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.