1

A DISSERTATION REPORT
ON

‘STUDY ON FACTORS OF CUSTOMER’S PERCEPTION FOR SELECTING AN E-

LEARNING PLATFORM BETWEEN UDEMY & COURSERA’

REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENT

FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

PREPARED BY -ISHITA MONDAL

VU REGISTRATION NO. 00545 of 2021-2022

VU ROLL NO. PG/VUOAP02/MBA-IVS NO. 129

Major specialization: Marketing

Minor specialization: Retail

Name of Institute: EIILM, Kolkata

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

POULAMI SENGUPTA
FACULTY EIILM

SUBMITTED TO,

VIDYASAGAR UNIVERSITY

EIILM, Kolkata

April,2023
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3

DECLARATION

I, Ishita Mondal hereby declare that this project report titled “Study on customer perception
while choosing an E-learning platform Udemy & Coursera” has been done by me and all the
information provided is correct and true to my knowledge. This project report is submitted by
me for the partial fulfilment of the award of degree in ‘Master of Business Administration’.

The project report is exclusively prepared by me and has not been submitted to any other
institutions or published anywhere before.

Date: Name: Ishita Mondal

Place: KOLKATA PG/VUAOP02/MBA-IVS NO:129
00545 of 2021-2022
MBA, 4th SEMESTER
EIILM, KOLKATA
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Poulami Sengupta, Faculty of EIILM Kolkata who has
sincerely provided me with critical suggestions and valuable insights which enabled me to
complete this project and bring out this report in the best way possible.

I would take this opportunity to thank Prof. Dr R.P. Banerjee, Director, EIILM, Kolkata and
other faculty members of the institute for their cooperation and support.

I am also thankful to all others persons who directly or indirectly helped me to accomplish
my project work.

Date: Signature:
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INDEX
Sl. No. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

1 INTRODUCTION 5

2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 12

3 OBJECTIVES 13

4 METHODOLOGY 14

5 ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION 15

6 FINDINGS 25

7 CONCLUSION& RECOMENDATION 27

8 REFERENCES 28
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The dissertation is based on the comparative study of two brands from the E learning
industry, one is Udemy & another one is Coursera. This study is based on the factors for
selecting an e learning platform with respect to the consumer perception about the brands.
Both the brands are famous, so more convenient to draw conclusions and perform research
with the limited time and resources.
Consumer’s awareness about the brand and loyalty for the brands are the key factors for
predicting the success of a brand or positioning of any brand within the given market. Both
the factors, brand awareness and brand loyalty have a great impact on consumer’s perception.
Consumer’s perception is something which consumers perceive about a brand in their mind
and it has a significant impact on a brand. Perception of consumer does not necessarily have
very much impact on the actual performance of the product; whereas it is based on the current
reputation of brand and product image with respect to the knowledge of the consumers.
Perception is a process through which any consumer tries to manipulate the brand
information in order to get awareness about the brand which can lead to transformation of
brand into brand loyalty.
Generally, during perception following stages cause revival to brand loyalty and awareness
through following stages.

•Brand Selection -Brand Information -Image formulation Relating-Brand Loyalty

Humans unlike machines can have the ability to Perceive. It is a feeling which is based on the
conclusion formed with the given information around and the mindset of the consumer which
is responsible of processing the information. Perception gives humans they might to make
important decisions or can reflect their important Decisions. It all leads to the most important
decision of purchasing means investing into the brand, for making it a greater brand. Total
sales turnover of the brand depends on the consumer purchase decision. If the consumers
perceive positive about the brand, it means he/she carriers more loyalty and will remain
potential customer, until he keeps on getting the right value for his money.
During the dissertation under the title of “study on customer perception while choosing an e
learning platform Udemy & Coursera”.
While completing the dissertation and performing the research, necessary data will be
collected from the target population segments and analysis will be made to determine &
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manipulate the perception of Consumers with respect to their Brand Loyalty and Awareness
of these brands.
Underlying research will focus on concluding the fact the how much is the impact of brand
perception on brand awareness and brand loyalty of these brands. Several conclusions can be
drawn if consumer perception plays any role and there is a relation among the consumer
perception, brand awareness and brand loyalty of these brands.
The dissertation is intended to fulfil the needs of marketing research which is quite important
for present marketing trends Comparative study will help to evaluate and make marketing
strategies and decisions and guidelines as in current marketing era survival of brands depend
upon the awareness, differentiation, uniqueness, identity and perception based on comparison
of its competitive brands.
Thus, this research is quite important and beneficial to highlight &recognize several aspects
about the consumer’s perception, brand loyalty and brand awareness to provide benefit and
insights for marketing strategies and brand development. It will help in creating new bonds
and relationship between the potential consumers and the brands.
8

