Hieronder is een stuk tekst uit het boek customer relationship

management, the foundation of contemporary marketing

strategy,, geschreven door Roger J. baran en Robert J. Galka
(tweede editie, gepubliceerd in 2017)

14.1 Introduction
In this text, we attempted to define the key inputs, components, strategies, and best
practices of the CRM methodology. Some of the findings include:

Organization structure and management can enable or hinder a CRM effort.

Data transformed into information and, subsequently, knowledge is the cornerstone of
CRM. Improved and cost-effective computer hardware has made it easier to build the
backbone simple or complex—architecture of a CRM system.
Communication within the organization, across the value chain, and between customers
and organizations has become increasingly efficient and reliable.
CRM software options are more readily available, efficient, and easier to manage.
CRM measurement approaches have proven to be effective and are becoming more
integral to an organization’s marketing strategy.
Rapid technology adoption by customers and prospects has provided efficient
communication mediums between them and organizations.
Social media activity has generated an abundance of data that, when transformed into
knowledge, provides for a more optimal CRM effort.
Rising consumer concerns over privacy have precipitated the need for proactive
measures with regards to managing customer information. Many organizations have
assigned executive ownership by creating the chief privacy officer position.

Industry experts provide insights into the current trends in an attempt to help
organizations position themselves to manage future challenges as well as opportunities.
While it is difficult to predict which direction customers and organizations will take, it is
important that organizations make an attempt to formulate a CRM strategy that can
generate the optimal environment to maximize customer equity. In this chapter, we
provide a summary of the current trends as well as possible challenges and opportunities
that these trends may precipitate. Note that this summary is not all inclusive due to the
ever-changing market dynamics, but it should give you a good starting point when
considering the trends that are active at the time of your reading.

14.2 Organizational Environment and CRM

Traditionally, CRM technology solutions have been extremely expensive and have
required lengthy implementations (so long that most utilized a phased approach), large
numbers of highly skilled human resources, and a cash investment with a long time to the
targeted return on investment (ROI). While large organizations are continuing with their
CRM implementation efforts, major CRM technology-enabling organizations see future
growth in the small to medium-sized business market. Microsoft, for example, is
leveraging its current customer base and providing CRM capabilities to its customers in a
way that minimizes changes as well as reduces the learning curve by integrating CRM
applications into its current Office suite. Increased acceptance of service-based
applications, such as those provided by Salesforce.com, while still requiring
organizational input to data definitions and design, have, by their business model,
eliminated the need for organizations to rely upon a large IT resource base (whether
internal or outsourced). This trend is very attractive to large, medium-sized, and small
organizations alike because it reduces costs and increases speed to “CRM-ready”
environments.
Organizations, in an attempt to reduce costs and enhance their competitive position, are
improving their front-end and back-end software applications, which are designed to
perform specific business functions. They are now realizing that silos formed around
these functions must be broken down so as to allow a fully integrated flow of customer
information.

As organizations adopt new CRM-based and related applications, they will need to staff,
or have access to, human resources that can use and extract value from these
applications. This will be required not only at customer touch points, but also in “back-
end” analytical exercises. As a result, there is now increased pressure on the HR
functions, since current human resources must be trained and, in some cases, new
human resources must be acquired.

All of the economic and technological forces driving CRM allow companies to better focus
on customers as opposed to brands, products, and regions. This will impact organizational
structure in many ways. All departments will become customer centric, leading to even
greater decentralization of marketing. There will be more cross-functional teams, with
marketing working more closely with research and development, engineering,
manufacturing, and finance to ensure that the voice of the customer is heard in product
development. This focus on customers will lead to stronger relationships among partners
because of the necessity of sharing customer and product information. In addition, more
functional areas will interact with customers and external partners, ensuring that key and
correct information is disseminated. There will be a shift from product/brand-focused to
customer-focused strategic business units, and key account managers will assume a
more important role in B2B because of their focus on the customer. 1 Quick response
teams will be increasingly important in dealing with company and product emergencies
and derogatory messages gone viral. Customer contact centers will not only handle
customer complaints and problems but will also become more involved in increasing
customer satisfaction through the use of social media.

In addition, we will see the continuation of new positions being created in organizations,
given the ability to capture information through new technology. Likely positions include:

social media manager;

online communities’ manager; manager of multichannel marketing; touch-point manager.

These new positions require expertise with social networking sites, as well as with
company products, brands, and strategies. They and their staff will be responsible for
creating buzz, trolling for problems and complaints, and scanning social media sites for
any mentions of company products and brands. They will also be involved in integrating
social media into more traditional advertising and sales promotion campaigns. These are
important positions, since they create a “face” for the brand. 2

In addition, existing jobs will change. Many companies currently have chief data officers
who are responsible for analyzing and interpreting internal data mart information in
conjunction with data from
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outside sources. They are responsible for building mathematical models and spotting
patterns, such as the correlation between diaper and beer purchases in convenience
stores. In the future, data available through social media will become part of their
domain. This data will need to be integrated with internal data mart and other outside
source data in order for them to be able to present a complete picture of consumer
behavior. Consequently, data accessible through the analysis of social media
conversations will be a major addition to their job responsibilities. Recently, universities
have seen an increase in CRM-enabling organizations expressing interest in funding
specialized university programs in an attempt to produce highly trained and qualified
people who can then be hired by the businesses’ customers. Without these qualified
people, these organizations are reluctant to purchase CRM-enabling applications. There
will not only be a need for the sophisticated, well-trained statistical analysts, but also a
greater need for people to formulate customer strategy based upon the analytical results.
As organizations move to a more dynamic “real-time” CRM environment, fostered in part
by increased Web activity, there is a growing need for well-trained network specialists,
Web software engineers, and database architects, as well as people who understand
consumer behavior.

14.3 Trends in Current Technology

CRM technology solutions are extremely dynamic. Advances in processing power have
enabled new solutions to be developed. Increased communication bandwidths have
enabled new methods of data capture, analysis, storage, and retrieval to be designed and
implemented. Competitive forces are driving new solutions so quickly that organizations
must decide when to adopt these solutions, knowing very well that they may be less than
optimal within a shortened period of time. Rapid adoption of social media tolls by
consumers is a new challenge to companies, as they must implement newer solutions for
the purpose of capturing and integrating consumer information. The following discussions
highlight some of this growth phenomenon.

14.3a Database Environment

Data marts are growing in popularity as CRM applications become more specific and
needs vary. While this places pressure on data loading and data security, the trade-offs
exceed the risk, as marketers have access to only relevant data, the size of which is
usually smaller. This results in quicker access for analytics and increases the speed-to-
market for functions such as campaign management; conversely, customer contact
center and Web interaction activity times are shortened.

Most data warehouses are still being developed, maintained, and managed internally.
However, there is a trend to outsourcing the data warehouse as well as a desire to
determine new approaches to managing data. Even when outsourcing construction and
maintenance of a data warehouse, it may still need to be resident within the organization.
A risk of outsourcing is loss of intellectual capital as providers learn about an
organization’s method and can carry that knowledge, indirectly, to another organization
via design and management approaches.

Some databases are being constructed in a way that places all relevant data into
memory. While this drastically increases the speed of processing and reduces reliance of
input and output processing, it is high risk, as memory backup and data redundancy
processes are not yet reliable. Once these challenges are overcome, there should be a
trend to more widespread adoption of placing relevant data in memory.

14.3b Sales Force Automation

Sales force automation (SFA) continues to grow in importance. As a technology-enabling

methodology, it is well positioned to fill the gap created by an increasing dependence on
the need for information integration in a mobile environment. Providers of these
technology solutions have and will continue to modify their infrastructures to be
compatible with, and support a wide variety of, mobile devices such as smart phones,
iPads, and tablets. Salesforce.com, Microsoft, and Oracle are major providers of SFA.

14.3c Customer Engagement Technologies

There has been a gradual consolidation in customer engagement center software and
hardware providers used by organizations to manage phone, text, e-mail, chat, social
media, etc. interactions with their customers. Management of both inbound and outbound
customer contact for a variety of services in various industries involves different software
and hardware technologies. These include interactive voice response (IVR), call queuing,
“screen pops,” surveys, order processing, customer account management, and others.
These different areas appear to be falling under the umbrella of engagement center
workforce optimization solutions. These all-encompassing approaches provide economies
of scale with regards to labor, software, hardware, and other costs and also provide a
one-stop-shop opportunity for businesses requiring these different services.

14.3d Customer Contact Channel Management

CRM strategies usually include some type of campaign management technology. This
software is evolving into a true multichannel customer management solution. New
solutions not only manage the segmentation, targeting, and value proposition offers to
customers, but they can also integrate these efforts across multiple
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channels simultaneously, including the rapid collection and dissemination of data

customers provide to the organization. These solutions also allow organizations to better
capture current behavioral, lifestyle, and personality data on customers versus traditional
demographic and historical information. It provides for an optimal, multichannel,
customer interaction management environment. This has been accomplished via a
consolidation in the industry where large CRM technology providers have purchased
niche solution providers and enabled new solutions to be created via an influx of cash and
expertise. The acquisitions of Unica by IBM, Aprimo by Teradata, and Siebel by Oracle are
examples of this consolidation activity.

14.3e Customer Service

The solutions provided to enable better customer service are fragmented. These areas
involve self-service (which requires a base of knowledge that customers interact with to
assist them in their transaction), chat session capability, e-mail management and
response handling, and mobile service (e.g., SMS).

14.3f Enterprise Resource Planning

Installing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is costly, requires anywhere from
9 months to several years to implement, and requires an organization to adhere to the
respective ERP method of managing the business process. Several Focus experts 3 have
defined the following ERP trends:

Companies are becoming less accepting of expensive, never-ending projects. Projects will
start with smaller, more targeted implementations.
Companies will reduce support and maintenance costs.
Packaged, or productized, services offerings will gain traction.

Software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing will make more of an impact on the
ERP space. Enterprise mobility features are becoming must-have tools.
Collaboration tools will gain momentum in ERP offerings.

14.3g Marketing Application Life Cycles

Marketing applications follow a life cycle curve. Gartner’s Hype Cycle 4 is a tool that places
marketing application vendors on a life cycle curve and is a good first step in a marketing
application vendor evaluation. The Gartner Hype Cycle illustrates how these vendors
emerge, peak, and decline and rise. It also shows a steady slope of increased productivity
with proven reliability and economies of scale. They partition their Hype Cycle curve into
four areas. A Technology Trigger connotes a vendor emerging and passing through entry
barriers. This is a steep growth curve that includes a growing Hype of expectations. Most
of the technologies provided at this point are emerging technologies that contain a
certain level of risk, so risk-taking companies or companies with the experience
necessary to manage risk are better suited for adopting vendor applications on this part
of the curve. Today, most of these applications focus on social media measurement and
management, marketing integration across business disciplines, and on-demand
applications.

As the Hype of these applications diminishes, the steep curve reaches a peak, which
Gartner calls the Peak of Inflated Expectations. As expectations are met and applications
become harder to differentiate, the Hype of these applications declines in a steep
downward curve, which Gartner calls the Trough of Disillusionment. These applications
represent loyalty and personalization capabilities, financial planning and management,
and other predictive type methodologies. Some of these applications prove to be more
applicable and successful than others, so a “shakeout” occurs, with survivors becoming
more widely adopted. Applications start to become “off-the-shelf” types, are easily
implemented, and increase the adopter’s productivity. Thus, a new, steadily rising slope
emanates from the bottom of the trough, which Gartner calls the Slope of Enlightenment.

14.4 Emerging Trends and Technologies

1. The number of companies running CRM on a mix of on-premise and SaaS (cloud)
systems will continue to increase. The majority of organizations have gone through a
transformation of their CRM applications from a dominant model that was on-premises-
only to a mix of on-premises and software as a service (SaaS) over the past decade. In
2015, SaaS or cloud-based deployments represented about 50 percent of all CRM
deployments. In North America and Western Europe, where 78 percent of CRM application
spending took place in 2014, the dominant model is a mix of on-premises and SaaS.
Gartner foresees that, in the next five years, the dominant model of a mix of on-premises
and SaaS will continue to expand. By 2020, 60 percent of large organizations will run
their CRM applications with the on-premises and SaaS mixed-model approach, an
increase from 50 percent in 2015; while 20 percent will continue to have on-premises-
only systems, 10 percent will outsource everything and 10 percent will be cloud and other
systems.5

Complex business process needs require a core on premises. A retail bank, a retail
insurer, a complex government function, an airline or a telco operator—basically,
industries facing large numbers of consumers, high transaction marketing processes, and
complex back-end billing and operations systems—will be stuck off-cloud as core. They
will implement some cloud/SaaS in CRM areas, but core customer service and support
areas will remain difficult to have in a SaaS model. On the other hand, social for CRM,
B2B, and digital commerce functions, by comparison, are relatively easy to move to the
cloud.6

2. Only small companies will be able to meet their CRM goals using one CRM application.
It is not uncommon to find large companies using 100 or more CRM applications, from a
variety of vendors, in their various business units across the globe. Most companies need
a wide-variety of separate CRM systems since different CRM systems are needed for
separate functional areas such as marketing, sales, customer service, field service and
digital commerce appearing in each business unit. Large companies such as GE may have
40 or more business units and with a minimum of 5 functional areas in each that are
heavy users of CRM, it is readily apparent why 100 or more CRM applications may be
used in a single company. It is true that some CRM applications cut across and can be
used by numerous departments, but these are limited to applications such as social for
CRM, mobile, CECs, VOC and Master Data Management (MDM). No wonder functional silos
still exist even with the plethora of CRM systems within large firms. 7

3. Waning IT Support needed for functional CRM efforts. When company CRM systems
were in-house proprietary development, IT was needed on the ground floor and
throughout testing and application. CRM system development was often funded entirely
out of the IT budget. Today, IT-driven CRM applications for projects needed by functional
departments won’t be a fast enough match for these same applications already
developed and marketed by SaaS vendors, external service providers and systems
integrators. Funding comes from the department’s budget as opposed to a centralized IT
budget, effectively taking IT out of the loop—but not completely. IT should be involved
from the beginning: handling technical due diligence; advising on vendor/supplier
selection, their system’s architecture and security; and integrating the CRM systems on a
global scale if necessary. Further, IT should be heavily involved in testing the CRM
applications. This is best done on a limited channel basis and over a narrow geographic
scope. If the innovation is a new channel (such as mobile), then test a limited number of
customer processes.8

4. More self-service. Customer self-service, as opposed to more expensive company

customer service through the CEC, is going to grow for two reasons: cost and technology.
If customers can be switched to the Web from phone, chat, or e-mail, costs go down
dramatically. When customers call to ask how to assemble something or how to use the
product, companies no longer have to physically walk the customer through the process.
Rather, they can be directed to video-portals showing how-to-do-it videos, or they can go
to a company-developed online learning site. Further, they can be directed to the brand
community where they can listen to conversations on the topic. Social customer support

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(“swarming models”) eliminate the need for a company’s support staff to deal with the
issue and, in actuality, may provide for a more satisfying experience since many in the
brand community are more familiar with a company’s product or services than first and
second tier employees themselves.9

5. Real Time Analytics. While it is beneficial to review a customer service interaction after
it is completed to see where service could have been improved, additional services
recommended, or upgrades suggested, it is far better to be able to do these things while
you are still interacting with the customer, whether over the phone, chat, e-mail, etc.
That is the potential of real time speech analytics, which takes a real-time look at the
interaction while it is happening and can identify a sales opportunity for the CEC
representative, a possibility of customer churn, or signal a supervisor to assist in an
emotional or difficult interaction.

A more complicated but more robust tool is to use “engagement analytics” provided by
companies such as Verint Engagement Analytics, a cloud-based software and services
package that captures data from multiple interaction channels including Web and mobile,
phone, e-mail, chat, and perhaps most uniquely—social media posts. Once the data is
collected, engagement analytics computes and generates metrics that interpret customer
behavior, predict satisfaction and future customer behavior. These metrics could then be
used to generate the most effective marketing communications from a communications
bank.10

6. This brings us to the Internet of Things. Wireless sensors are versatile and getting
smaller and smaller. Sensors can detect everything from the rarest chemical to the most
exotic bacteria. Sensors have started to power themselves by scavenging for energy in
their environment, for instance in the form of light and motion. Researchers hope a
network of 1 trillion sensors will cover the world and deliver data to anybody who needs
them, from carmakers to municipal governments. Sensors detecting a particular health
hazard can notify a pharmaceutical company to produce a particular vaccine in enough
time and enough quantity to prevent a major outbreak. Sensors in the home can directly
notify a company to send a replacement device or part without a human interacting at
either end.11

The Internet of Things is a market segment that may soon become the most important in
the world. In the future it may be the “things” segment that orders more of your products
or services than the more typical demographic and psychographic-determined segments
of today. Gartner estimates that by 2020, Internet-connected things will outnumber
humans with a ratio of 4:1. One has to ask how CRM will be reshaped when the most
important customers happen to become “things.” Of course, while things will become a
customer’s buyer, their actions will be determined by the pre-set rules their customers
build for them.

The Internet of Things will greatly change today’s channels of distribution in that
manufacturers will now be able to automatically service the final customers and bypass
intermediaries such as distributors and dealers in the channel. This is already being done
by HP with their Instant Ink service. Customers’ Wi-Fi enabled printers monitor the ink
levels and automatically place an order with HP when it is running low. Customers will no
longer have to purchase these items from retailers, and since the items will repair or call
for repair themselves, consumers will no longer have to visit service/repair retailers. LG’s
Smart ThinQ washer figures out the problem itself when something goes wrong and helps
you and LG find the solution. Sensors in our refrigerators, pantries, liquor cabinets and
wine coolers will detect needs, automatically build the shopping list and, after negotiating
the best deal, place the order for delivery.

How will marketers handle “thing” marketing? How will sales develop presentations for an
audience of things? What will Thing Relationship Management look like? Will there be a
Thing Code of Ethics or a Privacy Code for Things? One thing is for sure, this is bound to
be the next big thing.

7. Augmented Reality.Want to find a bar serving Stella Artois beer? Simply point your
phone down the street and the destinations will pop up. Want to find a good restaurant?
Simply point your phone down the street to find, on the Yelp site, customer reviews of
restaurants and other establishments. While travelling, if you want to get a rundown of an
entire section of a city, just use the Conde Nast Digital app and point your phone for a
rundown of all museums, shops, and other attractions— including restaurants. While in
London, if you wonder what the square looked like 200 years ago,

simply engage the Museum of London StreetMuseum app which allows you to view
historic photos and paintings for 200 London street locations. Macy’s is testing an AR
dressing room that allows shoppers standing in front of a digital mirror to view clothes
virtually on their body. Pier 1 and Ikea, in conjunction with the SnapShop.app, allow
shoppers to point to a spot in their home and see what their furniture would look like. 12

14.4a Cloud Computing

The use of cloud computing is growing quickly. A key reason for adopting cloud
computing is that it allows for relatively unrestricted scalability in storage and processing.
This solves a major problem for organizations, as the pressure of hardware acquisition
and planning is greatly reduced. It also reduces the reliance on the use of cookies on a
customer PC and places the organization in a better position to manage data captured in
a mobile environment. The former is a growing concern, not only for reasons of
management activity but also because of the challenges faced with a rise in cookie
disabling by customers concerned about privacy.

Cloud computing is also attractive because organizations, in the short term, do not have
to worry about storage capacity management when there are sudden surges in customer
data capture activity, such as from a website or in response to an organization’s CRM
effort. Cloud computing also supports the relationship effort, as all relevant customer
data can be easily captured and managed by the organization as well as the customer.
Ease of access for both parties is a benefit to both.

As CRM efforts encourage the capture and usage of more customer information in the
mobile environment, the use of cloud computing minimizes data storage issues for both
parties. It also provides the customer with access to his or her data from a variety of
technology platforms in a secured reliable environment.

Hi-tech organizations are rapidly adopting cloud computing services, and newly
developed technology solutions rely heavily on this methodology. The Norris Group, a
Riverside, California-based real estate company, switched to Microsoft Dynamics CRM
after its in-house system led to salespeople duplicating efforts, and a corrupt database
nearly cost it a decade’s worth of information. By switching to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, it
slimmed its prospect list from 40,000 to 8,000 and also found that events didn’t generate
as many leads as its executives thought:

“We’ve done lots of live speaking engagements, and we thought they were a big part of
our leads. When we looked at the analytics, we saw that wasn’t the case at all,” says
Aaron Norris, marketing director at The Norris Group. “The year before we started using
the Microsoft service, we spoke 26 weekends out of the year. The next year, we cut that
in half, and our sales increased.”13

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), cloud computing will continue to

reshape the IT landscape over the next 5 years. Spending on public IT cloud services
continues to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.6 percent, from
$21.5 billion in 2010 to $72.9 billion in 2015.14

Not all companies, however, are jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon just yet.
Concerns about security are the most prominent reasons that organizations cite for not
adopting cloud services. Industry experts also say that cloud computing can present
customization hurdles for marketers. Chris Hubble, vice president of brand strategy at
market research company Dogs Bollocks 5 (DB5), which switched to in-the-cloud service
InfoStreet 3 years ago, says it can also be more challenging to make simple changes like
switching font styles. “If it’s something other [companies] aren’t asking for, it goes to the
bottom of the list, or else we have to pay a fee to get that change made,” he says, adding
that these are minor concerns overall.15

14.4b Radio Frequency Identification

As discussed in Chapter 6, radio frequency identification (RFID) is a widely accepted

technology used predominately to track items. It has been heavily adopted in numerous
industrial settings as well as municipality and government areas. Since the tags can hold
an infinite amount of information, be scanned at a distance, and write to themselves,
other tags, and other systems, it has proven to be more efficient and flexible than the bar
code. So how can this technology benefit CRM?

There is a division of thought on RFID CRM applications, but evidence seems to be

growing that shows that 440
this technology will soon be an integral part of the CRM strategy. Channel management,
campaign effectiveness, and customer service are just a few of the areas where
organizations might be able to leverage information from RFID. Christine Spivey Overby,
senior analyst with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research, states,
“Consumer goods and pharmaceuticals are the main private-sector industries that are
taking a long look at RFID right now.” Other experts believe that by leveraging RFID to
improve inventory control, they are indirectly providing customer service and, therefore,
are indirectly contributing to the CRM effort.

Some researchers have proven that there is now an opportunity to leverage RFID at the
retail level.16

E. W. T. Ngai and fellow colleagues at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University performed
research and development of an RFID-based personal shopping assistant (PSA) system for
retail stores. RFID technology was employed as the key enabler to build a PSA system to
optimize operational efficiency and deliver a superior customer shopping experience in
retail stores. They show that an RFID-based PSA system can deliver significant results to
improve the customer shopping experience and retail store operational efficiency by
increasing customer convenience, providing flexibility in service delivery, enhancing
promotional campaign efficiency, and increasing product cross-selling and up- selling
through a CRM system.17

By using an Apple iPad, Global Bay’s mobile platform for retail is a “real-life” application
of RFID in a retail setting. The top 10 percent (i.e., most loyal) of retail customers receive
an RFID-enabled loyalty card. When they enter the store, scanners relay the entrance
with customer identification to a retail salesperson’s iPad. The retailer has instant access
to all customer information and can then proceed to provide that customer with a
personal shopping experience. Additionally, the customer can remain at home and the
salesperson, using the customer information, can add items to a shopping cart for the
customer and the customer can pay from home. The salesperson has a credit card
reader, and while the customer is in the store, the salesperson can print the receipt for
the customer, e-mail the receipt to the customer, or both. These features enhance the
customer’s experience and build a stronger relationship. 18

There have been other similar applications tested in grocery stores, where the
consumer’s RFIDenabled loyalty card is tracked as he shops. This test provided the store
managers with shopping patterns. Other attempts went further and included a tablet
affixed to the cart, where manufacturers could position ads as the consumer walked past
their product category area.

Once consumers have a uniform device with standard software, we may see RFID tags
embedded in clothing. When a consumer purchases the clothing at point of sale, the
specific clothing article, via the RFID tag, will be scanned and linked to the database
alongside the customer’s identification information. When that consumer is wearing the
clothing in public, another consumer may use a universal device and scan the article.
Once scanned, the manufacturer’s website will pop up on the device and point that new
customer to the site, where she can purchase the same article. If purchased, the first
customer is credited and receives a commission at the end of the month for all purchases
made as a result of the clothing being scanned. This seems far- fetched, but companies
are experimenting with this as well as many other areas.

14.4c Field Service Management

A critical component of CRM is the interaction between the organization and customers in
their homes or at their jobs. In B2B situations, organizations have relied upon laptops to
assist them when servicing a customer and, in some cases, a smart phone. In a
consumer’s home, where, for example, a serviceperson is installing an appliance or a
salesperson is explaining the benefits of his company’s furnaces, a laptop is an expensive
and unnecessary enabler. New applications are being developed for iPads and tablets
that enable the field serviceperson or salesperson to interact directly with the appliance,
to connect with his home office, or to demonstrate an appliance for the customer in his
home.

14.4d Knowledge Management

Customer knowledge is becoming the new competitive asset in e-business that enables
companies to serve each customer in his or her preferred way and to nurture profitable
and durable customer relationships. As companies grow and interact with more and more
customers through increasingly diverse media and channels, having a systematic
approach to customer knowledge management (KM) becomes critical. While KM
methodologies have been used for decades, current advances in technology have created
an opportunity to integrate that knowledge into the customer interaction. This may be
done at a website or within a variety of mobile applications.

14.4e Artificial Intelligence

New intelligence software systems are being tested in an effort to integrate loyalty
programs, database information, and consumer behavioral data. The objective of these
efforts is to identify information-based relationships that would normally not be seen by
existing systems. A good example of this is the use of intelligent agent technology. M.
Woodridge and N. R. Jennings define an intelligent agent as “an encapsulated computer
system that is situated in some environment and that is capable of flexible and
autonomous action in that environment in order to meet its design objectives.” 19

Building on Woodridge and Jennings’s research, S. Daskou and E. E. Mangina have found
that customer needs can be monitored from a multiagent software system. By using
specialized software agents, they show how to simulate the procedure of data analysis to
extract useful information for the customer’s benefit. These findings are then integrated
with decision-making functions for data interpretation. The following are some other
implications from their research:

There is an increased level of dependency between a manufacturer and a retailer. The

manufacturer depends on the data collected by retailer intelligence (i.e., databases of
loyalty programs) to improve product development, communication practices targeted to
both intermediaries and consumers, and brand positioning.

Trust levels will automatically increase as both members of the channel have confidence
in each other’s capabilities in the exchange.
The processed data can provide ongoing information about consumers.
Both parties should gain better cooperation, and the resulting optimal marketing
initiatives should enhance value to the customer, thereby increasing customer equity. 20

While intelligent virtual agents have not yet become a commonly used term in the field of
CRM, they have great potential to make a major impact on the customer experience in an
online or mobile environment. Intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) can be defined as artificial
intelligence programs that translate to autonomous graphically embodied agents that
appear in an online environment. Graphic design for each individual virtual agent may
vary from video animation to a photo or an avatar, in an interactive 2D or 3D
environment, in order to fit with a company’s brand image. IVAs are increasingly being
sourced by companies to bring more personalized interaction to their CRM effort. IVAs can
provide the consumer with help and advice as he or she navigates a website and assist
with sales functions, customer support, or sales follow-up.

14.4f Real-Time Data Analysis and Streaming

Customer data stored in company data banks often goes stagnant. If and when the data
is analyzed, reports based on such are often no longer timely at the time of release.
Today, innovative organizations are using technologies that deliver data between devices
as the data is being generated, called real-time data analysis. For example, retailers
using GPSs on customers’ smart phones can send coupons or messages related to the
product lines customers are near in the store. A quick scan of the customer’s historic data
in the data bank would allow the store to customize the offer based on the customer’s
purchase history or demographics. Combining streaming of data as it is happening with
historical data, advanced data analytic techniques enable companies to implement
customized and timely CRM tactics.21

14.4g Augmented Reality

442

A new and powerful technological innovation bound to affect future CRM strategies is
“augmented reality.” Augmented reality, relying on smart phones with an electronic
compass and GPS chip, enables people to point the device at anything and receive layers
of information about what they are looking at. Currently, an application called Yelp allows
you to point your phone down any street and find restaurant reviews where applicable.
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Stella Artois has an app allowing customers to find bars selling
its brand. IKEA and Pier 1 Imports use an app called SnapShop that puts their furniture at
a spot in your home pointed to by your smart phone camera. 22 Techniques are also
available that allow shoppers to see how they look in new clothes without actually trying
them on.

14.5 Dynamic CRM: Transitioning for the Future

The economic and technological forces driving and permitting marketers to become
customer-centric—with a focus on relationships with individuals as opposed to mass
markets—will continue unabated for many reasons. The ability to gather both internal and
external data regarding customers and prospects is increasing in depth and ease. Smart
phones and social media, in particular, are facilitating this effort. The rewards from
maintaining, bonding with, enhancing, and retaining current customers will continue to
grow. The ability of companies to differentiate between high-profit potential customers
and low-profit potential customers will continue to dramatically affect the bottom line,
and the profit implications of reducing downward migration and churn have the attention
of CEOs.

CRM tactics will significantly change in the short term for the following reasons:

social media;
smart phones;
new CRM metrics;
new developments in marketing research; new developments in mass customization.

In turn, these effects will result in major changes to the implementation of strategy and
tactics in the CRM strategy cycle (acquisition, retention, and win-back) as well as to the
organization itself.

14.5a Social Media: A Driving Force in the Future of CRM

Social media provides a new channel for customer engagement, leading to what is called
social CRM. Interacting with and within social networks has become one of the most
important new ways marketers can acquire customers and maintain relationships with
current ones. Social networking provides a new domain for customer engagement
opportunities and requires a new paradigm for marketing activities. Facebook fan pages
are essentially replacing company brand home pages. They enable companies to reach
customers and prospects fast and to get a true 360-degree view of customer behavior. By
monitoring social media conversations, companies can capture the voice of the customer
and use this information to measure potential success of new products and services, to
suggest modifications to features and functions, or to offer new product uses and
applications.

In addition, many feel that virtual brand communities can lead to customer retention
through the interpersonal interaction and exchanging of information that builds up social
capital. If companies effectively participate in these social media discussions, they may
build up social trust and increase consumer confidence in dealing with them. As we
learned in Chapter 13, research indicates that social media are used differently
throughout the world. In China, more so than in the West, the number one reason people
use social media is to seek information before buying products. Many of the discussions
center around the concept of price versus performance (value) in numerous product
categories. Consequently, companies may need to localize their social media strategies
as opposed to standardizing them across the globe.

Further, we can expect to see companies developing structural ties with customers via
social media. For example, regimens and schedules developed to keep customers from
failing on their diet, medication programs, automobile maintenance, home repair,
financial planning, and so on, can be easily implemented through social media channels.
In addition, influencers and advocates can be encouraged to contribute their thoughts,
which will increase the motivation of users of company products and services.

We can expect to see companies developing more “offbeat” videos and messages in the
hopes that they will go viral. There is a fine line, however, between what is viewed as a
successful offbeat message and crass commercialism. Positive buzz can quickly turn
negative, and that is why we will see increasing company emphasis on departments and
policies formed to deal with detractors, message hijackers, and those developing
parodies focusing on company brands and products. When company messages are
unique, compelling, and easily shared, however, they can be very effective profit drivers
for companies. At the very least, customer contact centers will be increasingly involved in
the new social media channel to increase customer service and
444

handle customer complaints.

As we have discussed, data mining is an integral part of CRM and is now being broadened
to include

analysis of social networks. There are more than 100 programs available for network
analysis.23 By conducting network analysis, companies can categorize customers and
prospects into opinion leaders/influencers, advocates, detractors, and merely observers.
They can then develop different strategies for each group. For example, influencers and
advocates can be encouraged to publicly promote the advantages of the brand and their
positive postpurchase experiences with it.

14.5b Smart Phones: Reshaping the Retail Environment

Smart phones are affecting organizations to the same extent that personal computers
reshaped organizations. Once every desk had a PC, company divisions could analyze their
own customer data, develop their own marketing programs, assess program
effectiveness, and then make adjustments where needed. No longer was it necessary to
rely on corporate headquarters or the marketing department. Similarly, smart phones are
changing the way retailers do business: how they price, advertise, promote, compete,
staff, create store ambiance, and even provide their services. Following are some of the
reasons why and how this is happening:

Price comparison apps have introduced a new era of price transparency. Consumers can
use their smart phones to check on store “specials” by referring to price comparison apps
such as “theFind.” Nearly half of all smart phone users perform pricing due diligence
through their phones. Other apps such as RedLaser allow shoppers to use their mobile
phone cameras to scan bar codes and check for lowest prices. 24

Brick-and-mortar retailers’ historic advantages are eroding. Companies such as Best Buy
are fearful of becoming mere “showcases” where consumers enter to view, test, and
learn about products, only to purchase them at cheaper prices from online retailers.
Consumers prefer phones to retail clerks for basic assistance, lowering cross-selling and
trading-up opportunities (unless they are implemented over the phone). In 2010,
Accenture found that nearly three-quarters of all mobile phone shoppers preferred
phones to retail clerks for basic assistance. Customers can be “stolen” when in
competitors’ stores via phone messaging. For example, theFind app enables Best Buy to
send a message regarding similar items to customers in Walmart when they use the
theFind price comparison app for items in that store. Also, Amazon.com has a price
comparison app that allows customers to compare its prices to a scanned bar code on in-
store items.25 Location-based marketing/geofencing is a new way to promote in real time.
We are just seeing the beginning of location-based strategies (LBSs) by applications such
as foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt. As of 2010, only 4 percent of Americans had tried
LBSs, but the usage is growing given the built-in advantages for both merchant and
customer.26

Geofencing is a strategy used by companies when they draw perimeters around their
outlets and use GPS to send a text message offer to customers in the vicinity. Papa
Murphy’s reads consumers’ computer IP addresses and sends coupons only to those in its
area. This allows for local as opposed to national or regional campaigns. 27

Rewards programs can be developed that kick in once a consumer enters your store.
Deals available during retail “downtimes” via applications such as Groupon will enable
retailers to better manage demand. Groupon Now is a real-time deals program aimed at
consumers’ smart phones with the ability to smooth out demand for retailers by bringing
in customers during slow periods or “downtimes.” The Groupon app delivers offers to
consumers with a 24-hour purchase window based on their location. 28
Phones are becoming digital wallets, able to pay for anything.

Privacy issues will be increasingly prominent in the future. A Wall Street Journal study of
smart phone applications found that over half transmitted the phone’s unique ID to other
companies, and nearly half transmitted the phone’s location. Five percent sent personal
details to outsiders. It is almost impossible to delete cookies from smart phones, and,
with only a few exceptions, users cannot opt out. When smart phone users let

an application see their location, it is possible that this information is forwarded to

advertising companies.29 Currently, there is a lack of transparency regarding exactly
what information is being collected through smart phones and how it is being used.

