The governance of digital institutional discourse: the Communications Director as a strategic actor in the reputational construction of for-profit private universities in Peru; [La gouvernance du discours institutionnel numérique: le directeur de la communication en tant qu’acteur stratégique dans la construction de la réputation des universités privées à but lucratif au Pérou]; [A governança do discurso institucional digital: o diretor de Comunicação como ator estratégico na construção reputacional de universidades privadas com fins lucrativos no Peru]
Koo M. · Lengua y Sociedad (2026) · DOI: 10.15381/lengsoc.v25i1.32734
Resumen
The growing centrality of digital platforms in university communication has transformed institutional discourse into a strategic space for the construction and maintenance of organizational reputation, particularly in for-profit private universities operating in contexts of high visibility and symbolic competition. The objective of this article is to analyse how the governance of digital institutional discourse, exercised by directors of communication, contributes to the reputational construction of for-profit private universities in Peru. The study adopts a qualitative and interpretative approach. Data were collected in Peru during 2026 through semi-structured interviews with three directors of communication in the higher education sector, complemented by documentary analysis of institutional digital content published by two for-profit private universities selected as case studies. The findings indicate that institutional reputation is configured as an accumulative discursive effect, grounded in the stability of macro-narrative frames, the regulation of interpretative frames, and the capacity of institutions to manage processes of evaluative convergence in digital environments. It is concluded that digital institutional communication functions not merely as an informational channel, but as a strategic practice of meaning production, in which narrative coherence and symbolic legitimacy are decisive for the reputational sustainability of the for-profit private universities analysed. © Los autores.
Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos