Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>This study aims to analyze the influence of service marketing mix and social influence on students’ higher education selection decisions, with institutional image acting as a mediating variable in the context of higher education competition in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.This study employed a quantitative explanatory approach using path analysis. Data were collected through Likert-scale questionnaires distributed to 110 undergraduate students in Samarinda selected using purposive sampling. Data analysis was conducted using SmartPLS 4.0 through measurement model evaluation and structural model assessment using a bootstrapping procedure with 5,000 subsamples to examine direct and mediating effects. The results indicate that the service marketing mix (β = 0.721; T = 14.650) and social influence (β = 0.215; T = 2.682) have significant positive effects on institutional image. Institutional image was found to be the strongest predictor of students’ selection decisions (β = 0.828; T = 9.019). Interestingly, the service marketing mix did not have a significant direct effect on students’ decisions (T = 1.214 < 1.96), but demonstrated a strong indirect effect through institutional image. These findings confirm that institutional image fully mediates the relationship between the service marketing mix and students’ higher education selection decisions.This study contributes to the higher education marketing literature by demonstrating that institutional image functions as a primary psychological filter in shaping student decision-making in emerging regional education markets. This study also provides strategic insights for higher education institutions in East Kalimantan to prioritize quality-based branding strategies in response to increasing educational competition in the IKN development era.</p>