ABOUT THE SECTOR

EdTech is short for “education technology.” It uses computers, computer programs, and
educational systems to provide learning and training to students and employees. EdTech is
the practice of introducing IT tools into the classroom to create a more engaging, inclusive
and individualized learning experience. This influx of EdTech tools is changing classrooms
in a variety of ways: EdTech robots are making it easy for students to stay engaged through
fun forms of learning; IoT devices are being hailed for their ability to create digital
classrooms for students, whether they’re physically in school, on the bus or at home; even
machine learning and block chain tools are assisting teachers with grading tests and holding
students accountable for homework.

The potential for saleable individualized learning has played an important role in EdTech
ascendance. The way we learn, how we interact with classmates and teachers, and our overall
enthusiasm for the same subjects is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Everyone learns at their
own pace and in their own style. EdTech tools make it easier for teachers to create
individualized lesson plans and learning experiences that foster a sense of inclusivity and
boost the learning capabilities of all students, no matter their age or learning abilities.

However, EdTech is not just about reformatting books and training manuals, or even about
the individual technologies themselves.

It is about applying digital technology to deliver a new form of learning architecture. An

architecture that harnesses the social reach of the internet, that delivers personalized learning
and training that can automatically adjust to an individual’s learning competence and that
uses big data analysis to understand the most effective ways for learners to progress.

In changing the traditional architecture of education, EdTech has the power to create
efficiencies, cut costs and enable new levels of standardization and democratized access. It is
set to transform the future of how education is resourced, taught, consumed and, ultimately,
the results that it can then yield – both for the individual and for society as a whole as we
continue to build the knowledge economy.
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UNDERSTANDING EDTECH

EdTech can be a contentious topic. As a large portion of the education system is unionized,
there are concerns that EdTech is an attempt to phase out certain in class duties as a way of
reducing costs. The creators of EdTech emphasize the enhancement potential of the software,
freeing up the teacher from trying to teach to the classroom average and moving into a
facilitator role. With time constraints, it is difficult for a teacher to teach according to
curriculum, catch up lower-level learners, and still keep the top of the class engaged in their
work. By automating the assessment of ability and adjustment of difficulty, EdTech can
potentially lead to better outcomes for individual students and the class as a whole.
Technology in the classroom experienced two waves of implementation. The first was the
introduction of current hardware into the classroom. Inevitably the conversation has turned to
getting the software to better coordinate and utilize all the hardware. These software solutions
are EdTech. Many of them are cloud based and pull-on educational research to set algorithms
for how slowly or rapidly to advance a student along different learning objective.
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EDTECH CONCERNS

Many of the fears about EdTech are looking farther into the future where entire courses could
potentially be managed by software. The current state of the field uses analytics to judge a
student’s competency in different areas of the curriculum, allowing the student to move ahead
more quickly in some areas while taking more time to reinforce areas of weakness. As each
student works through a customized curriculum, the teacher acts as a facilitator and trouble
shooter with insights provided by the EdTech software on a student’s strengths and
weaknesses. 2 In practice, EdTech is still in the early stages of development for even basic
subjects like math or reading and composition skills. There are a variety of design challenges
for EdTech. The biggest hurdle is adjusting for different learning styles in the classroom.
Currently EdTech is usually delivered through a laptop or tablet, resulting in a read and
respond learning experience. Critics have noted that this style can leave other types of
learners — auditory and kinaesthetic for example — at a disadvantage. As with any new field
of technological development, EdTech will improve the more it is used and the more
feedback is collected. However, EdTech faces additional social hurdles. Students, and even
more so the parents, look to a teacher to create a social environment that enables group
learning and other dynamics that aren’t currently within the scope of EdTech. The classroom
of the future may depend heavily on EdTech to do the heavy lifting of course design but
many parents and educators still see value in the group environment separate from the pure
academic goals. Proponents say that like many innovations in education, EdTech is seeking
to improve on the existing model rather than replace it entirely’

UDEMY: Udemy is another popular learning platform it has a huge library of over 150000
courses. It provides courses from business and marketing to hand weaving and clowning. The
main thing about Udemy is that it provides quite chip courses. Each Udemy courses consist
of video tutorial the average courses are 5 hours long.

