.D.O.; et al. (2024). Factors influencing student loyalty in higher education: a meta-analytic generalization. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2024.2393617.

Amani, D. (2024). Converting students into university brand evangelists: an empirical evidence from the higher education sector in Tanzania. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 34, 1077–1100. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2023.2177788.

Eldegwy, A.; Elsharnouby, T.H.; Kortam, W. (2024). Like father like son: the role of similar-education parents in their children's university choice. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 34, 458–477. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2021.2018087.

Ratinho, E.; Martins, C. (2023). The role of gamified learning strategies in student's motivation in high school and higher education: A systematic review. Heliyon, 9, e19033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19033.

Zeng, J.; Sun, D.; Looi, C.; Fan, A.C.W. (2024). Exploring the impact of gamification on students' academic performance: A comprehensive meta-analysis of studies from the year 2008 to 2023. British Journal of Educational Technology, 55, 2478–2502. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13471.

Habachi, S.; Matute, J.; Palau-Saumell, R. (2024). Gamify, engage, build loyalty: exploring the benefits of gameful experience for branded sports apps. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 33, 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-07-2022-4070.

Malik, G.; Pradhan, D.; Rup, B.K. (2025). Gamification and customer brand engagement: a review and future research agendas. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 43, 210–239. https://doi.org/10.1108/MIP-12-2023-0659.

Vargo, S.L.; Lusch, R.F. (2004). Evolving to a New Dominant Logic for Marketing. Journal of Marketing, 68, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.68.1.1.24036.

Zeqiri, J.; Dania, T.R.; Adriana, L.-T.D.; Gagica, K.; Gleason, K. (2023). The impact of e-service quality on word of mouth: A higher education context. The International Journal of Management Education, 21, 100850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2023.100850.

Comai, A. (2024). Enablers and barriers to adopting digital marketing in Japanese higher education institutions. Studies in Higher Education, 49, 1666–1683. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2275149.

Ellis-Chadwick, F., Ed. (2019). Digital Marketing, 7th ed.; Pearson Education, Limited: Harlow, UK.

Verhoef, P.C.; Kannan, P.K.; Inman, J.J. (2015). From Multi-Channel Retailing to Omni-Channel Retailing. Journal of Retailing, 91, 174–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2015.02.005.

Maulana, A.E.; Patterson, P.G.; Satria, A.; Pradipta, I.A. (2024). Alumni connectedness and its role in intention to contribute to higher education institutions. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 34, 1124–1145. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2023.2186560.

Naidoo, V.; Roy, R.; Rabbanee, F.K.; Wu, T. (2025). Drivers of tuition fee setting practices for higher education institutions involved in international student recruitment. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 35, 104–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2022.2076274.

Gorlier, T.; Michel, G. (2020). How special rewards in loyalty programs enrich consumer–brand relationships: The role of self-expansion. Psychology & Marketing, 37, 588–603. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21328.

Christensen, S.; Tan, J. (2025). Shadow Education Beyond Tutoring? New Forms of Private Supplementary Classes in Singapore. European Journal of Education, 60, e70274. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.70274.

Hajar, A.; Sagintayeva, A.; Izekenova, Z. (2023). Private Supplementary Tutoring at a Transition Point in Kazakhstan's Education System: Its Scale, Nature, and Policy Implications. European Education, 55, 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/10564934.2023.2179926.

Jain, V.; Mogaji, E.; Sharma, H.; Babbili, A.S. (2024). A multi-stakeholder perspective of relationship marketing in higher education institutions. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 34, 502–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2022.2034201.

Kethüda, Ö. (2024). Evaluating the influence of university ranking on the credibility and perceived differentiation of university brands. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 34, 736–753. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2022.2059733.

Walter, N.; Asgari, O.; Cleff, T. (2025). What role does the brand play? Measuring the impact of customer-based brand equity on the selection of MBA programs at Dutch business schools. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 35, 39–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2022.2048430.

Gao, L.; De Haan, E.; Melero-Polo, I.; Sese, F.J. (2023). Winning your customers' minds and hearts: Disentangling the effects of lock-in and affective customer experience on retention. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 51, 334–371. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-022-00898-z.

Gonçalves, G.S.; Serra, F.A.R.; Storopoli, J.E.; Scafuto, I.C.; Rafael, D.N. (2024). Undergraduate Student Retention Activities: Challenges and Research Agenda. Sage Open, 14, 21582440241249334. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241249334.

Asif, S.; Fatima, J.K.; Johns, R. (2025). Role of internal marketing in Australian higher education sector: age, gender and job level as moderators. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 35, 62–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2022.2049951.

Christensen, C.M.; McDonald, R.; Altman, E.J.; Palmer, J.E. (2018). Disruptive Innovation: An Intellectual History and Directions for Future Research. Journal of Management Studies, 55, 1043–1078. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12349.

Kaplan, A.M.; Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53, 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003.

Read Full-Text
About this article

SUBMITTED: 11 August 2026
ACCEPTED: 04 September 2026
PUBLISHED: 11 September 2026
SUBMITTED to ACCEPTED: 25 days

Cite this article
Kumala, N. I. ., Kholilah, I. ., & Syafi’i, M. I. (2026). Relational Marketing Communication and Institutional Reselience: Evidence from Ganesha Operation. Journal of Digital Marketing and Communication, 6(2), 175−195. Retrieved from https://tecnoscientifica.com/journal/jdmc/article/view/1340
Citations
0
Share this article