Scandals, reputation, and reality: what really shapes a professor’s “brand”?
Are academic scandals enough to ruin the reputation of those who teach us?
When the media reports on academic scandals from fake research to questionable promotions, it seems logical to assume that this would seriously damage the reputation of professors. However, new research from Indonesia suggests that a professor’s reputation may be more resilient than we think.
The study titled “From Scandal to Redemption: Exploring Word-of-Mouth Effects on Professor Brand Equity in Indonesia” was published at the beginning of the year. The authors of this research are Ahmad Juhaidi, Sri Hartini, Noor Hidayati, Ridha Fadillah, Mayang Gadih Ranti, Analisa Fitria, Badrian, Salamah, Mahmudah, Hidayat Ma’ruf, Rinda Azmi Saputri, Suriagiri, Huriyah, and Nurul Rahmi.
At the center of this study is the idea that professors are also a kind of “personal brand.” Their value is not measured only by knowledge, but also by how students see them, how much they trust them, and whether they want to learn from them again. This combination is what researchers call “professor brand equity.”
Professors take on many roles: they are mentors, role models, researchers, and representatives of their institutions. Because of this, their reputation affects not only their personal standing but also the image of the entire university. In a competitive academic environment, a strong professor “brand” can attract students, funding, and international collaboration.
But what happens when that brand is put at risk?
In Indonesia, recent scandals, including the manipulation of research and the buying of academic titles, have led to professors losing their positions. These events generate negative stories and rumors, often referred to as negative word of mouth, which are generally believed to harm reputation. Yet this study raises an important question: do students actually respond to such information in the expected way?
“Professors’ personal brands pose significant challenges in the Indonesian higher education context. The fraud controversy surrounding the acquisition of professorships led to the revocation of eleven professors’ credentials (Lavenia Y, 2024; Syarifuddin et al., 2024; Widodo, 2024), and an additional seventeen professors in October 2025 (Soelaimani, 2025). They were sanctioned with the revocation of their professorial titles after being found to have manipulated scholarly works, employed third-party services, and published articles in predatory journals. They were also suspected of engaging in bribery and participating in a network of academic-rank “mafias” to secure their promotion to full professorship. The conferral of professorships to politicians has emerged as a subject of discourse on social media and in mainstream media (Irawan, 2024).” Juhaidi et al., 2026
To explore this, researchers analyzed responses from 306 students in South Kalimantan. “South Kalimantan was chosen as the research site, as it was the location of a case of academic misconduct during the professorial appointment process, thereby offering a pertinent context for examining issues of ethics and integrity in higher education,” the authors explained. They examined how student satisfaction, trust, reputation, loyalty, and both positive and negative opinions are connected. What they found challenges common assumptions.
The most important result is that student satisfaction plays a central role. When students are satisfied with their learning experience, they tend to trust their professors more, feel more committed to them, and see them as more reputable. Overall, they view such professors as stronger and more valuable “brands.” This suggests that what happens inside the classroom has a much greater impact than what is said outside of it. The study also shows that a professor’s reputation helps build trust, and that trust strengthens student commitment. However, reputation and commitment alone do not directly shape the overall value of a professor’s brand. This means that being well-known or respected is not enough on its own. What truly matters is how students experience the professor in practice.
One of the most surprising findings concerns negative news
Despite expectations, negative stories about professors did not significantly affect trust, loyalty, reputation, or even the overall perception of their brand. This goes against much of what we know from marketing, where negative information usually has a strong impact. A likely explanation lies in culture. In Indonesia, authority figures such as professors are traditionally respected, and open criticism is often avoided to maintain social harmony. In such an environment, even serious negative news may not strongly influence how students see their professors.
The study also found a small difference between male and female students. Satisfaction appears to have a slightly stronger effect on how male students perceive professors, although this difference is not very pronounced.
Of course, the study has its limitations. It is based on a relatively small sample and a specific cultural context, which means the results cannot be fully generalized to other countries. Future research could expand this work by including different cultural settings, additional factors, and changes over time, especially in the aftermath of major scandals. But this study offers a clear insight into how students form their opinions about professors; despite media attention and public controversies, it appears that direct personal experience remains the most important factor.
Image: The Importance of Teaching and Learning in the Classroom, Faculty Focus