Udemy, Inc. is a for-profit massive open online course (MOOC) provider aimed at
professional adults and students. It was founded in May 2010 by Erin Bali, Gagman Biryani,
and Okay Calgary. As of September of 2021, the platform has more than 46 million students,
175,000 courses, and 60,000 instructors teaching courses in over 75 languages. There have
been over 644 million course enrollments. Students take courses primarily to improve job-
related skills. Some courses generate credit toward technical certification.
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ABOUT THE COMPANY-- UDEMY

In 2007, Udemy (you-de-mee, portmanteau of you + academy) founders Erin Bali and Okay
Calgary built a software for a live virtual classroom while living in Turkey. They saw
potential in making the product free for everyone, and moved to Silicon Valley to found a
company two years later. The site was launched by Bali, Okay Calgary and Gagman
Biryani in early 2010.

In February 2010, the founders tried to raise venture capital funding, but the idea failed to
impress investors and they were rejected 30 times, according to Gagman Biryani. In response
to this, they bootstrapped the development of the product and launched Udemy—"The
Academy of You"—in May 2010.Within a few months, 1,000 instructors had created about
2,000 courses, and Udemy had nearly 10,000 registered users. Based on this favourable
market reaction, they decided to attempt another round of financing, and raised $1 million in
venture funding by August. In October 2011, the company raised an additional $3 million
in Series A funding led by Groupon investors Eric DeKosky and Brad Kewell, as well as 500
Start-ups and MHS Capital. In December 2012, the company raised $12 million in Series B
funding led by Insight Venture Partners, as well as Light bank Capital, MHS Capital and
Learn Capital, bringing Udemy's total funding to $16 million. On April 22, 2014, the Wall
Street Journal's digital edition reported that Dennis Yang, Chief Operating Officer of Udemy
was named CEO, replacing Erin Bali. In May 2014, Udemy raised another $32 million in a
Series C funding, led by Norwest Venture Partners, as well as Insight Venture Partners and
MHS Capital. June 2015, Udemy raised a $65 million Series D financing round, led
by Stripes. Now Udemy joined another online learning house Skills ox Inc of Canada to open
up School of Skills in India. In June 2016, Udemy raised $60 million from Naspers
Ventures as a follow-up to the $65 million Series D round of financing from June 2015.On
February 5, 2019, Udemy announced that the board of the company appointed Gregg
Cuccaro as its new chief executive officer. In February 2020, Udemy raised $50 million from
long-time partner in Japan, Bernese Holdings, Inc. and announced $2 billion valuation. In
November 2020, Udemy raised $50 million at a $3.25 billion valuation led by Tencent
Holdings.
12

ABOUT THE COMPANY – COURSERA

Coursera is a U.S.-based massive open online course provider founded in 2012 by Stanford
University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with
universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a
variety of subjects. In 2021 it was estimated that about 150 universities offered more than
4,000 courses through Coursera. It provides university level courses and certification
programs. The courses are taught by instructors by top companies and universities such as
stand ford, yale, Princeton etc. The courses are consisting of video lectures assignments and
reading materials, quiz projects and group discussion. Coursera provides professional
certificate programs and the learners get the certificate by the company who develop the
course and also the online degree courses are available in this platform the main advantage is
getting the degree online costs much less than on campus programs.

Coursera was founded in 2012by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew
Ng and Daphne Koller. Ng and Koller started offering their Stanford courses online in fall
2011, and soon after left Stanford to launch Coursera. Princeton, Stanford, the University of
Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania were the first universities to offer content on
the platform. Offerings have since expanded to include Specializations – collections of
courses that build skills in a specific subject – as well as degrees and a workforce
development product for businesses and government organizations.

