MEMORIAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND DIGITAL REPRESENTATIONS IN GEN Z’S UNIVERSITY CHOICES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21009/ishel.v2i1.67963Keywords:
Memorial Consciousness, Gen Z, University Decision-Making, Digital Advertising, Social InfluenceAbstract
For Generation Z (Gen Z), university selection is not merely based on rational information processing but is strongly influenced by how universities are represented through advertisements and digital communication. However, little is known about how these multimodal representations shape memorial consciousness during decision-making. This study investigates how a Gen Z student interprets and internalizes verbal and visual representations in university advertisements when choosing a university. Using a phenomenological-narrative approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with a Gen Z student who selected a private university in West Java, Indonesia. Data were analyzed using Atlas.ti, focusing on the participant’s narrative construction of memory and meaning. The findings suggest that university advertisements may function as multimodal memory triggers, generating five interrelated forms of memorial consciousness: geographical familiarity, socially mediated memory, digitally reinforced recognition, economic consideration, and future-oriented identity projection. These layers collectively shape how the participant imagines, evaluates, and emotionally connects with a university. The study concludes that university choice among Gen Z can be understood as a discursively constructed process shaped through multimodal meaning-making. Therefore, university marketing should move beyond information delivery toward narrative and emotionally resonant multimodal communication.
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