14.5b.1 Social Networking and Smart Phone Technology

Implementation of the CRM strategy cycle will require warp-speed development and
delivery given competitors’ abilities to unveil tactics quickly and communicate with
consumers one on one via smart phones. The importance of companies bonding with
customers is inherent in CRM, but will the strength of company bonds be as strong if
delivered by smart phone as by humans? Bonding with customers via humanistic
strategies may still work effectively in the future with some segments, but new ways
must be developed to maintain the humanistic bond in the age of the smart phone.
Staying in touch with your customers on a regular basis is the key to attaining intimacy;
however, sending countless messages makes each message nothing but a commodity.
The issue for organizations will be balancing the exchange of pertinent information
without being repetitive, leading to loss of impact. Technology can be used to deliver
“high-touch” personal services that can be replicated en masse, but whether this is a
sufficient substitute for human contact remains to be seen.

Personalization and customization strategies can be effectively implemented via smart

phones, but competition will be fierce in this area.
Cross-selling and up-selling, two of the most conversation-dependent retention strategies,
are going to require very new techniques using smart phones, just as recruiting a high-
school athlete requires a different technique via text messaging versus going to the
athlete’s home to meet his or her parents. Customer information contained in data marts,
however, will enable companies to more effectively pinpoint items that are good
candidates for cross-selling or trading up. In addition, data marts will be accessed in order
to “time” such offerings in conjunction with changes in consumer life stages.
14.5c Reducing Expenses and Increasing Profits

Just as recency, frequency, monetary value (RFM) is being replaced by CLV as the metric
to use to measure a customer’s future potential, there will be refinements in how CLV is
measured. As V. Kumar and W. J. Reinartz pointed out, the RFM approach results in
significant overspending on lapsed customers because it ignores the pacing of a
customer’s interactions—the time between each purchase.30 The event history model
takes pacing into account, giving a better prediction of whether a customer will still be
active at a particular point in the future. This will reduce company costs in that money
can be directed at those having true future profit potential as opposed to those exhibiting
high one-transaction profits but offering no real future profit potential. This gets to the
very nature of CRM and its focus of differentiating high- and low-value customers. Further
refinements can be expected, particularly with the development of company-specific
models.

14.5d New Developments in Marketing Research

Marketing research is making a quantum leap into the future due to:

neurometric and biometric technologies;

network analysis/link analysis/predictive analysis; crowdsensing;
increasing emphasis on longitudinal research; crowdsourcing.

14.5d.1 Neurometric and Biometric Technologies

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), medical scanners, and

electroencephalography (EEG) brain wave monitors are being used by neuromarketers to
study brain wave responses to ads, brand names, and car

446

designs.31 They can also be used to evaluate among and select the best loyalty programs
and retention strategies. The belief is that while voiced opinions can be misleading, brain
waves provide a more valid indicator of what people really feel. Over $8 billion was spent
in 2006 on neuromarketing research, and it is expected that this new technique will
become a routine part of company marketing plans in the future. 32 The Advertising
Research Foundation advises, however, that neurological studies are still experimental
and there is not enough data to support the value of the neuromarketing efforts 33 at this
time.

In addition to neuroresearch, companies are using biometric research technologies to

study consumer behavior. For example, companies are using biometric tracking sensors
to determine how a consumer’s emotional state affects spending and how stress differs
between in-store and online shopping. And by monitoring electrodermal activity, it is
possible to determine what sparks a reaction in shoppers and what does not. 34

14.5d.2 Network Analysis

One doesn’t have to resort to physical and mental measures to predict people’s feelings.
Analytics can now handle unstructured as well as structured data. Research has found
that through analyzing Twitter messages, known as “network analysis,” one can capture
the mood swings of a nation and predict changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
with 88 percent accuracy.35 SAS Institute Inc. has software capable of analyzing the
sentiment of chatter on social media, including Facebook and Twitter. 36
14.5d.3 Crowdsensing

It is said that today nearly three-quarters of the world’s population carry a mobile
phone.37 In addition, calling records in some countries are now available for research.
Consequently, there is an immense database of calling records available for the study of
dissemination of ideas, opinions, innovations, and so on. Studies are being conducted on
how behavior and ideas spread through social networks and how companies can use this
relationship network to influence the marketing of products. 38 iPhones and Google keep
databases on phones’ locations, and there are tens of thousands of applications that
enable the forecasting of traffic congestion based on users’ phone locations. TomTom
uses connection data from mobile networks to update directions in case of delays—a form
of “crowdsensing.”39

14.5d.4 Longitudinal Research

Cross-sectional research will give way to longitudinal data collection in the future simply
because it is now easier to collect information from consumers on a continuous real-time
basis. This will lead to greater understanding of customer buying cycles, enabling
companies to understand what causes a customer to purchase a product in the first
place, what the progression of purchases looks like over time, how changes in life stage
affect purchase behavior, and other relationships not so apparent through traditional
cross-sectional methods.

14.5e Crowdsourcing

We will see much greater use of crowdsourcing by companies in the areas of brand name
selection, product designs, slogans, product usage, and so on. Recall from Chapter 13
that crowdsourcing occurs when users participate online in contributing to a firm’s
marketing efforts.

Crowdsourcing works on the elements that go into campaigns, not the campaign itself.
Amazon. com’s “Mechanical Turk” can be used for generating creative input from people
on the Internet. Everyone gets a small amount of money for their contribution. However,
crowdsourcing contributors are not motivated by the money, but rather, they contribute
because they are trying to hone their skills. Some even do it for the competition itself or
to prove themselves.

Most crowdsourcing projects cost less than $1,000. Companies can not only test new
product ideas and brand names but can also ask a number of questions in survey form.
One company received 650 designs in

three days and considered 200 of them great designs. The cost was $1,000. 40
Companies realize that when people buy new products today, they often crowdsource
advice over social

media. Consequently, the company needs to be “wired” into these conversations. Thus,
crowdsourcing will become an approach increasingly used by companies to generate new
ideas, select among them, and evaluate success.

14.5f Mass Customization as a CRM Strategy

Mass customization, enabling customers to design everything from coats to chocolates to

computers to cars, will increase due to more advanced Web technologies, such as 3D
printing, leading to mass customization of products. In the future, we will see mass
customization of clothes, entertainment, vacation packages, electronics, and many
consumer goods. Customization will make further inroads in the areas of promotion and
loyalty programs. Data marts enable companies to understand the lifestyles of their
customers. Combined with transaction data, this will enable them to customize
promotional messages, newsletters, and offers that will prove appealing to recipients.

A current example of this customization can be found in British luxury fashion house
Burberry’s “Burberry Bespoke” program, which allows online customers to design their
own trench coats in 12 million different ways by selecting fabric, cut, color, sleeves, cuff-
straps, lining, collars, and so forth.41

Another example can be found in Nestlé, which has developed a personalized chocolate
business through its Maison Cailler brand. Customers order chocolate samples and
complete a questionnaire about their preferences, resulting in a chocolate profile. Nestlé
hopes, of course, that they will post their profile on Facebook. The personal profile is used
by Nestlé to create personalized boxes of chocolates for customers. The program isn’t
rocket science, but it does create some customer engagement, and that is the whole
purpose of this mass-customization effort.42

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Chapter Summary
In this chapter, we identify certain trends in adoption and use of the CRM methodology as
a sustainable marketing strategy. These trends actually support the adoption of CRM
since not doing so will expose the organization to the possibility of a less than optimal
competitive position in its respective market space.

CRM enablers—that is, organizations providing the hardware and software necessary to
support a CRM strategy—are producing solutions that are easier to implement, maintain,
and upgrade, which reduces the barriers to CRM adoption as a strategy. The ease of
implementation and use has reduced the time necessary for employee training, which
leads to quicker utilization and hopefully quicker positive returns on investment.

Emerging technologies have accelerated the attractiveness of CRM adoption. Cloud

computing is reducing data latency, which is a key CRM inhibitor. While businesses have
used RFID for utility processes in the past, advances in consumer mobile devices and
consumers’ rapid acceptance of these devices have placed companies in a position where
real-time customer interaction is becoming the norm. Real-time interaction presents
opportunities for more efficient, accurate, and timely capture of consumer information,
which is an enhancement to any CRM strategy. However, this real-time activity also raises
consumers’ expectations. As a result, consumers may start to choose companies based
upon their abilities both to interact and to provide optimal products and services. Field
service management systems employ similar benefits and opportunities as mobile
devices enhance the ability of business to serve the customer in a face-to-face situation.
Knowledge management methodologies empower the employee, which provides an
environment for enhancing the customer experience. Advances in the ability of artificial
intelligence systems to uncover customer insights not observed through traditional CRM
technology may provide a “lift” to the organization’s CRM efforts.