In 2014 Coursera received both the Webby Winner (Websites and Mobile Sites Education
2014) and the People's Voice Winner (Websites and Mobile Sites Education) awards. In
September 2013, it announced it had earned $1 million in revenue through the sale of verified
certificates that authenticate successful course completion. In January 2016, Coursera rolled
out fees to earn grades and assessment for "the vast majority of courses that are part of
Specializations." The company offers Financial Aid to people who demonstrate a need. [25] In
July 2016, the company launched an enterprise product called Coursera for
Business. TechCrunch notes that the company, "opened itself to additional revenues from the
lucrative corporate e-learning market, which some reports suggest was worth $12 billion in
the US alone." Coursera for Business customers include L’Oréal, Boston Consulting Group,
and Axis Bank. In October 2016, Coursera launched a monthly subscription model for
Specializations along with a 1-week free trial. The company has said subscription costs will
vary, "depending on the topic area." In March 2021, Coursera filed for an IPO.
13

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Consumers are always backbone of business any brand owes the position in market according
to, how consumers perceive the brand. For consumer perception the brand awareness is deep
seated in consumer’s mind about that brand.
When consumers start perceiving about a brand, then their relatedness with that brand
increases as brand awareness become stronger, brand became more strong, popular among its
potential consumers. Thus, the study of the consumer’s perception about the brand and its
relation with brand awareness is a significant topic to research on.

The dissertation is also significant to help to draw some useful conclusions which will be
helpful to develop the brands and help them to acquire the competitive advantage over other
brands.
The conclusions drawn from the underlying research will help the brands to improve their
awareness and then to increase the loyalty of consumers with the brand with respect to
consumer perception about the brands.
Research can be utilized to construct and develop more striking branding strategies using the
conclusions of the research regarding consumer perception, brand loyalty and brand
awareness.
The result outcomes can be utilized to decide about the consumer’s brand loyalty, perceived
image and positioning of brand to determining the brand strengths and standings in the
markets.
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OBJECTIVES

Mainly the objective is to evaluate the consumer perception about the brand with respect to
Brand Awareness what is the perception of customer while choosing the course The purpose
of studying and understanding the factors for selecting an e learning platform is to get
specific information on the basis on which the customer will choose the e-learning platform.
Different elements on what is their expectation from online learning and what exactly are
they looking in courses.

The major objectives of the dissertation is –

To understand consumers perception in Udemy & Coursera.

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METHODOLOGY

This dissertation carries out the comparative study of the following perspectives of
marketing, related to brands,

Consumer perception
Brand Awareness

A methodology is designed, implemented and followed to analyse the consumer’s perception

about brands, their awareness and loyalty towards these brands so that a comparison can be
made between these both brands.

Type of Study:

This is a descriptive study, as it is involved various explanation and vivid description.

Type of Data:

The methods opted for doing the dissertation are Qualitative and Quantitative.

Data Collection Sources

In order to acquire information for conclusions and findings during this dissertation, different
sources are used which include secondary data sources only:

Secondary Sources:

Also, some secondary sources will be used to obtain the Secondary data i.e.

1. Previous research data

2. Official sites of Coursera & Udemy

3. Brand Reviews/ Brand Official reports

4. Web information/ Internet Survey

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INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS

UDEMY

Udemy is a massive open online course provider, and its learning experience arranges
coursework into a series of modules and lessons that can include videos, text notes and
assessment tests. Udemy’s video player has functional features like closed captioning and
note-taking functions. Courses cannot be downloaded for offline viewing; however, the
Udemy mobile app allows users to view classes offline and to listen to lectures on the move
in the app’s podcast mode. Udemy users can also watch courses through Apple TV and
Google Chromecast. Udemy has more than 35 million users learning new skills from 57,000
expert instructors who’ve produced over 130,000 online courses. Tutorials reach students
from more than 180 countries in over 65 languages, and thousands of enterprise customers
use Udemy for employee training. The company was launched by Erin Bali, Okay Calgary
and Gagman Biryani in 2010. It is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Denver,
Brazil, India, Ireland and Turkey.

MARKETING MIX
Marketing Mix is a combination of marketing tools which are utilized by firms to follow its
marketing objectives in market. Marketing Mix contains 4 major tools which are also as
following:4P s i.e., Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

PRODUCT
Udemy has more than 35 million users learning new skills from 57,000 expert instructors
who’ve produced over 130,000 online courses. Tutorials reach students from more than 180
countries in over 65 languages, and thousands of enterprise customers use Udemy for
employee training.

