Why Cambridge brands pull parents: consumer psychology in education

Proxemics 039 talks with Yusuf Seto, Head of Business Development Southeast Asia & Pacific at Cambridge International Education, about what the “Cambridge” label actually means for parents. He flags his position first: “gua enggak mau bias ya karena kan I'm in Cambridge” (I don’t want to be biased, since I’m at Cambridge) 40:43. His answer: Cambridge gives parents a baseline standard with shared recognition — in his words, “confident for parents” 41:16 — but a school that calls itself a “Cambridge school” should be able to prove it with a Cambridge ID number 10:50. From there the conversation moves through Indonesian education compared with ASEAN, the desperation mindset in sales, AI as a crutch or a ladder, reciprocity and how men and women shop, and leading a team you inherit.

For PR and marketing practitioners, parents looking for a school, or professionals who want to understand the psychology behind a sale.

Dual Legibility Tension (White Wood): the Cambridge logo is what parents see first; the Cambridge ID number is what they can check.

Quick facts

• Episode: Proxemics 039 · 28 Aug 2026 · 1:06:46 · Indonesian with a lot of English
• Guest: Yusuf Seto — Head of Business Development Southeast Asia & Pacific, Cambridge International Education
• Hosts: Mercy Tahitoe, Stephanie Sicilia
• Earlier roles mentioned on the mic: Celebrity Fitness, Wall Street English 43:37

On the mic

• 
  Mercy Tahitoe

  Host · White Wood
• 
  Stephanie Sicilia

  Host
• 
  Yusuf Seto

  Guest · Head of Business Development Southeast Asia & Pacific, Cambridge International Education

Key takeaways

• A “Cambridge school” is a checkable claim, not a logo. Yusuf splits Cambridge into three parts — curriculum, resources (books) and qualifications 03:32. On the mic, the confusion is put plainly: some schools use only the books, “tapi somehow mereka throw around the word cambridge” (but somehow they throw around the word Cambridge) 06:58. Yusuf calls “sekolah Cambridge” the most common misconception 07:13: using Cambridge resources “bukan berarti dia … adopt the curriculum itself” (doesn’t mean it has adopted the curriculum itself) 08:37, and a school may be a “Cambridge University Press Educational Partner” while displaying the Cambridge logo 08:51. A real Cambridge school has an ID number listed on Cambridge’s official website, searchable via “find school” 07:59. He adds that those schools are “bukan berarti mereka salah, tapi penyebutan secara jualannya mungkin harus diperbaiki” (not necessarily wrong, but the way they sell it may need fixing) 08:16.
• Indonesia vs ASEAN: a smaller ladder, and room to grow. Yusuf frames this as a “personal observation. It could be wrong” 13:18. Indonesia can’t be compared “apple to apple” with Singapore or Malaysia because it is an archipelago — a flight to Medan takes nearly as long as one to Bangkok, which is only about 30 minutes further 12:34–12:48. In Indonesia the steps from untrained to trained teachers are not too large 13:18; in Thailand the international schools’ teachers are excellent, but there is a significant drop at state-owned schools 14:00; Vietnam has a gap but not as deep, and is putting budget into education — salary and training 14:46–15:48. His view: “Indonesia tuh still have a lot of potential” 15:00. Asked for Indonesian education’s biggest challenge, he answers: “The ability to think what you think” 19:09.
• Sales runs on hunger, and often on desperation. Yusuf, who has trained salespeople, recalls asking a training room to raise their hands if sales was their dream job: nobody raised a hand 22:57. On the mic, the first answer usually given for going into sales is “because of the money” 23:11–23:48. The point is pushed further: “a lot of them yang successful itu when they're desperate” 25:31, with Outliers and the 10,000-hours idea brought in — “Bill Gates put lots of hours untuk mendalami ini” (to go deep on this) 27:27.
• AI as a crutch or a ladder. On the mic: AI is often used “sebagai crutches … bukannya lu jadikan tangga, tapi lu jadikan tongkat” (as a crutch — not a ladder, but a walking stick) 31:11–31:25: “It doesn't take you anywhere, right? If anything, it slows you down.” Others use AI “literally buat elevate themselves”, to execute ideas they already have 31:44. Asked how Cambridge approaches AI, Yusuf says Cambridge is “maybe very slow on AI” and calls its stance “human center AI” 36:01; the first topic is data privacy — “Don't share your children's face” 37:18 — then giving the AI a role and boundaries before asking it for, say, a lesson plan 38:07. On the mic, a US news piece is recalled (“New York Times or something”) about high-schoolers taking up workshop, home economics and sewing because they worry AI will take their jobs 35:05–35:29.
• Reciprocity, and men and women shop differently. Yusuf describes spending 30 minutes with a friendly salesperson and then feeling “rasa enggak enaknya” (that awkward sense of obligation) — so “at least gua beli apa kek” (at least I’ll buy something) 51:09. A host names this reciprocity, from a book the host called “Psychology of Influence”: when you receive something, asked for or not, you feel you should give something back 54:50–55:11. Comparing their own shopping habits, the speakers conclude the “customer journeynya laki dan perempuan tuh bisa-bisa beda” (men’s and women’s customer journeys can differ) 58:08, and one recalls old sales training: “Kalau untuk woman itu you touch the emotions. Kalau laki itu pasti the logic side” 58:50. That is their experience and past training, not a study.
• Leading a team you inherit. Yusuf: not every leader gets to choose — “you usually inherit the team” 1:02:07 — so the job is to understand the team’s values 1:02:30. “I wasn't born as a good leader” 1:02:50; he became a centre director at Wall Street English at “like 22 probably”, and says there was ego then 1:03:06. His view now: “leaders is a supporting role” 1:03:23 — make sure “people that you lead actually shining more than you” 1:03:58. The trait he connects with fastest: “less ego” 1:04:36.

FAQ

Mentioned on the mic

• Cambridge International Education
• Cambridge University Press
• Celebrity Fitness
• Wall Street English
• Outliers
• Bill Gates
• AI Native
• ChatGPT
• Gemini
• Data privacy
• Critical thinking
• Book the host called “Psychology of Influence”
• Reciprocity
• Ethos, Logos, Pathos
• SPG
• Ojek Payung

Listen & watch

Transcript

The full transcript is in Indonesian, the language of the episode. Read the Proxemics 039 transcript (Bahasa Indonesia).

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