Social media usage has created a new area for organizations to observe and engage with
customers. New Web-based technologies not only allow for social interaction between
consumers, but they provide an opportunity for organizations to give control to the
consumer for purposes of assisting in the creation of their own products or services via a
mass-customization approach. Consumers may soon be able to not only create their own
solutions but also precipitate the formulation of new products and services.
This is an exciting era for both organizations and consumers. These environment
dynamics make adoption of a CRM strategy by organizations almost a necessity in order
to maintain and hopefully improve their competitive position.
Major Moderators Influencing the Relationships of Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and
Customer Loyalty Hyung Seok Lee1 1 Faculty of Business Administration, Chungbuk National
University, Cheongju Chungbuk, South Korea Correspondence: Hyung Seok Lee, Faculty of
Business Administration, Chungbuk National University, 53 Naesudong-ro Heungdeok-gu,
Cheongju Chungbuk 361-763, South Korea. Tel: 82-43-261-3743. E-mail:
[email protected] Received: December 28, 2012 Accepted: January 6, 2013 Online
Published: January 28, 2013 doi:10.5539/ass.v9n2p1 URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v9n2p1 Abstract This study examines some major variables
moderating the relationships of service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty
in mobile phone services. The study employed statistical analyses, such as reliability analysis,
factor analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. The results of the study reveal that
service quality and customer satisfaction positively affect customer loyalty. In addition,
service quality positively influences customer satisfaction. Hence, customers with high
perceived service quality and satisfaction also have strong loyalty. Furthermore, the study
verifies the fact that moderating variables positively influence the relationships among the
aforementioned factors. Among customers with a high level of perceived value, the effect of
service quality on customer satisfaction increases. In addition, when customers’ perception
of reasonable price increases, the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction
increases as well. Finally, the study shows that as perceived switching cost increases, the
relationship between satisfaction and customer loyalty strengthens. Keywords: service
quality, perceived price, perceived value, perceived switching cost 1. Introduction Today’s
world of intensive competition requires firms to maintain the capability of high-quality
service as sustainable competitive priority. Higher quality service providers will satisfy
customers, leading them to become loyal customers. In addition, customer satisfaction has
become the center of service marketing and operations management because it is a general
proposition to be a significant antecedent of customer retention and repeat sales by positive
word-of-mouth (Ryu and Han, 2010; Lee, 2010a). The Korean mobile phone service market in
the country is one with the highest mobile phone subscription rates in the Asia-Pacific region
(Lee, 2010b). However, as the market is already saturated, in order to open the way for
improving firm profit, service providers need to implement marketing strategies by focusing
on customer retention (Turel and Serenko, 2006). There are three providers of mobile phone
services (SK Telecom, Olleh KT, LG U+), with 50.3%, 30.9% and 18.8% of market shares,
respectively. According to the Korea Communications Commission, the number of mobile
phone users in Korea reached 53.2 million, which is more than the number of the population
in August 2012. Since January 2004, the implementation of number portability regulations
has allowed customers to retain their phone number when they switch to another service
provider (Lee, 2010b). Thus, the current market situation can be considered as being
extremely competitive. The changes in Korea’s competitive mobile phone service market
demonstrate that customer retention has been advocated as an important and more reliable
source of superior performance (Lee et al., 2001). To sustain loyal customers, service
providers should initiate customer satisfaction programs, such as service recovery, complaint
management, and service quality warranty. Prior studies examining customer retention
have focused on customer satisfaction and service quality. Thus, many researchers have paid
close attention to the causal relationship of service quality, customer satisfaction, and
behavioral intentions (Cronin, Brady, Brand, Hightower and Shemwell, 1997). However, as a
good number of customers pay attention to the perceived value, price and switching cost as
well as quality and satisfaction, customers do not tend to always buy the highest quality
service (Lee, 2010b; Olshavsky, 1985). This study examines that higher quality service as well
as the understanding of customer loyalty play a very
www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 2; 2013 2 important role in the mobile
phone service market. It also suggests that, as with prior research, the concept of perceived
value, perceived price, and perceived switching cost should be applied to the mobile phone
service market in order to gain a deeper understanding of customer satisfaction and
customer loyalty. The specific objectives of the study are threefold: (1) to investigate the
effects of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty; (2) to examine the
relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty; and (3) to explore the moderating
roles of perceived price, perceived value, and perceived switching cost in the relationship
among service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. 2. Theoretical
Background and Hypothesis 2.1 Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Customer Loyalty
Many definitions have attempted to describe what constitutes service quality. Higher-quality
service indicates that service quality can be defined only by customers and that it occurs
when a service organization provides service that satisfies the customer’s needs (Metters et
al., 2003). Thus, simply speaking, service quality is defined as the satisfaction of customer
expectations. However, service quality is a complex construct which has multi-dimensions or
multi-facet characteristics. To verify the dimensions of service quality, a considerable number
of researches have been reported during the last twenty five years (Lee, 2010a). Specifically,
Grönroos’s (1984) two-dimensional model can be described as follows: 1) technical quality is
“what a customer receives,” and 2) functional quality is “how a service is provided or
delivered.” On the other hand, Parasuraman et al. (1985) conducted researches in several
industry sectors to develop and refine SERVQUAL, a multiple-item instrument to quantify
customers’ global assessment of a company’s service quality. Their scale involved
expectations-perceptions gap scores along five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, empathy, and tangibles (Metters et al., 2003). Three years later, Parasuraman and
his colleagues (1988) defined perceived service quality as “the consumer’s judgment about
the superiority or excellence of a product,” and confirmed the five-dimension model.
However, Cronin and Taylor (1992) and Teas (1993) argued that performance measures as
perceived quality is superior to the “perceptions-minus-expectations” measures. Hence,
many previous studies revealed that service quality can be described as a form of attitude
that is related but not equivalent to satisfaction, which results from the comparison of
expectations with performance (Parasuraman et al., 1988; Bolton and Drew, 1991; Cronin
and Taylor, 1992; Lee, 2010a). In addition, other conceptual and empirical studies suggest
that service quality is comprised of service product, service environment, and service
delivery (Rust and Oliver, 1994) or interaction quality, physical environment quality, and
outcome quality (Brady and Cronin, 2001; Lee, 2011). Although prior studies have mentioned
that there has been much debate as to whether service quality dimensions are antecedents
of customer satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Parasuraman et al., 1994; Zeithaml et al.,
1996), in a majority of researches, service quality has a significant effect on customer
satisfaction (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Taylor and Baker, 1994; Levesque and McDougall, 1996;
Zeithaml et al., 1996; McDougall and Levesque, 2000). For example, Cronin and Taylor’s
(1992) SERVPERF model provides a theoretical basis for the causal relationship between
service quality and customer satisfaction. Jamal and Naser (2002) also reported that the core
and relational dimensions of quality in the banking service revealed to be positively related
to customer satisfaction. In addition, mobile phone service researches showed that service
quality positively and significantly influences customer satisfaction (Kim et al., 2004; Tung,
2004; Turel and Serenko, 2006; Kuo et al., 2009; Lee, 2010a). Thus, it is possible to posit
service quality as an antecedent of customer satisfaction. Many studies have found a direct
positive link between service quality perceptions and customer behavioral intentions
(Boulding et al., 1993; Zeithaml et al., 1996). Cronin et al. (2000) conducted an empirical
research via a large-scale survey of six industries and reported the causal effect of service
quality on behavioral intentions. Ranaweera and Neely (2003) showed that there is a strong
association between service quality and customer loyalty; that is, the higher the perceptions
of service quality, the greater the level of repurchase intentions. Thus, service quality is an
important driver of customer retention. In addition to customer retention, service quality is
regarded to be a critical factor in the financial outputs of service firms. Service quality
attracts customers with unsatisfactory emotion toward their service firms (Venetis and
Ghauri, 2000; Lee, 2010a). Bloemer, Ruyter, and Wetzels (1998) and Aydin and Özer (2005)
insisted that service quality is one of the key drivers to increase the number of loyal
customers. Kuo et al. (2009) also found that there is a strong linear association between
service quality and customer loyalty. Most recent studies on the association between service
quality and behavioral intentions demonstrate that the two constructs have a strong causal
relationship (Levesque and McDougall, 1996; Zeithaml et al., 1996; Cronin et al., 1997;
Cronin et al., 2000). Therefore, Hypotheses 1 and 2 are proposed as follows:
www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 2; 2013 3 H1: Service quality has a
positive and significant influence on customer satisfaction. H2: Service quality positively and
significantly influences customer loyalty. Many service literatures also have reported that
early research efforts focused on preventing confusion between customer satisfaction and
service quality by determining whether there is any distinction between the two (Bitner,
1990; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Oliver, 1993). Customer satisfaction results from comparing
and experiencing a service quality which is encountered with what was expected (Oliver,
1980). Churchill and Surprenant (1982) insisted that satisfaction can be viewed as an
attitude, due to be assessed as the sum of satisfactions with various attributes of a product
or a service. Yi (1990) also showed that satisfaction can be conceived as an attitude. In
addition, Caruana et al. (2000) and LaTour and Peat (1979) suggested that satisfaction can be
considered as a post-decision experience construct, whereas an attitude can be viewed as a
pre-decision construct. Rust et al. (1994) reported that customer satisfaction and delight are
both strongly influenced by customer expectations and that the term “expectations” as used
by behavioral researchers, which is “what is likely to happen, on average.” They found a
bewildering array of “expectations” that reflected what might, could, will, should, or better
not happen. When someone says that the “service exceeded my expectations,” what they
generally mean is that the service was better than they had predicted it would be. Zeithaml
and Bitner (2000) defined customer satisfaction as a consumer’s fulfillment response. In this
regards, satisfaction can be considered as a judgment that “a product or service feature, or
product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment.”
Customer satisfaction also can be explained as the degree of customer’s positive feeling
toward a service provider. Thus, it is very meaningful for service firms to grasp the degree of
customer perception in their services. On the other hand, a high level of customer
satisfaction may have a positive effect on customer loyalty (Deng et al., 2009). Favorable
behavioral intentions influence the ability of service providers to retain its customers to stay
loyal to them as well as to recommend the service to other customers (Cronin and Taylor,
1992; Zeithaml et al., 1996). According to Turel and Serenko (2006) and Kuo et al. (2009), in
the mobile phone service market, there is a positive relationship between customer
satisfaction and purchase intention. Deng et al. (2009) also found that customer loyalty is not
only the ultimate object for customer satisfaction measurement, but also a key determinant
of a firm’s long-term viability. Fornell (1992) mentioned that the higher the level of customer
satisfaction, the greater the level of customer loyalty. Jones and Sasser (1995) and Mittal and
Kamakura (2001) attempted to link customer satisfaction to customer retention and found a
significant non-linear relationship between the two constructs. Thus, Hypothesis 3 is
proposed as follows: H3: Customer satisfaction has a positive and significant influence on
customer loyalty. 2.2 Three Major Moderators 2.2.1 Perceived Value Perceived value has
been known as a difficult concept to define and measure (Holbrook, 1994; Woodruff, 1997;
Zeithaml, 1988; Lee, 2010a). The majority of studies define perceived value as a trade-off
between the benefits and sacrifices (Zeithaml, 1988). Lee (2010a), mentioning that perceived
value can be considered as the outcomes or the benefits customers gain relative to the total
costs customers pay. Holbrook (1999) emphasizes that consumer value is the transaction
between customer and the product from which value results from. According to his research,
consumer value consists of eight components; efficiency, excellence, play, aesthetics, politics,
morality, self-esteem, and spirituality. Zeithaml (1988) defined consumer’s perception of
value as the following four concepts. First, value is a low price; second, value is whatever I
want in a product; third, value is the quality I get for the price I pay; and finally, value is what
I get for what I give. Zeithaml also expressed the four definitions by combining them into an
aggregate definition: “perceived value is the consumer’s overall assessment of utility of
product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given” (Tung, 2004). Bolton
and Drew (1991) also derived the perceived service value from the perceived product value
mentioned above. Perceived value plays a moderating role in the relation of service quality
and satisfaction. Several researchers agree to the combined effects of perceived value and
quality on satisfaction (Caruana, Money, and Berthon, 2000; Ryu and Han, 2010). Caruana et
al. (2000) examined that perceived value has a significant moderating effect on the
relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. That is, the interaction
between service quality and perceived value explained more of the variance in satisfaction
than the direct influence of either service quality or perceived value on customer satisfaction
(Ryu and Han, 2010). Thus, Hypothesis 4 is proposed as follows:
www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 2; 2013 4 H4: Perceived value has a
significant influence on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.
2.2.2 Perceived Price Price is distinguished between objective price (the actual price of a
product) and perceived price (the price as encoded by the consumer) (Jacoby and Olson,
1977). This distinction indicates that the objective monetary price is frequently not the price
encoded by the consumer. Zeithaml (1988) also delineated the components of price:
objective price, perceived nonmonetary price, and sacrifice. Some studies reveal that
consumers do not always remember the objective prices of products, but they do encode
prices in ways that are meaningful to them (Zeithaml, 1982, 1983, 1988). Perceived price can
be defined as “the customer’s judgment about a service’s average price in comparison to its
competitors” (Chen et al., 1994). Perceived price focuses on customers’ concerns as to
whether they are being charged more than or about the same as charged by competitors.
Zeithaml (1988) insisted that consumer perception of value is highly related to the
perception of price, and that the measurement of perceived value includes price perception.
The National Council of the Green Consumers Network (2012) in Korea reported that many
mobile phone subscribers were dissatisfied with the level and types of service charges. Ryu
and Han (2010) found that the perceived price has a significant effect on the relationship
between quality and customer satisfaction in the quick-casual restaurant industry. That is,
customers’ perception of a reasonable price enhances the effect of service quality on
customer satisfaction. Thus, Hypothesis 5 is proposed as follows: H5: Perceived price has a
significant effect on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. 2.2.3
Perceived Switching Cost Switching cost is defined as the cost of changing services in terms
of time, monetary value, and psychological factor (Dick and Basu, 1994; Lai et al., 2011).
Switching cost includes the search cost (the cost of time spent for searching information) and
the transaction cost (the cost of time and effort) (Schlesinger and Schulenburg, 1991). In the
case of mobile phone services, the intention of customers to churn reduces due to switching
costs, such as time spent for searching information about subscript conditions and the effort
needed for changing mobile phone service providers. Additionally, switching cost not only
produces barriers to customer churn, but also weakens the effect of satisfaction on customer
loyalty. Jones et al. (2000) suggest that when the perceived switching cost is lower, the
unsatisfied customer is less willing to remain with the current provider than the satisfied
customer; when the perceived switching cost is higher, the unsatisfied customer keeps
his/her current provider. Their findings indicate that the effect of customer satisfaction on
repurchase intention decreases under conditions in which there exists a high switching cost
(Lai et al., 2011). Lee et al. (2001) also examine that the link between customer satisfaction
and loyalty is weak when switching cost increases. Their results show that when customers
perceive that they must spend a greater amount of time and effort to search for service
providers with a higher level of customer satisfaction, they are more willing to keep their
current service providers regardless of how high or low the satisfaction is. Thus, Hypothesis 6
is proposed as follows: H6: Perceived switching cost has a significant effect on the
relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. 3. Empirical Analysis 3.1
Measures To confirm the content validity, the measures for all constructs were taken from
the existing literatures. Service quality refers to the customer’s overall perceived assessment
of service performance (Cronin et al., 1997; McDougall and Levesque, 2000, Lee, 2010b).
Three items were used to measure the overall service quality: “Overall service quality of this
provider” was assessed by using a seven-point scale. The first item was anchored by “poor”
and “excellent.” The second item was anchored by “inferior” and “superior,” and the third
item by “low standards” and “high standards.” These items measured the overall perceived
quality of services based on a series of adjectives. Customer satisfaction is a customer’s
positive feeling about a service provider and the overall evaluation of the consumption
experience (Lai et al., 2009; Oliver, 1997; Stank, Goldsby and Vickery, 1999). Two items were
used to measure customer satisfaction: “Overall, how satisfied are you with this provider,”
and “Overall, how satisfied are you with the services you receive from this provider.” These
items were adapted from Lai et al. (2009) and measured on a seven-point Likert scale ranging
from “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied.” Customer loyalty is related to a service provider’s
ability to maintain its customers’ loyalty and persuade them to recommend its services to
potential customers (Zeithaml et al., 1996). Two items were used to measure customer
www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 2; 2013 5 loyalty (Cronin et al., 1997;
Brady and Robertson, 1999): “The probability that I would use this service provider again”
and “The likelihood that I would recommend this provider’s services to a friend.” These items
were measured on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from “very low” to “very high.” All
measures and scales used in the present study have been already proved in prior service
literatures (Brady and Robertson, 1999; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Jamal and Naser, 2002;
Oliver, 1997; Yi, 1990; Zeithaml et al., 1996; Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000). Perceived value is a
tradeoff between what customers gain and what they sacrifice (Cronin et al., 1997; Zeithaml,
1988, Lee, 2010a). Perceived value was measured by a single item: “Overall, the value of this
provider’s services to me is high,” and was assessed on a seven-point Likert scale ranging
from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Perceived price is the customer’s judgment
about a service’s average price in comparison to its competitors (Chen et al., 1994; Ryu and
Han, 2010). Perceived price was measured by a single item: “Overall, the price that this
provider charges me is reasonable,” and was assessed on a seven-point Likert scale ranging
from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” Perceived switching cost is what customers give
up in order to obtain service, including monetary costs, such as money, and non-monetary
costs, such as opportunity costs, time, and efforts (Cronin et al., 1997; Kuo et al., 2009;
Zeithaml, 1988). Perceived switching cost was measured by a single item (Lai et al., 2011; Lee
et al., 2001): “Overall, the perceived difficulty to change competitor’s service is high,” and
was assessed on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly
agree.” 3.2 Data Collection Respondents in the study included 283 respondents who
responded to face to face questions asked by trained interviewers in October 2011. They
were drawn from the present service subscribers residing in Seoul. A stratified sampling
technique was used for collecting the survey data (Lee, 2010b). The response rate in the
survey was about 99%. As shown in Table 1 the respondents’ characteristics appear to be
representative of mobile phone users in Korea. This study employed a hierarchical regression