PRICE
Dozens of Udemy courses are free, though they can cost up to $159.99 and higher. Courses
on the site are discounted frequently. Udemy doesn’t offer accredited degrees or
certifications, but it can provide professional development. Udemy for Business and for
Government have similar value- and volume-based price structures. The Udemy for Business
Team plan, for example, is $360 per user per year, plus applicable taxes, for teams of five to
17

20 users. Its Enterprise Plan, for 21 or more users, means more seats and a lower price per
seat.

PLACE
All the instructors make courses and upload the course on the website of Udemy and Udemy
allow the consumers to access the courses in exchange of the course’s price. So basically, all
the courses are available on the website and also Udemy have their own app which is
available for both iOS and android users. Consumers are allowed purchase the products from
the apps also

PROMOTION
Udemy promote their courses through some steps that are as follows:

Course Landing Page to communicate the value of the course

Coupons and course referral links promote the instructor’s other Udemy courses
to students
Promotional Emails: to market the instructor’s other Udemy courses to their
students
Bonus Lecture to market other courses and related products to students

MARKETING STRATEGIES BY UDEMY

Promotional Emails: These are used to let students of one course know about
other Udemy courses by the same instructor. They’re meant for you to send
to only your students, and may only include information about your courses.
Please don’t take the marketing of other courses by other instructors into your
hands, because this will hurt your relationship with students who will mark you
(and us!) as spam.
Coupons and course referral links: These allow instructors to promote their
Udemy courses to students on and off the platform. Coupons and course referral
links are allowed only in promotional emails and the bonus lecture. They cannot be
used anywhere else on the Udemy platform, because once students enter a course,
they expect a safe learning environment where they will not be sold to.
Course Landing Page: The landing page includes the title and subtitle, course
summary, instructor bio and course goals. Instructors use this space to help
potential students decide whether the course is right for them. Don’t engage in
18

marketing other courses or products to students or provide misleading marketing

messages.
Bonus Lecture: The last lecture of the course, after the concluding lecture, is
called the Bonus Lecture. Instructors can add a Bonus Lecture to market other
Udemy courses and products to students, and to inform students of material that is
provided beyond the course. Get detailed guidelines on what instructors can and
cannot do with Bonus Lectures here.

UDEMY BUSINESS MODEL

Udemy operates on a marketplace business model. It basically organizes the products and
services of different sellers (or instructors) and sells them on its own website. The firm only
acts as a mediator and doesn’t own the products or services provided. Hence, the prices are
determined by the instructors themselves, while the company only charges a commission for
providing sellers with a platform and a huge audience to sell the services. As an instance, we
can consider any online shopping site such as eBay or Amazon, which act as a bridge
between the buyers and sellers. The company generates annual revenue of approximately $28
million by promoting and selling courses from multiple instructors around the world.

WHAT IS CUSTOMER PERCEPTION?

Customer Perception means how customers feel and think about your business. This is an
idea that is formed through direct or indirect interaction with your company over a period of
time. This understanding can include qualitative and subjective data based on anything,
including products, services, policies, how you talk to customers, and so on.
Naturally, many factors can play a role in creating perceived value for brand, some of which
are controllable while others will be out of control. Anyone cannot always decide how
business will be perceived but can take value-added actions that in turn improve the customer
experience or understanding.
In fact, understanding how customers see your company can be a great tool for improving
benchmarks and business growth.

BRAND AWARENESS

Brand Awareness is simply the recognition and existence of the particular brand. How well
the customer knows about the brand or how well is the customer informed with brand
19

offerings defines the level of Brand Awareness. It is the foremost step for promoting the
Brand and Product.

HOW UDEMY IS DOING BRAND AWARENESS?

Brand awareness is crucially important because it not only ensures attraction of new
customers but it also encourages them to become loyal with brand. With good brand
awareness, Udemy get increased sales leads and repeated businesses, because the customers
are more likely to attach with the brands they can trust and identify easily. According to AAU
(Awareness, Attitudes & Usage) Metrics, the customers usually go through the sequential
process of awareness, initial purchase of product and loyalty to brand. Therefore, brand
awareness is the key factor to build brand loyalty.

