A total of 20 per cent of Australian universities are ranked in the top 500 exporters and since 1987 international student growth in Australia has exceeded 60 per cent each year. Few investigations have been directed to measuring the effectiveness of international advertising and promotional material. This article examines this aspect with a focus on content analysis of the international student study guides. The investigation used a qualitative research approach comprising a blend of the convergent interview technique and Delphi method. The outcomes were that there was a significant disparity between student perceived needs and those communicated by the universities printed material. Although the methodology was created to investigate the effectiveness of promotional publications in higher education, the methodology can be applied to other industries where there is a high interface between written advertising material and the recipient.