analysis in order to test the hypothesized relationships and used the SPSS 12.0 software. A
total of 51.9% of respondents was male. Regarding age, 26.9% were between the ages of 10
and 19, 29.7% were between the ages of 20 and 29, 24.0% were between the ages of 30 and
39, 11.7% were between the ages of 40 and 49, and 7.8% were 50 over. A total of 51% had
an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, while 45% had a high school degree. Almost 54% were
SK Telecom subscribers. Table 1. Demographics of respondents Variable Item Frequency (%)
Gender Male 147 (51.9) Female 136 (48.1) Age Under 20 76 (26.9) 20 to under 30 84 (29.7)
30 to under 40 68 (24.0) 40 to under 50 33 (11.7) Over 50 22 (7.8) Education level High
school 128 (45.2) Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree 143 (50.5) Master’s degree or above 12
(4.3) Monthly income Under 1.5 million won 92 (32.5) 1.5 to under 3.0 million won 85
(30.0) 3.0 to under 4.5 million won 63 (22.3) Over 4.5 million won 43 (15.2) Service provider
SK Telecom 152 (53.7) Olleh KT 88 (31.1) LG U+ 43 (15.2)
www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 2; 2013 6 3.3 Assessment of Reliability
and Validity To assess the reliability and validity of the measures of each construct, this study
used the internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis. The results of reliability and
validity are shown in Table 2. The scales showed acceptable reliability as all alpha coefficients
were greater than 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978). The exploratory factor analysis was conducted along
with a principal axis factoring analysis with OBLIMIN oblique rotation for the measurement
items designed to measure multidimensional constructs. The analysis produced a solution
with three factors, which accounted for 79.25% of the total variance explained. The values
are considered satisfactory in social sciences. Table 2. Results of reliability and validity
Construct Item Loading Total variance explained (Cumulative %) Cronbach’s α Service
quality SQ1 0.85 57.95 0.95 SQ2 0.97 SQ3 0.94 Customer satisfaction CS1 0.91 73.65 0.91
CS2 0.89 Customer loyalty CL1 0.79 79.25 0.78 CL2 0.78 As presented in Table 2, the loading
values were higher than 0.70, and the cumulative total variance explained values that were
higher than 50%, suggesting that the validity of the scale was satisfied (Hair et al., 1998). The
results, therefore, confirmed that the instrument had satisfactory validity. 3.4 Hypothesis
Test The regression model was conducted in order to test the hypotheses. Many researchers
agree that one of the clearest ways to test the moderating and mediated effects is to use a
hierarchical regression analysis based on Baron and Kenny’s (1986) methodology (Aiken and
West, 1991). They show that a moderator effect can be represented as the product of an
independent variable and a factor, which specifies a condition for its operation (Lee et al.,
2001). If the interaction terms are significant, the moderator hypotheses are supported.
Additionally, if all of hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 are supported, customer satisfaction becomes
the mediator in the relationship between service quality and customer loyalty. Table 3.
Results of a hierarchical regression analysis Independent variable Customer satisfaction
Customer loyalty Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Model 6 Model 7 SQ
0.52*** 0.39*** 0.27*** 0.53*** 0.24*** SQ x PV 0.03** 0.02** SQ x PP 0.03**
CS 0.67*** 0.58*** 0.55*** CS x PS 0.02*** R2 0.25 0.26 0.28 0.38 0.39 0.22 0.41
F 93.13*** 50.08*** 36.03*** 171.08*** 90.96*** 78.69*** 98.44*** ᇞ R2 - 0.01 0.02 -
0.01 - 0.19 ᇞ F - 5.54** 6.09** - 7.12*** - 92.56*** Note: SQ = Service quality, PV =
Perceived value, PP = Perceived price, PS = Perceived switching cost, CS = Customer
satisfaction ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01 Table 3 presents the results regarding the moderating
role of the perceived price, perceived value, and perceived switching cost, as well as the
mediating role of customer satisfaction. In Model 1, the result indicates that service quality
(β=0.52, p<0.01) is a significant antecedent of customer satisfaction. Thus, H1 is supported.
Mode 6 shows that service quality (β=0.53, p<0.01) also has a significant positive effect on
customer loyalty. Therefore,
www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 2; 2013 7 H2 is supported. The result
of Model 4 also supports H3. That is, customer satisfaction (β=0.67, p<0.01) significantly
affects customer loyalty. As indicated in Model 7, when customer satisfaction (β=0.55,
p<0.01) is entered into the model, the size of the direct impact of service quality (β=0.24,
p<0.01) on customer loyalty is reduced compared with the result of Model 6. The results also
demonstrate a significant increment in the R2 of the model (ᇞ R2=0.19, p<0.01). Thus, there
is a significant mediating role of customer satisfaction on the relationship between service
quality and customer loyalty. Additionally, customer satisfaction partially mediates the
impact of service quality on customer loyalty. Models 2, 3, and 5 present the results of the
moderating effects. Model 2 indicates that the interaction of service quality and perceived
value significantly affects customer satisfaction (β=0.03, p<0.05). The interaction’s positive
sign indicates that as perceived value increases, the association between service quality and
customer satisfaction strengthens. Hence, hypothesis 4 is supported. This interactive term
makes a significant contribution in the R2 of the model (ᇞ R2=0.01, p<0.05). Hypothesis 5 is
also supported because the interaction of service quality and perceived price significantly
influences customer satisfaction (β=0.03, p<0.05). The interaction’s positive sign indicates
that as perceived price increases, the relationship between service quality and customer
satisfaction strengthens. This interactive term makes a significant contribution in the R2 of
the model (ᇞ R2=0.02, p<0.05). Model 5 shows that the interaction of customer satisfaction
and perceived switching cost significantly affects customer loyalty. Therefore, hypothesis 6 is
supported. The interaction’s positive sign indicates that as perceived switching cost
increases, the association between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty strengthens.
This interactive term makes a significant contribution in the R2 of the model (ᇞ R2=0.01,
p<0.01). 4. Conclusion and Implication Many service researchers have studied the
importance of service quality and customer satisfaction and their impacts on customer
retention as well as on the firm’s profitability. However, the challenges of service firms are to
find other critical factors that moderate the relationships among service quality, customer
satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Previous studies have mentioned that the perceived value,
perceived price, and perceived switching cost are considered as moderators which play an
important role in the relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction, and
customer loyalty. This study investigated the factors influencing the customer loyalty of
Korea’s mobile phone subscribers. Specifically, the study focused on the factors moderating
the relationships of service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. The results
of the hierarchical regression analysis indicated that service quality and customer satisfaction
significantly affected customer loyalty. The results also revealed that service quality was the
significant antecedent of customer satisfaction. Thus, the results suggest that customer
loyalty may be most significantly influenced by high-quality services, and that service quality
is still critical for retaining customers and maintaining competitiveness. That is, if customers
perceive a high-quality mobile phone service, they may be more likely to stay with their
existing service provider and recommend the provider to others as well as encourage
customers to share their positive experiences with others. In addition, when customer
satisfaction was entered into the link between service quality and customer loyalty, there
was a significant mediating role of customer satisfaction on the relationship between service
quality and customer loyalty. As such, prior studies have showed the importance of customer
satisfaction and its effect on customer loyalty (Woo and Fock, 1999; Lee, 2010a, 2010b).
Thus, customer satisfaction was a key factor in the relationship between customers and
service providers. The results of the moderating effects demonstrated that the interaction
of service quality and perceived value significantly affected customer satisfaction. The
interaction’s positive sign indicated that as perceived value increases, the association
between service quality and customer satisfaction strengthens. The interaction of service
quality and perceived price significantly influenced customer satisfaction. The interaction’s
positive sign indicated that as perceived price increases, the relationship between service
quality and customer satisfaction strengthens. The interaction of customer satisfaction and
perceived switching cost significantly affected customer loyalty. The interaction’s positive sign
indicated that as perceived switching cost increases, the association between customer
satisfaction and customer loyalty strengthens. These results have important implications for
practitioners; they should determine the exact roles of the perceived value, perceived price,
and perceived switching cost in their customers’ satisfaction and loyalty. Specifically, if
perceived switching cost plays a crucial role in the relationship between customer
satisfaction and customer loyalty, marketing practitioners should incorporate the cost into
their customer loyalty relations. They need to discard the view that improvements in
customer retention can only be achieved through improved customer satisfaction. By
considering the roles of perceived value and price in the relationship between service
www.ccsenet.org/ass Asian Social Science Vol. 9, No. 2; 2013 8 quality and customer
satisfaction, marketing practitioners may be better able to improve customer satisfaction.
This study was limited by the fact that the respondents were residents of Seoul. Therefore,
future research using nation-wide data is warranted to strengthen the findings of this study.
J.F.Falkink / 18-08-2014 / Servicekwaliteit (hoger) onderwijsondersteunende diensten m.b.v.
SERVQUAL / 1 J.F. (Erik) Falkink, 18 Augustus 2014 Servicekwaliteit van (hoger)
onderwijsondersteunende diensten gemeten met behulp van SERVQUAL-model Het
SERVQUAL-model is volgens de ontwerpers toepasbaar voor het meten van servicekwaliteit
binnen een breed spectrum van dienstverlenende sectoren. Ondanks het feit dat er sinds het
ontwerp de nodige kritiek is geweest op het model en er alternatieven zijn ontwikkeld, wordt
het SERVQUAL-model nog steeds toegepast. Onder de naam E-SERVQUAL(2008) het model
gebruikt om de klanttevredenheid te meten over dienstverlening via internet. Ook wordt een
variant van het model toegepast onder de naam LibQUAL+ (2014). Daarmee is sinds 1999 de
tevredenheid gemeten onder de klanten van, wereldwijd, meer dan duizend bibliotheken. In
het kader van dit artikel wil ik stil staan bij de vraag: Is het SERVQUALmodel ook toepasbaar
binnen het (hoger) onderwijs? J.F.(Erik) Falkink is senior beleidsadviseur onderwijskwaliteit
bij Hogeschool Rotterdam. Raadpleeg voor dit en andere artikelen van Erik ook het weblog:
efalkink.wordpress.com of bezoek Erik op Linkedin. Het SERVQUAL-model Het SERVQUAL
(Service Quality) model heeft, zoals de naam al aangeeft, betrekking op servicekwaliteit
(kwaliteit van dienstverlening). Het model is begin jaren tachtig, van de twintigste eeuw,
ontwikkeld door de Amerikanen Zeithaml, Parasuraman en Berry, drie specialisten op het
vlak van marketing en management. Over het SERVQUAL-model is voor het eerst
gepubliceerd in 1985 in het Journal of Marketing (Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry, 1985). Het
volledige model is in 1990 beschreven in het boek Delivering Quality Service (Zeithaml,
Parasuraman & Berry, 1990) en met latere aanvullingen op het model in 1996 in het boek
Service Marketing (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler, 1996). Het SERVQUAL-model gaat uit van de
verwachtingen en ervaringen van klanten van een dienstverlener. Volgens het SERVQUAL-
model ontstaan verwachtingen bij de klant vanuit vier bronnen:  ten eerste is dat de mond-
tot-mond reclame. Dat zijn de positieve en negatieve ervaringen die de klant hoort van
anderen. Daardoor krijgt de klant een beeld van de verwachtte servicekwaliteit;  ten
tweede zijn dat de persoonlijke behoeften. Het gaat om de individuele eigenschappen en
omstandigheden van de klant die bepalen wat hij belangrijk vindt met betrekking tot de
servicekwaliteit;  ten derde zijn dat de persoonlijke ervaringen. Het gaat dan om de eerdere
ervaringen die de klant met dezelfde of vergelijkbare dienstverleners heeft opgedaan. Ook
door deze ervaringen krijgt de klant een beeld van de servicekwaliteit die hij kan verwachten;
 ten vierde is dat de externe communicatie. Dat zijn al de vormen van reclame en
informatievoorziening vanuit de dienstverlener richting de klanten. Figuur 1 Definitie van
servicekwaliteit Bij het SERVQUAL-model wordt servicekwaliteit gezien als het verschil tussen
ervaring en verwachting (figuur 1). Een negatief verschil tussen ervaring en verwachting is te
wijten aan het niet goed inspelen van de dienstverlener op de kwaliteitsverwachting van de
klant. In het SERVQUAL-model worden de mogelijke oorzaken van het niet voldoen aan de
verwachtingen in beeld gebracht. Daardoor krijgt de J.F.Falkink / 18-08-2014 /
Servicekwaliteit (hoger) onderwijsondersteunende diensten m.b.v. SERVQUAL / 2
dienstverlener informatie over aangrijpingspunten voor verbeterbeleid om de kwaliteit in
overeenstemming te brengen met de verwachtingen van de klant. De oorzaken worden in
het model (figuur 2) weergegeven als vijf gaps:  Gap 1. Het management van de
dienstverlener heeft een verkeerd beeld van de verwachtingen van de klant. De mogelijke
oorzaken daarvoor zijn: onvoldoende marktonderzoek of slechte communicatie tussen het
topmanagement en het personeel wat contact heeft met de klanten bijvoorbeeld omdat er
sprake is van te veel managementlagen;  Gap 2. De verwachtingen van de klant zijn
verkeerd vertaald in specificaties voor de dienstverlening. Mogelijke oorzaken zijn:
onvoldoende commitment bij het management of het ontbreken van duidelijke
doelstellingen;  Gap 3. De uitvoering van de dienstverlening is niet in overeenstemming
met de specificaties. Mogelijke oorzaken zijn: onduidelijkheid bij medewerkers over hun rol
of door medewerkers ervaren rolconflicten, ongeschiktheid van medewerkers voor hun
functie, de technologische voorzieningen schieten tekort, onvoldoende handelingsvrijheid
voor de medewerkers, onvoldoende samenwerking of de manier van leidinggeven schiet
tekort;  Gap 4. De klant wordt meer beloofd dan wat de dienstverlener kan leveren.
Mogelijke oorzaken zijn: slechte communicatie zijn tussen de verkoopafdeling en de
uitvoering of de neiging van de verkoopafdeling om de dienstverlening fraaier voor te stellen
dan de werkelijkheid;  Gap 5. Er is een verschil tussen de ervaring en de verwachting. De
oorzaak van gap 5 is de optelsom van de oorzaken van gap 1 tot en met 4. Figuur 2 Het
SERVQUAL-model Behorende bij het SERVQUAL-model zijn vragenlijsten ontwikkeld.
Vragenlijsten voor managers voor gap 1 en 2, voor medewerkers voor gap 3 en 4 en voor
klanten voor gap 5. De vragenlijsten bevatten stellingen. Voor de beantwoording hoort bij
elke stelling een zeven- J.F.Falkink / 18-08-2014 / Servicekwaliteit (hoger)
onderwijsondersteunende diensten m.b.v. SERVQUAL / 3 punts Likert-schaal. De schaal loopt
van 'helemaal mee eens' tot 'helemaal mee oneens'. Dit type schaalverdeling is ontwikkeld
door de Amerikaanse psycholoog Rensis Likert als een schaalverdeling voor het meten van
attitudes (Likert, 1932). De vragenlijst voor de klanten bestaat uit twee delen. Het eerste deel
vraagt naar de verwachtingen, het tweede deel vraagt naar de ervaringen. Er is bij de verdere
ontwikkeling van het SERVQUAL-model ook een vragenlijst voor klanten ontwikkeld waarbij
de vraag naar verwachting is gesplitst in minimum kwaliteitsniveau en gewenst
kwaliteitsniveau. Tijdens de ontwikkeling van het SERVQUALmodel hebben Zeithaml,
Parasuraman en Berry vastgesteld dat in servicekwaliteit tien dimensies te onderscheiden
zijn, namelijk: tastbaarheden, betrouwbaarheid, responsiviteit, bekwaamheid, beleefdheid,
geloofwaardigheid, veiligheid, toegankelijkheid, communicatie en begrip van klanten. Tijdens
de toepassing van het model bleek vervolgens een sterke correlatie te bestaan tussen enkele
van deze dimensies. Op basis van deze bevindingen kon zonder verlies van betrouwbaarheid
en validiteit voor het model, het aantal dimensies worden teruggebracht tot vijf. De vragen
op de vragenlijst voor klanten zijn verdeeld over deze vijf dimensies van servicekwaliteit, te
weten: 1. Tastbaarheden - Dat heeft betrekking op de uitstraling van het gebouw, van de
voorzieningen, van de documenten en van de medewerkers; 2. Betrouwbaarheid - Het gaat
daarbij om de betrouwbaarheid en zorgvuldigheid bij het verlenen van de beloofde service;
3. Responsiviteit - Het betreft de bereidheid om de klanten te helpen en op het gevraagde
tijdstip snelle service te verlenen; 4. Zekerheid - Het gaat om de kennis van zaken en
beleefdheid van de medewerkers wat vertrouwen geeft met betrekking tot de
serviceverlening; 5. Empathie - Het gaat om het vermogen van de medewerkers om zich in te
leven in de specifieke situatie van de klanten. Tijdens de ontwikkeling van het model hebben
Zeithaml, Parasuraman en Berry aan klanten gevraagd deze dimensies te rangschikken op
volgorde van hun relatieve belang. Daaruit bleek dat de klanten betrouwbaarheid zagen als
de belangrijkste dimensie, gevolgd door responsiviteit, zekerheid, empathie en
tastbaarheden. Toepassing van het SERVQUAL-model in het (hoger) onderwijs Volgens
Zeithaml, Parasuraman en Berry is het SERVQUAL-model ontworpen als instrument dat
toepasbaar is binnen een breed spectrum van dienstverlening. Zo hebben zij onder andere
de toepassing beschreven bij een bank, een creditcard firma, een reperatie- en
onderhoudsfirma en een telefoonmaatschappij. Mag daaruit geconcludeerd worden dat het
model ook toepasbaar is binnen het (hoger) onderwijs? Volgens de Engelse onderzoeker
Cuthbert (1996) voldoet (hoger) onderwijs aan de criteria die dienstverlening kenmerken. Als
argumenten noemt hij dat (hoger) onderwijs net als dienstverlening niet tastbaar is, een
heterogeen product betreft, op het zelfde moment geproduceerd en geconsumeerd wordt,
de klant mee produceert en het product niet opgeslagen kan worden. Daar tegenover stelt
Cuthbert echter dat de service experience van studenten veel complexer is dan bij klanten
van een bank of telefoonmaatschappij. Bovendien is volgens Cuthbert en de Amerikaanse
onderzoekers Pariseau en McDaniel (1997) het contact van studenten met hun docent veel
langduriger, intensiever en interactiever dan bij klanten van andere dienstverleners. Cuthbert
adviseert dan ook om een apart instrument te ontwikkelen wat geschikt is voor het meten
van de kwaliteit van het onderwijsproces (de onderwijskwaliteit). Binnen een instelling voor
(hoger) onderwijs volgen studenten niet alleen onderwijs onder leiding van een docent, zij
maken ook gebruik van de dienstverlening door onderwijsondersteunende diensten die
verantwoordelijk zijn voor bijvoorbeeld: cijferadministratie, roostering van colleges en
tentamens, catering, kopieerservice, bibliotheek of beheer van ICT-systemen. Het contact van
studenten met deze onderwijsondersteunende diensten lijkt sterke overeenkomsten te
hebben met het contact tussen klanten en bijvoorbeeld een bank of een reperatie- en
onderhoudsfirma. Ook lijken onderwijsondersteunende diensten te voldoen aan de
J.F.Falkink / 18-08-2014 / Servicekwaliteit (hoger) onderwijsondersteunende diensten m.b.v.
SERVQUAL / 4 criteria die volgens Cuthbert dienstverlening kenmerken. Verder lijkt het
contact met de studenten niet zo intensief en interactief te zijn als bij het onderwijsproces. In
aansluiting op deze uitgangspunten is door de Amerikaanse onderzoekster Elisabeth
Anderson (1995) de toepassing beschreven van het SERVQUAL-model op het College of
Business Administration van de Universiteit van Houston, Texas. Zij heeft het model
toegepast voor en na de invoering van een Total Quality Management programma.
Onderwerp van onderzoek waren de studenten die gebruik maakten van de diensten van het
Office of Student Services (OSS), een onderwijsondersteunende dienst. Uit het onderzoek
van Anderson bleek ten eerste dat de studenten kwamen tot dezelfde rangschikking van
dimensies als de klanten uit het onderzoek van Zeithaml, Parasuraman en Berry. Verder was
volgens de studenten na de invoering van TQM de servicekwaliteit verbeterd ten aanzien:
betrouwbaarheid en responsiviteit. Volgens Anderson bleek daaruit een positief effect van
de technische aspecten van het TQM-programma, zoals de automatisering van een aantal
diensten van OSS. Daarentegen was volgens de studenten de servicekwaliteit verslechtert
ten aanzien van empathie. Volgens Anderson had de nadruk binnen het TQM-programma op
technische verbeteringen blijkbaar de behoefte bij de studenten vergroot aan
inlevingsvermogen vanuit de onderwijsondersteunende dienst OSS. Verder onderstreept het
onderzoek van Anderson het standpunt van Zeithaml, Parasuraman en Berry dat het
SERVQUAL-model geschikt is om periodiek de verandering van verwachtingen en ervaringen
van servicekwaliteit te meten. Als afsluitende thesis van de Masteropleiding
Kwaliteitsmanagement bij Schouten en Nelissen University heb ik zelf het SERVQUAL-model
toegepast. Onderwerp van onderzoek was de servicekwaliteit van de
onderwijsondersteunende diensten van een particuliere onderwijsinstelling voor middelbaar
en hoger beroepsonderwijs. Het onderzoek was bedoeld als nulmeting voor
kwaliteitsverbeteringen. Bij mijn onderzoek heb ik de, bij het SERVQUAL-model behorende,
vragenlijst toegepast voor het identificeren van de oorzaken van gap 5. Aan ruim honderd
studenten is gevraagd op een zeven-punts Likert-schaal hun verwachting en ervaring in te
vullen bij tweeëntwintig stellingen verdeeld over de dimensies: tastbaarheden,
betrouwbaarheid, responsiviteit, zekerheid en empathie. Ook is de studenten gevraagd de
vijf dimensies te rangschikken. Uit mijn onderzoek bleek dat, in tegenstelling tot de
resultaten van Anderson en Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Berry, volgens de studenten empathie
en niet betrouwbaarheid de belangrijkste dimensie was. De keuze van de studenten voor
tastbaarheden als minst belangrijke dimensie was wel in overeenstemming met de
resultaten van de genoemde onderzoekers. Overigens waren de studenten wel het meest
tevreden over de empathie. De scores voor ervaring en verwachting waren vrijwel gelijk.
Daarentegen waren de studenten over de betrouwbaarheid het minst tevreden. Daar bleef
de score voor ervaring ver achter bij de verwachting. Uit de beantwoording van de
afzonderlijke stellingen behorende bij de dimensie betrouwbaarheid, bleek dat de
ontevredenheid vooral betrekking had op fouten in de administratie en het niet nakomen
van de belofte om binnen afgesproken termijnen toegezegde service te verlenen. Hiermee
kreeg de manager, verantwoordelijk voor de onderwijsondersteunende diensten, enkele
aangrijpingspunten voor gerichte kwaliteitsverbeteringen om gap 5 te sluiten. Discussie en