For Building Brand Awareness, a complete strategy takes place which includes the Logo,
symbols taglines and all the related images & messages. Udemy has been very prominent in
building its Brand Awareness through particular messages, segment-specific tactics,
geographical strategies and various promotional tactics. Udemy is implementing many
promotional tools for brand awareness such as Advertisement, Publicity, Promotional Offers
etc.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

COURSERA
Coursera was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew
Ng and Daphne Koller. Ng and Koller started offering their Stanford courses online in fall
2011, and soon after left Stanford to launch Coursera. Princeton, Stanford, the University of
Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania were the first universities to offer content on
the platform. Offerings have since expanded to include Specializations – collections of
courses that build skills in a specific subject – as well as degrees and a workforce
development product for businesses and government organizations.

In 2014 Coursera received both the Webby Winner (Websites and Mobile Sites Education
2014) and the People's Voice Winner (Websites and Mobile Sites Education) awards.
Coursera offers its online learning platform to a global base of learners. In addition to their
20

extensive reach, they offer courses to students who, ordinarily, would not have the ability to
access them under traditional learning schemes.

Coursera's weaknesses lie in the areas that make them great. Because their student body far
outnumbers their faculty and staff, it has become difficult and time-consuming to grade
coursework. As a result, they instituted a peer-grading system, whereby each student must
grade a certain number of their peer's work.

This has not fared well with many as it compromises student privacy and may not truly
reflect the quality of work submitted.

MARKETING MIX

Marketing Mix is a combination of marketing tools which are utilized by firms to follow its
marketing objectives in market. Marketing Mix contains 4 major tools which are also as
following:4P s i.e., Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

PRODUCT
The company offers more than 4,300 courses, more than 450 specializations, more than 440
projects, more than 30 certificates and 20 degrees, according to its website. Coursera is based
in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.

PRICE
Prices for courses with certificates start at about $49. Coursera users can apply for financial
aid if they need help paying for certificates. Guided projects, which include a certificate upon
completion, are priced starting at $9.99. They are advertised as a smaller time commitment,
taking two hours or less. Specializations and professional certificates each start at about $49
per month. Some specializations are available as subscriptions, allowing users to pay monthly
until they finish all the courses in the specialization instead of making a one-time upfront
payment.

PLACE
All the instructors make courses and upload the course on the website of Udemy and Udemy
allow the consumers to access the courses in exchange of the course’s price. So basically all
the courses are available on the website and also Udemy have their own app.
21

PROMOTION
Coursera promote courses through social media, referral links, Promotional emails
Advertising, Personal selling, Sales promotion, Public relations, and Direct marketing. and
also they use a str tegy called Loss Aversion for promotion.

COURSERA BUSINESS MODEL

In September 2013, it announced it had earned $1 million in revenue through the sale of
verified certificates that authenticate successful course completion. Coursera first rolled out a
series of fee-based course options, which included verified credentials for completion, in
2013. As of October 2015, the company had raised a total of $146.1 million in venture
capital.

In January 2016, Coursera rolled out fees to earn grades and assessment for "the vast majority
of courses that are part of Specializations. "The company offers Financial Aid to people who
demonstrate a need. In July 2016, the company launched an enterprise product called
Coursera for Business. TechCrunch notes that the company, "opened itself to additional
revenues from the lucrative corporate e-learning market, which some reports suggest was
worth $12 billion in the US alone." Coursera for Business customers include L’Oréal, Boston
Consulting Group, and Axis Bank. In October 2016, Coursera launched a monthly
subscription model for Specializations along with a 1-week free trial. The company has said
subscription costs will vary, "depending on the topic area.

In January 2017, the company launched Coursera for Governments & Nonprofits. Coursera
has announced partnerships with the Institute for Veterans & Military Families (IVMF) in the
United States and entities in Egypt, Mongolia, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, and
Kazakhstan. In June 2017, Jeff Marginalia became the CEO of Coursera.

In March 2018, Coursera launched six fully online degree courses including the bachelor's
and master's qualifications in various domains.

In March 2021, Coursera filed for an IPO. The nine-year-old company brought in roughly
$293 million in revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31 — a 59% growth rate from
2019, according to the filing. Net losses widened by roughly $20 million year over year,
reaching $66.8 million in 2020. Coursera spent $107 million on marketing in 2020.
22

HOW COURSERA IS DOING BRAND AWARENESS?

Traditionally, online marketers use the display network to build brand awareness. Coursera
generate thousands of affordable impressions on Display, and when you create enticing
display ads (say, by using our Smart Ads Creator. Coursera uses some brand building
techniques that are Referral programs, Infographics, Local partnerships, Social media
contests, PPC, advertising ,Paid social advertising etc.

SWOT ANALYSIS-UDEMY

STRENGTHS
Course material variety: The courses in this platform are not only taught in the
international language. Other than English, the course materials come in many other
languages. This makes Udemy accessible for a variety of people from all sides of the
world.
Easy to enroll in courses: Applying for a university degree is pretty challenging and
complicated. You have to take a couple of exams, and fill out an application form. But
enrolling in an Udemy career-oriented course is so much easier.
Certificates after course completion: Later on, if you need to prove your background for a
job opportunity, Udemy will provide you with a certificate. That is of course after
successfully completing your course.
Student reviews and ratings: It is always helpful to know what you are signing up for
beforehand. Looking through reviews that other students left for a specific instructor or
course is beneficial. Students can freely leave reviews for the newcomers.

WEAKNESSES
Not accredited: This platform is not accredited. While some workplaces do not fully care
about that, some others are pretty strict. That, unfortunately, means that some workplaces
may not view Udemy certifications as reliable.
Higher price range: For online, the prices of the Udemy courses can be perceived as quite
high. Some of the courses may be as affordable as 50$. But on the other side of the
spectrum, there are courses that cost 200$.
23

Course set dates: While you are the consumer, you have to adapt to the schedule that they
are offering. You can not switch the timing or the dates. You have to follow the planned-
ahead agenda.
Content customization: Anyone can switch up a thing or two about the available content
put out in Udemy. This means that the spread of unreliable information becomes much
more of a possibility.

OPPORTUNITIES
Targeting local and regional education: A lot of people are starting to prefer online
education to traditional education. Focusing on local and regional areas with these
courses could be a smart move. It could possibly attract more students.
Growing number for online student enrollment: More students are inclined to apply for
online courses these days. Even students that are currently pursuing a degree and are
interested in learning something else along with it. So that acts as a great opportunity for
online teaching platforms.
A variety of student profiles: Some people are working, some are parents in their mid-
forties, but still want to learn something new. Online education in that case is
considerably convenient. Most of the time, making the schedules of online courses not
clash with personal duties works perfectly.

THREATS
Competition: There are many other online platforms offering a great number of courses.
Some of those courses may be even more affordable than Udemy. Thus, understandably
sometimes people choose to go with another program.
Difficulty with quality instructors: Most of the time, instructors enjoy the real-time
experience of teaching. Some of them consider face-to-face communication to be the
highlight of their job. Thus, it becomes hard to reach professors that are willing to teach
online.
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SWOT ANALYSIS-COURSERA

STRENGTHS

The geographic presence in different regions can act as one of the major strength of the
organisation. It determines the business’s reach to the target market and ensures the easy
accessibility.
The wide product portfolio can allow the organisation to expand the customer base and
offset the losses from one product category with benefits obtained from the other.
Strong online presence on different social networking sites and efficient social media
management can enhance the effect of positive e-WOM and develop strong relationships
with customers.
Strong financial position and health can allow the firm to make further investments.
Access to the suppliers that offer raw material at a lower cost can improve the overall
business efficiency.

WEAKNESSES

The company may lose efficiency due to poor inventory management practices. The
shortage or excessive inventory can either result into
The cash shortage or insufficient current assets negatively affect the liquidity position
and harms the overall business performance.

Insufficient budget for the marketing and promotion activities weakens the firms’ ability
to expand the customer base and encourage repeat purchase.
Less expenditure on the research and development activities can weaken the company
performance due to poor local/international market knowledge.
Organisational culture also becomes a big internal weakness when it does not align with
the strategic/business objectives. For example, the main strategic objective of the chosen
business organisation is to launch innovative and new products in the market. But there
exists a risk averse attitude prevailing in organisational culture, which discourages
employees from thinking creatively.
25

OPPORTUNITIES

The changing customer needs, tastes and preferences can act as an opportunity if the
business organisation has good market knowledge.
The development of new technologies to assist the product/service production and
delivery process can be exploited to embed the innovation in business operations. The
advanced technological integration can decrease costs, improve efficiency and result in
the quick introduction of innovative products.
Rise in the customers’ disposable income and increase in the affluent customer base can
be taken as an opportunity to introduce more high-end products.
Reduction in the interest rates makes the fund raising and financing at lower cost easier
for the business organisation.
Customers may start preferring new and creative products/services as a result of
changing tastes.