conclusies Het SERVQUAL-model lijkt toepasbaar in het (hoger) onderwijs, als instrument
voor het meten van de servicekwaliteit van onderwijsondersteunende diensten. Wel zou
nader onderzoek de betrouwbaarheid en validiteit van de originele dimensies en stellingen
voor deze toepassing moeten bevestigen. Mogelijk geeft een dergelijk onderzoek aanleiding
voor aanpassingen. Voor de meting van onderwijskwaliteit lijkt het SERVQUAL-model in elk
geval niet geschikt te zijn. Het contact tussen studenten en hun docent is namelijk veel
langduriger, intensiever en interactiever dan tussen studenten en onderwijsondersteunende
diensten of tussen klanten en bijvoorbeeld een bank of een telefoonmaatschappij waarvoor
het SERVQUALmodel ontworpen is. J.F.Falkink / 18-08-2014 / Servicekwaliteit (hoger)
onderwijsondersteunende diensten m.b.v. SERVQUAL / 5 Literatuur 1. Anderson, E. (1995).
High tech v. high touch: A case study of TQM implementation in higher education. Managing
Service Quality, 5(2), 48- 56. 2. Cuthbert, P.F. (1996). Managing service quality in HE: Is
SERVQUAL the answer? Part 1 and Part 2. Managing Service Quality, 6(2), 11-16 en 6(3), 31-
35. 3. E-SERVQUAL, geraadpleegd op 28 februari 2008, http://www.e-servqual.nl. 4.
LibQUAL+, geraadpleegd op 12 juni 2014, http://www.libqual.org. 5. Likert, R. (1932). A
technique for the measurement of attitudes, New York: McGraw-Hill. 6. Parasuraman, A,
Zeithaml, V.A., & Berry, L.L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications
for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49(4), 41-50. 7. Pariseau, S.E., & McDaniel, J.R.
(1997) Assessing service quality in schools of business. International Journal of Quality &
Reliability Management, 14(3), 204-218. 8. Zeithaml, V.A., Parasuraman, A., & Berry, L.L.
(1990). Delivering quality service. Balancing customer perceptions and expectations. New
York: The Free Press. 9. Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J & Gremler, D.D (1996). Services Marketing.
Integrating customer focus across the firm. New York: McGraw-Hill International Edition.
www.ssoar.info A systematic review of quality of student experience in higher education Tan,
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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF QUALITY OF STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
ABSTRACT Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and synthesize major streams of
research on quality of student experience in higher education, in order to present an agenda
for future research. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic review of high quality
journals published during the period 2000 to 2014 in the areas of quality of student
experience and higher education was performed. Findings – Findings highlight current
research trends on the quality of student experience in higher education. Results show five
prevailing research streams: 1) exploration of learning experience; 2) exploration of student
experience; 3) gender differences in assessment of higher education experience; 4)
improvement in quality of student experience, 5) student satisfaction with higher education
experience. Research limitations/implications – The identification of the five research
streams presented in the findings of this paper provide the basis for a synthesis of key issues
identified within each research stream. These discussions, along with the identification of the
purposes and limitations of existential research allow existential issues concerning research
on quality of student experience in higher education to be addressed. Practical implications –
Literature currently portrays the quality of student experience as a student-centric idea.
Together with the purposes and limitations identified in existing research, the paper
proposes an agenda for future research that increases the variety of research streams that is
essential to provide a deeper understanding of the student experience to enhance the
delivery of quality in higher education. Originality/value – The findings contribute to the
research scene by providing important insights in terms of the current trends and focus of
existing research in the area of quality of student experience in higher education. Service
Experience, Learning Experience, Higher Education, Service Quality, Singapore, Literature
Review 3 INTRODUCTION The aim of this paper is to identify and synthesize major streams of
research on quality of student experience in higher education, in order to propose an agenda
for future research. More research into the quality of student experience is required since
the increasing liberalization of higher education has resulted in changes in the way student
learning experiences are supported (Mok, 2007). The call for more research into the quality
of student experience is further supported by an increasing focus in managing the quality of
student experience as a competitive advantage in the higher education market, and the
complementary relationship that quality of experience has with quality of service in
influencing student satisfaction (Otto and Ritchie, 1995). With the establishment of the
higher education market as a global phenomenon, higher education institutions (HEIs)
frequently have been using service quality as a services marketing strategy in their outreach
efforts for students (Brocado, 2009; Conway et al., 1994; Hemsley-Brown and Optatka, 2006;
Nadiri et al., 2009). In order to remain competitive, it has become common practice for
higher education providers to employ a service quality and quality management framework
to evaluate and improve service delivery and service encounters for its students (Abdullah,
2006; Brocado, 2009; Ho and Wearn, 1996; Stodnick and Rogers, 2008; Tsinidou et al., 2010;
Yeo and Li, 2012). However, a quality of service framework is usually purely attribute-based
and tends to focus on the functional and utilitarian, and hence, cognitive aspects of service
delivery (Otto and Ritchie, 1995). With a concentration on service characteristics, it fails to
reflect the inclusive nature of a 4 higher education experience which covers all life
experiences, and hence affective aspects, of the engagement of students with higher
education (Arambewela and Maringe, 2012; Baird and Gordon, 2009). For example,
proposed service quality measures such as SERVQUAL (Barnes, 2007; Ho and Wearn, 1996)
and HEdPERF1 (Abdullah, 2006) have a focus on measures of service attributes which are
utilitarian and cognitive in nature (Otto and Ritchie, 1995), and do not include measures for
affective aspects of the total student experience (Harvey and Knight, 1996). Quality of service
and quality of service experience are two incommensurables, yet essential and
complementary service models which service industries need to employ to “obtain a broader
and more complete picture of customer evaluations and customer satisfaction” (Otto and
Ritchie, 1995, p.59). It is essential to include affective aspects in the assessment of service
quality in higher education since what matters most to students is the delivery of the total
student experience, which is also a key factor in the assessment of quality in higher
education (Baird and Gordon, 2009; Harvey and Knight, 1996). The student experience is
increasingly being regarded as an important area for HEIs to differentiate themselves from
the competition (Baranova et al., 2011). The fundamental role of HEIs is to provide quality
learning experiences to its students (Michael, 1997; Simpson and Tan, 2009; Yeo, 2008). The
problem for service providers, however, is that existing frameworks evaluating the student
experience, focus solely on the cognitive aspects of the service delivery. (Chen and Chen,
2010; Otto and Ritchie, 1995). With the growing internationalization of higher education
(Daly and Barker, 2005; Huang, 2007; Mok, 2007), it is even more important to gain a holistic
understanding of the quality of a higher education experience so as to ensure satisfying 1
Higher Education PERFormance 5 student experiences (Pereda et al., 2007; Arambewela and
Maringe, 2012). Consequently, it is of increasing relevance to produce a comprehensive
conceptual understanding of what the student experience is. The student experience is
central to many initiatives in higher education (Baird and Gordon, 2009; Arambewela and
Maringe, 2012). It is also an important consideration in higher education as it is a key
determinant in the assessment of quality in the delivery of higher education (Harvey and
Knight, 1996). Many definitions of the student experience exist. According to Baranova et al.
(2011), there has been an evolution in understanding the student experience, which
predominantly considered only teaching and learning experiences, and which now
increasingly includes the student encounter with administrative and support services that a
HEI provides. Hence, the student experience is also referred to as the “experience of higher
education teaching, learning and assessment and their experience of other university
ancillary service aspects, i.e. within and beyond the classroom experience” (Douglas et al.,
2008, p. 19). Another possible definition refers to the student experience as the total life
experience which encompasses both academic and non-academic experiences as a student
(Baird and Gordon, 2009; Arambewela and Maringe, 2012). Harvey and Knight (1996) uses
the term ‘total student experience’ to refer to the student experience that is not restricted to
the student experience in the classroom. However, an issue with conceptualization of the
construct student experience is the focus on a person’s identity solely as a student, which is
increasingly difficult to disentangle with other life experiences that a person may have (Baird
and Gordon, 2009). While some definitions of the student experience refer to the social,
cultural or consumption aspects of a student life, a common trend in these definitions has
been to place the student at the center of the discussion 6 (Baird and Gordon, 2009). A need
arises to develop a holistic understanding of the student experience in the context of the
broader learning environment, and from the perspectives of different types of students and
other stakeholders of higher education (Arambewela and Maringe, 2012). With the above
discussions in mind, the focus of this paper is to address the following two research
questions: • What are the current trends in research on the quality of student experience in
higher education? • What are the existential issues concerning research on quality of student
experience in higher education? In view of the research questions, existing studies related to
the student experience in higher education was reviewed with the purpose of mapping
current research contributions concerning the quality of student experience. The extant
literature was systematically reviewed to reveal the extent of research in the field which is
followed by discussions on the limitations of existing research and opportunities for
identifying the agenda for future research. METHODOLOGY The protocol adopted for the
systematic review of literature in this study was adapted from approaches adopted by Cooley
et al. (2015), David and Han (2004), Newbert (2007), and Thorpe et al. (2005). Originating
from the medical sciences, systematic reviews are also used in social sciences and
management research as a replicable, scientific and transparent mode of managing 7 the
diversity of knowledge in a specific field of interest to enhance the knowledge base for
informing policy and practice (Transfield et al., 2003). The aim of conducting a systematic
review is to gather as many existing studies of relevance to the research interest irrespective
of their publication characteristics such as published location or even disciplinary
background, and in so doing produces insights for future research activities as well as
prevent duplication of efforts amongst researchers (Thorpe et al., 2005). Our process of
systematic review was conducted in two stages. First, a decision was made to conduct
searches through the PROQUEST database using quality of student experience in conjunction
with higher education as keywords. Adopting the keyword search approach by Page (2008)
and Yang et al. (2011), the database queries included those keywords (quality of student
experience; and higher education) in their titles, abstracts or full text. The period of analysis
was between 2000 and 2014. Following a similar approach proposed by Khan et al. (2003)
and Papaioannou et al. (2010), only published journal articles written in English with content
concerning the service experience of students in higher education were included in the
review since quality control is enhanced by restricting reviews to refereed journal article
(David and Han, 2004). The search revealed an increasing number of hits in terms of the
number of journal articles that contain both sets of key words over the defined period of
analysis, which is illustrated in Figure 1. 8 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 2000 2001 2002 2003
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Year No. of hits Figure 1
Number of hits over time of journal articles based on keywords search. Second, from the
filtered list of journals produced in the first stage, journal rankings were used as the source
for selection of high quality international journals (Benckendorff and Zehrer, 2013; Hall,
2011; Khan et al., 2003; Zehrer, 2007). In this review, journals ranked by the Australian
Research Council (2012), and Australian Business Dean’s Council (2013) were included in the
review. A total of 39 papers across 24 journal publications were identified to meet the
specified criteria for paper selection. The retrieved papers were analyzed by all three authors
separately and subsequently controlled for inter-rater reliability. A distribution of the papers
according to the journal publications in which they were published is shown in Table 1. 9
Table 1 Distribution of papers published according to journals between 2000 and 2014.
Journal Name Number of Papers Adolescence 1 Australian Journal of Education 1 British
Journal of Educational Psychology 1 Educational Research 2 European Journal of Engineering
Education 1 Higher Education Research and Development 3 Higher Education Review 1
Higher Education: 1 International Journal of Educational Management 1 International Journal
of Educational Research 1 International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 1
Journal of Educational Research 1 Journal of Marketing Education 1 Journal of Marketing for
Higher Education 1 Journal of Philosophy of Education 1 Journal of Research in International
Education 1 Journal of Studies in International Education 2 Perspectives: Policy and Practice
in Higher Education 1 Psychology of Women Quarterly 1 Quality Assurance in Education 7
Quality in Higher Education 4 Studies in Educational Evaluation 2 Teaching in Higher
Education 1 Tertiary Education and Management 2 In order to make sense of the importance
of the 39 papers identified for the systematic literature review in this paper, both citation
analysis and authorship analysis were also conducted to identify possible important works
and authors from among the 39 papers (Benckendorff and Zehrer, 2013). ‘Times cited in
refereed journal articles’ which indicates the importance of the study for each paper is
presented in Table 2. Prior to the publication of this paper, 35 of the 39 papers had at least
one occurrence of citation in a refereed journal. The remaining four were either not cited, or
cited only in conference proceedings. In order to reveal the extent of research collaboration
between authors, Table 2 also provides the authorship analysis in terms of the number of
authors involved in the study, including information on whether the authors were from the
same institution and country. The table reveals that 10 of the 39 papers were for 10 research
conducted by authors from different institutions, among which three were international
collaborations. Of the 29 remaining papers, 11 were for research conducted by single authors
within the context of a specific institution or country. Table 2 Citation and authorship analysis
of journal articles. Name(s) of Authors Times Cited in Refereed Journal Articles Number of
Authors Authors are in the same institution? Authors are in the same country? Arambewela
and Maring (2012) 0 2 Yes Yes Baird and Gordon, George (2009) 2 2 Yes Yes Baranova et al.
(2011) 1 3 Yes Yes Brown (2011) 9 1 Yes Yes Cahill et al. (2010) 5 3 Yes Yes Campbell and Li
(2008) 42 2 Yes Yes Chahal and Devi (2013) 2 2 Yes Yes Chapman and Pyvis (2006) 13 2 No Yes
Douglas et al. (2008) 46 3 No Yes Duarte et al. (2012) 0 3 Yes Yes Ellis et al. (2004) 17 4 No Yes
Geall (2000) 3 1 Yes Yes Gift and Bell-Hutchinson (2007) 4 2 Yes Yes Ginns et al. (2009) 5 5 No
No Gosling and D'Andrea (2001) 7 2 No Yes Grace et al. (2012) 4 5 Yes Yes Grebennikov and
Skaines (2009) 4 2 Yes Yes Kim (2007) 4 1 Yes Yes Nair et al. (2011) 4 3 No No Ng and Forbes
(2009) 30 2 Yes Yes Ning and Downing (2011) 0 2 Yes Yes Peltier et al. (2007) 24 3 No Yes
Peng (2008) 2 1 Yes Yes Peterson and Miller (2004) 28 2 Yes Yes Scaffidi and Berman (2011)
12 2 Yes Yes Shanahan and Gerber (2004) 3 2 Yes Yes Simpson and Tan (2009) 9 2 Yes Yes
Staddon and Standish (2012) 2 2 No Yes Stake and Malkin (2003) 8 2 Yes Yes Tam (2006) 7 1
Yes Yes Tam (2007) 5 1 Yes Yes Voss (2009) 9 1 Yes Yes Ward et al. (2010) 13 3 Yes Yes Waugh
(2001) 4 1 Yes Yes Waugh (2003) 2 1 Yes Yes Webber et al. (2013) 0 3 No Yes Wilkins and
Balakrishnan (2013) 5 2 No No Yeo (2009) 8 1 Yes Yes Yorke (2000) 16 1 Yes Yes 11 FINDINGS
In order to identify the current trends in research on the quality of student experience in
higher education, this section presents the findings of the systematic literature review. As
described earlier, 39 high quality journal articles were analyzed (see table 2) and mapped
against five research categories: research contributions, research methods used, type of
research, unit of analysis, as well as context of research. As a result of this systematic
literature analysis, five dominant research streams have been identified: 1) exploration of
learning experience; 2) exploration of student experience; 3) gender differences in
assessment of HE experience; 4) improvement in quality of student experience, 5) student
satisfaction with HE experience (see Table 3). Descriptions of each research stream are also
presented in table 3. A dominant trait of these research streams is student-centeredness,
placing the student at the heart of discussions. Table 3 Quality of student experience in
higher education: synthesis of research streams. Research Stream Description Author(s)
Exploration of Learning Experience The focus of this research stream is on the perceptions
and factors influencing learning experiences in higher education. Campbell and Li (2008); Ellis
et al. (2004); Kim (2007); Ning and Downing (2011); Peltier et al. (2007); Peterson and Miller
(2004); Ward et al. (2010) Exploration of Student Experience Research in this area focuses on
the perceptions and assessment of the student experience in higher education. Chalal and
Devi (2013); Chapman and Pyvis (2006); Geall (2000); Ng and Forbes (2009); Peng (2008);
Scaffidi and Berman (2011); Shanahan and Gerber (2004); Simpson and Tan (2009); Stake and
Malkin (2003); Tam (2006), Tam (2007); Waugh (2001); Waugh (2003); Yeo (2009); Yorke
(2000) Gender differences in assessment of HE experience The focus of this research stream
is on investigating differences in gender perceptions of the higher education experience.
Grace et al. (2012), Grebennikov and Skaines (2009) Improvement in quality of student
experience Research in this area focuses on what higher education institutions do to improve
and Arambewela and Maringe (2012); Baird and Gordon (2009); Baranova et al. (2011);
Brown (2011); Cahill et al. (2010); Geall (2000); Gift and Bell- 12 Research Stream Description
Author(s) enhance the student experience. Hutchinson (2007); Ginns et al. (2009); Gosling
and D’Andrea (2001); Nair et al. (2011); Staddon and Standish (2012) Student satisfaction
with HE experiences This resarch stream focuses on the assessment and modeling of student
satisfaction in higher education. Douglas et al. (2008); Duarte et al. (2012); Grace et al.
(2012); Voss (2009); Wilkins and Balakrishnan (2013) Through an analysis of the literature, it
was possible to classify the research streams by research attributes in terms of research
methods used, type of research, and unit of analysis used. The classification of research
streams by the mentioned research attributes is tabulated and summarised in Appendix 1.
The classification table show the distribution of papers within each research area according
to the various attributes mentioned. An analysis of the classification table in Appendix 1
shows a strong interest in research on the exploration of student experiences in higher
education in which the tendency is to explore factors which influence student experiences.
Research on the quality of student experience was commonly accomplished through the use
of surveys or questionnaires, followed by focus groups or interviews. These predominant
methods were also specifically applied to the exploration of learning experiences and
exploration of student experiences. Studies relating to gender differences in assessment of
higher education experience and student satisfaction with the higher education experience
essentially adopted the survey or questionnaire approach. Case studies followed by surveys
or questionnaires are predominantly used for research relating to improvement in quality of
student experience. These observations are reflective of the high occurrence of empirical
research type. In addition, students in general are predominantly the focus of research
followed by the organization, i.e. higher education institution. 13 A further study to uncover
the distribution of the research streams in relations to the context in which research on the
quality of student experience was conducted, yielded findings tabulated in table 4. The table
shows a high incidence of research activity conducted in the context of Australia and the UK,
with relatively lower proportions in Asia, except Hong Kong. Interestingly, the top three
regions in terms of total research activity, i.e. Australia, UK and Hong Kong, adopt the Anglo-
Saxon higher education model. Similar to findings from Appendix 1, popular research activity
from these top regions are in exploration and improvement of the student experience. Table
4 Quality of student experience in higher education: research streams and context of
research. Research Streams Australia Germany Hong Kong India Malaysia New Zealand
Portugal Singapore Trinidad and Tobago UAE UK USA Exploration of Learning Experience 1 0 1
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 Exploration of Student Experience 5 0 4 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 3 1 Gender differences
in assessment of HE experience 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Improvement of quality of student
experience 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 Student satisfaction with HE experience 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1
0 Total 12 1 6 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 11 5 14 Overall, the current research trends have been presented
in Appendix 1 and table 4. While there are clear differentiations in the nature of research, a
common trend is greater research focus on the student experience in terms of its exploration