THREATS

The changing regulatory framework and introduction of new stricter regulations impose a
major threat to the Coursera. It makes compliance with legal standards more complex and
challenging for the business organisation. Inability to comply with changed regulations
raises the risk of expensive law suits.
Shortage of skilled labour in the market can make it difficult for the organisation to attract
talent with the right skills set.
The increasing number of direct and/or indirect competitors affects the organisation's
ability to sustain and expand the customer base.
The deteriorating economic conditions affect business performance when they directly
influence the customers' spending patterns and purchasing power.
The rise in inflation increases the cost of production and affects the business profitability.
26

FINDINGS

As of the end of Q2 2021, Udemy had more than 11,000 courses, while Coursera had
about 4,600. However, because of their academic and industry affiliation, Coursera
can offer professional certificates and degrees. Unlike on Coursera, where you have to
be affiliated with a university in order to create a course, anyone can make a course
on Udemy.

Both companies sell to users directly (individual learners) and to businesses (B2B
customers). Individual learners: Coursera has 82 million learners. Meanwhile,
Udemy has about half of that (44 million as of Q2 2021).B2B customers: Coursera
counts not just businesses as customers but also governments and other universities.
The company has more than 6,000 B2B customers (mostly businesses). In contrast to
Coursera, Udemy uses a bottoms up approach in B2B sales. They leverage B2C
customers as leads to upsell the organization the customer works in. In 2020, over
60% of leads came from their direct-to-consumer platform. The company has over
8,600 global business customers
Coursera is rapidly catching up to Udemy, however. From Q1 2020 to Q2 2021,
Coursera’s revenue grew 90%, while Udemy’s only grew 37%. Udemy’s direct B2C
business growth is slowing down, while the B2B sales is still growing rapidly.
The two companies do not have the same B2B strategies, however. Udemy curates its
high quality classes and offers them to companies to upskill their workers. Coursera
has a similar upskill offerings, but has an additional ‘Degrees’ program.
In terms of features, Coursera pulls ahead in one particular area: grading and
assignments. But they need to, since they position themselves as a more academic
platform. For instance, in the context of online degrees, more advanced quizzes are
required. Coursera assignments include peer feedback, auto graders, and Jupiter
Notebooks integration, in addition to simpler assignments such as multiple-choice
questions.

By contrast, Udemy has simpler assignments and less variety. They’ve offered for
some time the ability to create auto graded coding exercises. But these are seldom
used. Of Udemy’s 157,000 courses, only 600 have this sort of coding exercises.
One significant difference between both providers is how they handle interaction
between instructors and students, and among students themselves.
27

An important outcome is that when customers perception about any brand becomes
good, it help them to be loyal to that brand which also comes through the brand
awareness.
For both brands majority of the consumers was strongly agreed with the statement
that they can remember the symbol /logo of their preferred brand.
Customer always try to find more about the features of any brands and even the
brands they know very well, still they want to know any new features or information
about that brand.

CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS

28

In order to grow up the business both the company should conduct promotional
activities to spread awareness about the brand and its service by giving advertisement
on the newspaper, television, magazine one on one interaction, campaigning, etc.

To compete with other Ed-tech companies like Unschool, Udacity both the company
has to compete on the basis of offers, brand awareness and trustworthiness.

Udemy have to focus on individual learners while Coursera should go for b2b learners

Both the brands need to focus on the point that its consumers are made to perceive
more value from the brand which can come through assuring them about quality of
course and other factor i.e. best price, best value, etc.
Expanding in different fields and providing more course options for customers can
help to get more conversions.
In professional courses internship opportunity along with live projects should be
given to the candidates.
A market penetration team should work for acquiring new markets

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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www.case48.com
www.thesocialgrabber.com
www.feedough.com
www.en.wikipedia.org
www.productmint.com
www.coursera.org
www.investopedia.com
www.crunchbase.com
www.startuptalky.com
www.udemy.com
https://www.classcentral.com/report/udemy-vs-coursera/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-business/chapter/promotion/
https://www.coursera.org/learn/self-marketing
https://www.coursera.org/learn/self-marketing

THANK YOU