and improvement. DISCUSSIONS The identification of the five research streams presented in
the findings of this paper provide the basis for a synthesis of key issues identified within each
research stream. These discussions, along with the identification of the purposes and
limitations of existential research allow us to address the existential issues concerning
research on quality of student experience in higher education. Key Issues Identified Within
the Research Streams Exploration of student experience Papers in this category of research
focused on the conceptualization of what makes a quality student experience. Elements of
the higher education service delivery system which form impressions of the quality of
student experience are identifiable through research by Chahal and Devy (2013), Chapman
and Pyvis (2006), Geall (2000), Kim (2007), Ng and Forbes (2009), Peng (2008); Scaffidi et al.
(2011), Shanahan and Gerber (2004), Stake and Malkin (2003), Waugh (2001), Waugh (2003),
Yeo (2009), and Yorke (2000). Also evident in the literature is the emphasis for the need of
higher education institutions to include the student body in the cocreation of the student
experience (Ng and Forbes, 2009; Yorke, 2000) since “the criteria that contribute to a positive
experience evaluation, when viewed through the eyes of students, may 15 not entirely
coincide with the “business language” criteria that education providers believe to be critical”
(Simpson and Tan, 2009, p.5). Exploration of learning experience The difference between this
category of research and the former category is in its focus on the academic experience of
students which is the core service in a higher education experience (Ng and Forbes, 2009).
Papers in this category of research address from the student perspective, the influence that
student experience of academic processes has on academic outcomes. Discussions on
student experiences with academic processes concern teaching approaches, learning
support and the establishment of academic relationships (Campbell and Li, 2008; Ellis et al.,
2004; Kim, 2007; Peltier et al., 2007; Staddon and Standish, 2012; Ward et al., 2010).
Academic outcomes that are identified include academic performance, study behavior and
understanding of the academic culture (Kim, 2007; Ning and Downing, 2011). Gender
differences in assessment of higher education experience For the time period of 2000 to
2014 (inclusive), papers published in this category of research focused on the identification
of differences in responses between males and females (Grace et al., 2012; Grebennikov and
Skaines, 2009). Grace et al. (2012) examine a structural model of the course experience
across male and female responses with the intention of determining replications with an
overall model, while Grebennikov and Skaines (2009) found gender differences in different
aspects of the higher education experience. While research in this category is scant, studies
on differences in higher education experiences between gender will help higher education
institutions to “take appropriate action to ensure the quality of the learning environment for
all students” (Grebennikov and Skaines, 2009, p.73). 16 Improvement of quality in student
experience There are good reasons for improving the quality of student experience (Staddon
and Standish, 2012). Studies in this category of research provide discussions on how higher
education institutions can improve the quality of student experience. Three broad
approaches of improvement are identifiable from the literature. One fundamental approach
would be through adopting a student-centric approach in which higher education institutions
are constantly engaged with students to understand their expectations and aspirations, and
matching them against those of the institution (Arambewela and Maringe, 2012; Brown,
2001). Involving students in the design stage of higher education services might also be a
good consideration (Baranova et al., 2011). A second approach would be through managing
the learning environment by improvements to pedagogical approaches, which is
fundamental to the service delivery of higher education services (Gift and Bell-Hutchinson,
2007; Ginns et al., 2009). A more holistic approach would be to ensure synergy between
physical infrastructure, and educational and operational strategies of the institution (Baird
and Gordon, 2009; Cahill et al., 2010; Gosling and D’Andrea, 2001; Nair et al., 2011). Student
satisfaction with higher education experience Research in this category has focused on
identifying and measuring determinants of the higher education experience which impact
student satisfaction (Douglas et al., 2008; Duarte et al., 2012; Grace et al., 2012; Voss, 2009;
Wilkins and Balakrishnan, 2013; Yeo, 2009). Based on articles in this category, there are
variations in factors that have been identified by researchers. However, taken holistically,
these factors refer to student experiences both within and outside the classroom (Douglas et
al., 2008; Voss, 2009; Yeo, 2009). While the identification of 17 determinants assist in the
measurement of the higher education experience, it is also important to understand how
students evaluate their experiences (Grace et al., 2012). Purposes of Existential Research Five
broad research purposes are identifiable from the 39 papers reviewed. 64% of the papers
reviewed are concerned with the objectives of gaining a better understanding of the student
experience (Campbell and Li, 2008; Chahal and Devi, 2013; Chapman and Pyvis, 2006; Ellis et
al., 2004; Geall, 2000; Grebennikov and Skaines, 2009; Kim, 2007; Ng and Forbes, 2009;
Peterson and Miller, 2004; Shanahan and Gerber, 2004, Tam, 2007, Voss, 2009; Wilkins and
Balakrishnan, 2013; Yeo, 2009) and studying the impact of higher education service
attributes on the student experience (Arambewela and Maringe, 2012; Baird and Gordon,
2009; Baranova et al., 2011; Douglas et al., 2008; Duarte et al., 2012; Gift and Bell-
Hutchinson, 2007; Gosling and D’Andrea, 2001; Peltier et al., 2007; Scaffidi and Berman,
2011; Simpson and Tan, 2009; Stake and Malkin, 2003; Ward et al., 2010). The former
objective predominantly mentions the exploration of learning and student experiences, and
satisfaction with service encounters in higher education; while the emphasis of the latter
objective is to identify factors which influence student experiences as well as to develop
frameworks which illustrate the relationship between these factors and student experiences.
The remaining papers were focused on establishing measures of the student experience
(Ginns et al., 2009; Grace et al., 2012; Sid et al., 2011; Waugh, 2001; Waugh, 2003; Webber
et al., 2013), introducing ways of improving the student experience (Brown, 2011; Cahill et
al., 2010; Gift and Bell-Hutchinson, 2007; Staddon and Standish, 2012), and studying the
impact of the student experience on student outcomes (Ning and Downing, 2011; Tam,
2006). A commonality among these papers is the aim to determine 18 and validate accurate
measures of the quality of student experience through conceptual and questionnaire design,
so as to be able to identify directions for improvement of student experience, as well as to
understand the impact of student experiences on student outcomes. However, what appears
to be deficient in these objectives is the need to develop a comprehensive conceptualization
of the student experience. Limitations of Existing Research Before summarizing the main
results of the systematic literature review, the authors have to emphasize the limitations of
existential research. The first limitation concerns the use of a specific group or generalized
group of students from a specific higher education institution as the unit of analysis
(Campbell and Lee, 2008; Chahal and Devi, 2013; Douglas et al., 2008; Grace et al., 2012;
Kim, 2007; Ning and Downing, 2011; Peng, 2008; Tam, 2006; Voss, 2009; Waugh, 2001). Also,
Ginns et al. (2009) noted a lack of investigations according to student status, which may
affect inter-rater reliability and correlations between scale scores. The second concerns the
use of small sample sizes, particularly in qualitative studies (Campbell and Lee, 2008; Chahal
and Devi, 2013). Both limitations affect the generalizability of findings, and impede the ability
to perform a cross-reference across different stakeholders, institutions and geographical
locations (Ning and Downing, 2011; Tam, 2006; Yeo, 2009). Another limitation is the lack of
discussion on quality of student experience in journals related to education management. A
search among these journals in the Australian Business Dean’s Council (2013) list using
search words “education” and “management” yields seven journal publications, namely (i)
Academy of Management Learning and Education, (ii) Educational Management
Administration and Leadership, (iii) International Journal of Educational 19 Management, (iv)
Journal of Management Education, (v) Operations Management Education Review, (vi) Sport
Management Education Journal, and (vii) The International Journal of Management
Education. However, a search through these journal publications on EBSCO Host using the
terms “quality of student experience” and “higher education” yielded no matches with the
topic. In view of the purposes and limitations of existential research discusses, there is clearly
a need for comprehensive quality measures and conceptualizations to incorporate a broader
perspective about student experience. The student experience is an important subject of
delivery in the business of higher education. Addressing this gap in the form of future
research directions, that this paper provides in the next section, will make a positive
influence on contributions to the work on improving the quality of student experience in
higher education. 20 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Our systematic review of literature
has revealed the current trends in research on quality of student experience in higher
education in terms of the identification of major research streams. Five major research
streams: exploration of student experience, exploration of learning experience, gender
differences in assessment of higher education experience, improvement of quality in student
experience, and student satisfaction with higher education experience, have been identified.
It was also possible to map these streams of research in terms of their contributions by
research methods used, type of research, unit of analysis, and context of research. Key issues
were also identifiable from among the five research streams. Based on our meta-analysis of
the research streams and contributions, it is possible to conclude that literature currently
portrays the quality of student experience as a student-centric idea with the underpinning
aim of improving the quality of higher education for students. Together with the purposes
and limitations identified in existing research, the authors are able to propose an agenda for
future research that increases the variety of research streams that is essential in providing
HEIs with a deeper understanding of the student experience to enhance the delivery of a
quality higher education. Future Research Opportunities and Directions From the review of
the 39 papers identified for this systematic literature review, we find that further research
opportunities in the field of quality of student experience in higher education exist across a
diversity of education systems. Building on the discussions in this paper, we suggest the
following directions for further research. 21 Firstly, more research is needed to clarify the
conceptualizations of both student and learning experiences. Several conceptualizations
exist, but none are conclusive (Baird and Gordon, 2009). The identification of the purposes of
existential research also reveals that a fragmented view of the student experience exists, and
there is need for development of a new holistic model of this phenomenon. There are also
differences in perceptions, as well as, cultural and social norms between Asian students and
students of western origin (Kim, 2007). Exploring the differences in perception of student
and learning experiences among stakeholders from various education systems is also
worthwhile due to cultural diversity that may exist. Secondly, as many student-centered
initiatives within higher education institutions are increasingly aimed at improving the
student experience (Arambewela and Maringe, 2012; Baird and Gordon, 2009), there is a
need to develop an appropriate instrument for the measurement of the quality of student
experience (Otto and Ritchie, 1995). Currently, most instruments which exist have been
developed for the measurement of quality of service in higher education institutions, which
however, do not appropriately measure the affective components of a service experience
(Otto and Ritchie, 1995; Otto and Ritchie, 1996). The applicability of quality of service
measurements in certain contexts has also been questioned (Ladhari, 2009). While some
researchers have proposed survey instruments for the assessment of quality of student
experience, some limitations exist (Tam, 2006; Tam, 2007, Webber et al., 2013). To facilitate
the development of such a measurement instrument, further studies are also needed to
holistically identify the determinants which make a good quality student experience in the
context of a broad learning environment (Arambewela and Maringe, 2012). Perhaps
exploring the development of the proposed measurement instrument in the context of a
service innovation framework might 22 also be useful since doing so also focuses attention
on the delivery process of a student experience (Parasumaran, 2010). Thirdly, we
recommend the analysis of gender differences in perceptions and assessment of the quality
of student experience as an area of research. Based on the papers selected for review,
studies related to this area are limited and were conducted within the context of Australian
HEIs (Grace et al., 2012; Grebennikov and Skaines, 2009). More research in this area is
necessary to study the impact of gender differences on the quality of student experience so
that initiatives focused on the student experience will be equitable for all students
(Gebennokov and Skaines, 2009). With regards to research methodology, we noted that
existing research tends to focus on students within a specific higher education institution as
the unit of analysis. If the objective is for research results to be generalized, we suggest that
the unit of analysis be widened in future research to include students from various higher
education institutions in a specific country, noting that there will be variations in culture
across different countries which will hinder the generalization of results among countries
(Tam, 2006). There is also a need to diversify the unit of analysis to gather the perspectives of
other stakeholders of higher education to provide more a balanced analysis of the state of
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139-156. 29 Appendix 1 Research Streams Research Methods Used Type of Research Unit of
Analysis Case Study Content Analysis Focus Groups or Interviews Survey or Questionnaire
Conceptual Empirical Domestic Students External stakeholders International Students
Organization Students in General Exploration of Learning Experience 1 0 3 5 0 7 0 0 2 1 5
Exploration of Student Experience 2 0 6 11 4 13 1 1 3 3 10 Gender differences in assessment
of HE experience 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 Improvement in quality of student experience 4 1 2 3 6
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1 1 5 12 26
Tekst 11 M. Vijaya Sunder Constructs of quality in higher education services in: International
Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 2016 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 148 Constructs of quality in higher education services Vijaya Sunder M.
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, IIT-Madras, Chennai,
India Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present various quality constructs,
their application, success and shortcomings, in higher education (HE) services.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper aims at reviewing the quality constructs in
higher education services through a general review. The paper is organised to highlight
different quality practices which higher education institutions have followed from 1990s till
date. The paper is scoped to discuss about total quality management (TQM), Kaizen, Six
Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) comparing their value addition and shortcoming in
imbibing quality into the higher education. Publications indexed in Scopus database are
considered for the review. The focus of the search in the selected publications was to identify
the success and shortcomings of various quality constructs in HE services. Findings – The
requirement for a quality construct in higher education industry is an important finding of
the paper. Alongside this, the reasons behind the shortcoming of quality practices used in
higher education system were highlighted. The findings include the opportunities for future
research for imbibing quality culture in HE. Research limitations/implications – The literature
discussed in the part of the paper is restricted to TQM, Kaizen, Six Sigma, Lean and LSS.
Though the usage of such quality practices in HE originated in 1990s, there is no one robust
sustainable practice till date, which proved to be a pacesetter. This paper validates this
assertion, which helps both academicians and practitioners with a new perspective.
Originality/value – This paper would serve as an excellent resource for both academicians
and practitioners to understand the history of quality which contributed to the improvement
in HE services, and how the quality excellence has evolved over the years. The paper
concludes with a discussion on opportunities for future research to develop quality
frameworks for HE services. Keywords Six Sigma, Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Higher education,
Improvement, TQM, Quality, Kaizen Paper type Literature review 1. Introduction to quality
During the past few decades, “Quality” has become a major area of interest for practitioners,
and researchers owing to its strong impact on performance in organisations, lower costs,
customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability (Leonard and Sasser, 1982; Seth et
al., 2005). Quality has indeed evaded a standard definition because quality tends to depend
on the context, especially in the service environment and can often be based subjectively on
several parameters like the industry, segment, customer needs, organisation culture, time,
etc. However, the works of Deming, Crosby and Juran did provide a foundation for defining
relevant criteria to establish quality as a management science. According to Crosby, quality
excellence means “Conformance to requirements” and quality must be defined as a
measurable action based on tangible targets rather than based on experience or opinions
InternatioProductivity andVol. 6© Emerald Group PubDOI 10.1108/IJPPMReceived 27Revised
9 NoveAccepted 8 DeceThe current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1741-0401.htm The author would like to
dedicate this paper to Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who taught the author the value of integral
education. The author would like to thank Professor L.S. Ganesh (IIT-M), for being the
author’s guide and inspiration in research. Consof quaHE se Reader tekst 11 149 (Crosby,
1979). Juran mentioned that quality excellence is a concept of managerial breakthrough and
could be achieved through the quality trilogy ( Juran, 1986). Deming suggested that quality
excellence could not be achieved in organisations without educating leadership on
importance of quality – obligations, principles and methods (Krishnaiah and Rao, 1988). The
research on quality excellence has been building over the theories of these three masters.
From past two decades, researchers have seen a paradigm shift of viewing quality excellence
from manufacturing to services. There has been incessant effort made by researchers to
understand the quality perspectives across service industry and higher education sector is
not an exception. This paper aims at reviewing the literature of quality in higher education
services. Publications indexed in Scopus database are considered for the review. The focus of
the search in the selected publications was to identify the success and shortcomings of
various quality constructs in HE services. The paper is organised to highlight different quality
constructs which higher education institutions have followed since the 1990s. From the
initial concepts of total quality management (TQM) to the recent evolution of Lean Six Sigma
(LSS), the constructs of quality for higher education are elaborated in this paper. Every
section below starts with an introduction to the respective quality construct, following its
application and success in the HE. Each section is further elaborated with the shortcoming of
the respective quality construct. The paper is discusses about TQM, Kaizen, Six Sigma, Lean
and LSS comparing and contrasting their value addition and drawbacks in introducing quality
into higher education. Future research opportunities on the subject are also discussed as
part of the paper. 2. Higher education industry (HEI) – an overview Higher education is
defined as education beyond secondary level. Higher education courses are usually studied
at universities, university colleges and higher education institutions. Higher education also
includes certain college-level institutions which include vocational schools and career
colleges that award academic degrees or professional certifications. The difference between
education institutions and higher education institutions need not be looked at only from the
higher-grade degrees perspective. Bebedelis (2008) says that higher education is a process of
eliciting and rearing the human values latent in every individual. This underpins the
additional responsibility for higher education institutions to prepare students from a holistic
perspective, making them readily acceptable for the betterment of society. Engineering
colleges, arts and science institutions and B-schools predominantly contribute to higher
education in today’s competitive education system. The HEI is complex and diverse. It
combines a dominant public sector of state universities and community colleges that educate
majority of all students. The benefits of higher education include advanced peer learning,
field placements, broadened discipline knowledge, specialisation, etc. (Litten, 1980; Bynner
et al., 2003). Perna (2003) attributes the private benefits of higher education to the observed
earnings premium. However, in the twentieth century, economists argued education as a
public good that could drive national technological progress through developing human
capital or by increasing individual employability for the benefit of nation’s economy.
Researchers such as Milton Friedman, Gary Becker and Jacob Mincer developed the “human
capital” theory as a way of understanding and estimating the value of education to both
individuals and society for the public good (Bloom et al., 2007). More recently the public
good of HE has been linked to the promotion of social justice through increasing social
mobility and exposure towards human values (Williams, 2014). According to SaiBaba (2008),
education is for life and 1092 IJPPM 65,8 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 150 not merely
for living. The purpose of higher education is beyond private and public good, leading to self-
actualisation through human values. Today the HEI has evolved with the flourishing of non-
profit schools that encompass some of the world’s most influential research universities,
such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc., and other hundreds of schools, many of which are
competitively oriented. There is no single measure of the industry’s size, but in the USA, HEI
enrols about 19 million students and employs 3.4 million people, which is 3 per cent of the
entire US service-sector workforce. A small number of schools are very illustrious, but the
industry includes 4,314 degree-granting institutions (US Department of Education, National
Studies of Education Statistics, 2007). According to the UK-based studies, HEI is a major
service sector and export earner, attracting over £10 billion of export earnings, nearly £5.7
billion of which was paid directly to universities for their services. It was also identified that
in the UK, the HEI is contributing to 2.8 per cent of UK GDP, generating significant
employment opportunities accounting for 2.7 per cent of all UK employment equivalent to
757,268 jobs (Snowden, 2014). In India, the number of higher education institutions has
grown to greater numbers since independence. In 2011, there were 611 universities and
university-level institutions and 31324 colleges in India (Bhalla, 2012). It is evident that a
significant variation exists among national higher education systems around the world.
Differences amongst nations include the types of higher education institutions (universities,
vocational schools, polytechnics, etc.) and nature of those institutions (public and private)
and the relative weight and reputation of each of these in the overall higher education
system. The analysis of the evolution of HEI, in the course of the past 30 years across
different parts of the world reveal that the basic mission of HEI remains and will remain
attached to four principal goals (World Conference on Higher Education, 1998) namely: the
development of new knowledge – the research function, the training of highly qualified
personnel – the teaching function, the provision of services to society, the ethical function,
and which implies social criticism. 3. Need for quality in higher education The evolving
application of quality in the education sector takes its roots from the theories emerging since
the early 1990s and even before. The definition of quality adopted by most analysts and
policy makers in higher education is that of fitness for purpose (Vroeijenstijn, 1990). Quality
is a relative concept, that different interest groups or “stakeholders” in higher education have
different priorities and their focus of attention may be different. The need for quality has
become more significant for HE institutions across the globe, over the passage of time. Both
global and national forces are driving change within and across individual countries and their
higher education institutions, and hence adopting a quality excellence framework becomes
essential for the HE institutions (Brookes and Beckett, 2009). According to Bandyopadhyay
and Lichtman (2007), universities and colleges in the USA and other countries have been
continuously striving for higher standards under the continuous pressure of public scrutiny
and budget cuts in private, state and federal funding. Amongst British evidence, Hussain et
al. (2009) interacted with various graduate groups and a set of quality variables identified
that reinforced the need for quality in HE. Chevalier (2014), highlights through a study the
importance of quality in the UK education system. Gandhi (2015) argues that the changes in
the educational landscape have forced the HE system in India to revolutionise the style of
working and hence there is a need for quality practice to revamp the process of teaching-
learning-evaluation. According to Harmon (2015), though Australian universities recognise
the importance of quality in Consof quaHE se Reader tekst 11 151 HE system, there are
major quality issues involved, particularly in working with international students, as well as
major financial risks concerning overseas campus developments by Australian public
universities. A recent study claims that quality is neglected in the HE system in China. Though
China experienced dramatic higher education expansion in the past decade, low importance
of quality caused many problems, such as decline of educational expense per student,
deteriorating teaching conditions and employment difficulty for colleges graduates ( Jiang,
2015). Hence, higher education providers need to consider innovative ways to arrange their
infrastructure and education processes. The rapid expansion of the community college
system in the USA put postsecondary institutions within the geographic reach of most of the
American population, but this was a result of massive investment, and there is definitely a
need to safeguard this investment though quality excellence. The UNESCO World conference
report, of 2009, states that the European Union directives are pursuing the goal of
maximising both flexibility and security in employment. However, the analysis shows that
lack of practical knowledge makes this goal challenging for students after completing their
higher education. Ideally, the approach should involve engaging students actively in the
learning process by exposing them to practical perspective and application-oriented learning.
According to Vijaya Sunder (2014), quality excellence models can provide such learning in
students. He further argues that, for efficient learning and career development of students,
imparting applicationoriented practical knowledge into students becomes more essential
than the traditional book theory knowledge, and quality excellence frameworks are essential
to define, manage and stabilise the processes involved. Another important issue which many
HE institutions have been facing is not to realise students as customers, and institution’s
basic need is to serve them. This is surprising given the fact that to be effective, organisations
should be customer driven. Harvey and Knight (1996) argues that the emphasis on quality in
industry lies predominantly with the customer, whereas in higher education there is a
continued debate regarding who the customer actually is Woodall et al. (2014) claims that
students are increasingly demonstrating customer-like behaviour and are now demanding
even more “value” from institutions. There is evidence in the literature where researchers
claimed students as customers of higher education service (Elbeck and Vander Schee, 2015;
Mark, 2012; Sherry et al., 2004; McCollough and Gremler, 1999). With advocates declaring
students as customers of the higher education services, critics expressed discomfort in
absorbing the customer concept into higher education and claimed that it degrades the
educatorstudent relationship (Eagle and Brennan, 2007). But when it comes to the teaching
and learning process students tend to be considered actors in the process, since the result of
it will depend on their willingness to learn. Further, Svensson and Wood (2007) argue that
customers maintain the relative strength between rights and obligations throughout the
relationship cycle, which is not the case with students. Hence there has been a clear debate
throughout the literature whether to consider students as customers for higher education
services or not (Barrett, 1996; Vuori, 2013; Durkin et al., 2012). The next critical need for
quality is lack of a standard system for measuring success of HE institutions. The intangible
nature of the educational process and product makes measurement vastly different from
measuring the output of a manufacturing process where physical properties and well-
established measurement procedures exist (Does et al., 2002). Roffe (1998) suggests that
while there are a small number of performance indicators in industry, these are more
numerous and complex in higher education and are therefore more difficult to assess (Figure
1). 1094 IJPPM 65,8 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 152 Other challenges faced by HE
institutions are related to the nature of the industry itself, which is more complex compared
to manufacturing. Unlike other industry’s production and consumption of products or
services, teaching and learning are different, and cannot be split apart into two halves:
teaching on the one hand and learning on the other (Edler, 2003). It has to be noted that
unlike products or service, education cannot be bought by merely spending money. In fact, if
knowledge is the metric for higher education, then it cannot be quantified with money
equivalent as business. Hence HE institutions have a higher responsibility compared to other
industries to prepare students for life and not merely for income. According to the global
overview of Sathya Sai Education (2007), education is not for mere living; it is for life, a fuller
life, a more meaningful, and a more worthwhile life. This evolving thought process in
universities reinforces the need to instil quality excellence for HE institutions. The
requirement to provide advanced education has become a more strategic issue for colleges
and universities (Duderstadt, 1999). The above discussion clarifies that it is highly important
and essential for higher education across the globe, to focus on quality perspectives to
embark on the quality excellence journey. There are several higher education institutions
which have adopted various quality constructs, discussed in the sections below. 4. TQM for
higher education providers TQM is a management approach that originated in the 1950s and
has progressively become more admired since the early 1980s. A few of the key concepts
according to this management philosophy were compiled by Houston (1988), with his
experience at the US Navy Personnel Research and Development Center. Accordingly, the key
features are: quality is defined by customers; top management has responsibility for quality
improvement; level of quality increases as the processes improve; and quality improvement
is a continuous journey (Houston, 1988). According to the Chartered Quality institute, TQM is
a management approach centred on quality, based on the participation of an organisation’s
people and aiming at long-term success Need for innovation Quality Excellence in Higher
Education system Need for process improvement Practical learning for students Customer
satisfaction Need for a measurement system Need to safeguard investments Budget
crunches Higher standards Key performance indicators Global and national forces Complexity
in the system Preparing students for a meaningful life FiFactors drineed for qhigher eConsof
quaHE senature of the industry itself, other industry’s production earning are different, and
hand and learning on the r service, education cannot ge is the metric for higher lent as
business. Hence HE ther industries to prepare e global overview of Sathya for life, a fuller life,
a more ught process in universities utions. The requirement to gic issue for colleges and nt
and essential for higher s to embark on the quality utions which have adopted . 50s and has
progressively y concepts according to this with his experience at the cordingly, the key
features s responsibility for quality ses improve; and quality ccording to the Chartered tred
on quality, based on ing at long-term success crunches Higher standards al and al forces
Complexity in the system Preparing students for a meaningful life Figure 1. Factors driving
the need for quality in higher education 1095 Constructs of quality in HE services Reader
tekst 11 153 (ISO 8402:1994). This is achieved through customer satisfaction and benefits all
members of the organisation and society (www.thecqi.org/Knowledge-Hub/Resources/
Factsheets/Total-quality-management/). From an organisations perspective, TQM is a
company culture characterised by increased customer satisfaction through continuous
improvements (CIs), in which all employees actively participate (Dahlgaard et al., 1998).
While TQM has been applied in the manufacturing area for a long time, service application of
TQM is relatively less. Some authors found that effective implementation of TQM has
improved financial and operational performance in service organisations impacting the
customer satisfaction and overall company performance (Hendricks and Singhal, 2001; Shah
and Ward, 2003). Implementation of TQM principles is also applicable to higher education
(Owlia and Aspinwall, 1997). History shows instances where attempts were made in colleges
and universities for TQM implementation. The early application of TQM practice in higher
education could be attributed to the Wolverhampton University, UK. However, Narasimhan
(1997) claims that the first application of TQM in US higher education was at Fox Valley
Technical College, USA. As a result of this, the college has become more efficient in areas
such as placement of graduates, employer satisfaction with contracted training programmes,
acceptance of college credits at receiving institutions and improvement in its learning
environment. Lozier and Teeter (1996) cited the use of TQM methods in an introductory
statistics class at the Samford University in the USA that resulted in higher student
satisfaction. Many other institutions began to implement TQM in 1990s, including the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, North Dakota University System, Delaware Community
College and the Oregon State University (Seymour, 1992). Karapetrovic and Willborn (1999)
defined quality excellence in education as the ability of student’s knowledge to satisfy stated
requirements – those requirements being set by employers, accrediting bodies, professional
societies, etc. The focus on understanding customer requirements being the pre-requisite of
any quality programme, Pitman et al. (1996) stressed the importance of addressing the
needs of all customer groups for higher education sector. Owlia and Aspinwall (1997)
surveyed 124 people involved in educational quality efforts in the USA, Europe, India and
Australia. The results identified students as the primary customer, followed by employers,
society, faculty and families in descending order of relative importance. However, there was
no clarity of how to understand or measure the requirements from various customer groups
using TQM principles in HEI. Recent literature shows evidence of many successful
implementations of TQM practices in higher education. If TQM is appropriately managed, it
supports the institutions in achieving quality excellence, but the TQM construct has
witnessed many shortcomings in HEI. Shortcomings of TQM A survey was conducted among
Boston area higher education institutions which have implemented TQM and marketed their
programmes with lot of investment early in the 1990s (Sims and Sims, 1995). By 1994, five of
the ten institutions had stopped, and were not implementing their TQM projects. Many
other higher education institutions have excelled at announcing TQM programmes, but were
incapable of implementing them fully or reaping significant benefits. Many education
professionals believe that TQM directed at academics could cause huge resistance to change.
They note that higher education is a very humanistic area where autonomy and academic
freedom are highly valued, where specialized faculties passionately protect their turf
(Satterlee, 1996). James Tannock (1991) says that a TQM programme cannot be successful in
the Education 1096 IJPPM 65,8 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 154 sector, without
bringing a cultural change to the organisation. In this regard, it is important to identify a
small number of key performance indicators and metrics, which allow quality problems to be
identified, alongside cultural attributes in universities. These indicators must be planned so
as to address critical questions concerning customer satisfaction. Some of these could be the
curriculum design, student satisfaction level, teacher’s ability and skills, pass percentage of
students in examinations, university infrastructure assessment, etc. Though TQM was
successful in improving the level of processes for the HEI, it was not clearly defined who the
customer is, and how to capture the voice of the customer. According to Kanji et al. (1999),
the customers of HEI are divided into different groups of actors that accept the education
process. This includes existing and potential students, employees, employers, government
and industry. Owing to their different characteristics, they bring to bear certain demands that
affect the behaviour of the education system (Kanji et al., 1999). Later in 1996, reports from
Japan show both that the country was encountering economic difficulties and that TQM had
little relevance to the situation (Koch and Fisher, 1998). Even though a relatively high use of
TQM was reported by administrative, support and academic departments of universities,
only a small number of institutions (17 per cent in 1995 and 15 per cent in 1998) employed a
complete TQM model (Vazzana et al., 2000). Several other issues lead to the shortfall of TQM
for the higher education sector. These include the missed opportunity of measuring the TQM
applications, lack of a specialised toolkit, and many TQM concepts such as employee
involvement are difficult to be systematically measured (Bayraktar et al., 2008). Harari (1997)
states that, only about one-fifth, of the TQM programmes in the USA and Europe have
achieved significant or even tangible improvements in quality, productivity, competitiveness
or financial results. In fact, Ewell (1993) suggested that the rise in TQM efforts in the 1990s
was driven by the difficult financial situation in higher education in those years, rather than
by any genuine effort to improve the educational services. 5. The Kaizen philosophy for
higher education providers Following the era of TQM, was the Kaizen movement or CI.
Institutions started realising the importance of quality as not a tool nor a process, but a
journey towards CI. This concept of CI comes from the Japanese term Kaizen that was initially
developed and spread by Masaaki Imai (Imai, 1989) who is known as the father of CI.
According to Chang (2005), the CI cycle consists of establishing customer requirements,
meeting the requirements, measuring success and continuing to check customers’
requirements to find areas in which improvements can be made. Manos (2007) defined CI as
a series of subtle and gradual improvements that are made over time. In the Toyota Way
Fieldbook, Liker and Meier discuss the Kaizen blitz and Kaizen burst approaches to CI. A
kaizen blitz, or rapid improvement, is a focussed activity on a particular process or activity.
The basic concept is to identify and quickly remove waste. Kaizen burst is a specific kaizen
event on a particular process in the value stream (Liker and Meier, 2006). A better use of
theory and practice lectures may be achieved through a proper organisation and
presentation of theoretical and practical subjects in universities. In this regard, Kaizen
techniques which have been often associated with manufacturing and engineering would
help. An interesting aspect of the Kaizen process is that it utilises various tools and methods
to make the problems visible at the source (Zimmerman, 1991). Studies reveal that one of
these techniques, known as 5S, is used to establish and maintain quality environment, and it
can be very useful in the field of education. Most 5S practitioners consider this technique
valuable not just for improving their physical Constof qualHE ser Reader tekst 11 155
environment but for improving their thinking processes as well. CI studies gave importance
to the aspects of leadership, specifically in higher education institutions, realising its
importance in the success in their quality programmes. Since educational institutions serve
socializing purposes in society, they ought to practise total quality leadership so that students
may acquire the sort of competence that is needed at present in society at large (Stensaasen,
1995). The CI movement which emphasised small CIs also witnessed several studies that
discussed the application of quality management principles applied by the higher education
providers (Bailey and Bennett, 1996; Coate, 1999). CI in traditional classroom-style business
school education is of increasing importance given the many recent calls to improve graduate
business school education (Karapetrovic et al., 1999; Donaldson, 2002; Etzioni, 2002;
Mintzberg et al., 2002). A few studies also reveal that reputed accreditation bodies for
universities emphasise Kaizen culture, as one of the attributes of evaluating the university.
Accreditation of degree programmes in business or management by AACSB International
(The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) is intended to: “[…] assure
quality and promote excellence and continuous improvement for graduate education […]”
(AACSB, 2004). Emiliani (2005) described the Kaizen approach taken at Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, NY. The results reveal that eight small improvements were successfully
implemented in a short span of 30 days. The study concluded that Kaizen workout sessions
eliminated ambiguity in syllabus related to class participation and assignments, eliminated
variation in the syllabus such as format, course description, course, etc., and eliminated
duplicate teaching materials, such as case studies or journal articles used in two courses. The
application of Kaizen in many such higher education institutions is evident from the
literature. However, very sparse literature is available about the success stories, and
sustenance factors of kaizen in HEI. Shortcomings of Kaizen movement The Literature
provides stories of CI initiatives and their failure in higher education institutions, with little
written about truly defined and sustained success. Fundamental issues such as the nature of
the curriculum and the allocation of faculty time have been extremely resistant to CI
campaigns, not the least because faculty usually cast a jaundiced eye on any development
that threatens to loosen their grip over course and degree requirements, or their ability to
allocate their own time (Koch and Fisher, 1998). Previous research suggested that even a
perfectly implemented Kaizen system would not ensure prosperity long term (Macleod and
Baxter, 2001). There were several deficiencies which the Kaizen programmes faced especially
in the higher education system. Non-involvement of students to build the culture of CI was
the prominent reason. It is important for the students to realise that they are customers as
well as suppliers of the educational system. Hence, students cannot leave total responsibility
for their education to the teachers. They have equal responsibility in order to fulfil the CI
commitment (Dahlgaard et al., 1995). Another important drawback which the CI
programmes faced are lack of a structured project management approach, which had a
cascading effect on the overall quality excellence of the institution. Another major deficiency
of the Kaizen events was the lack of on-the-job training. Following the necessary education, it
becomes essential for both employees and students of the universities to begin on-the-job
training. The best form of training is to use the techniques on the problems they can identify,
and want to solve. In order to implement on-the-job training, a learning plan should be
adopted (Kanji and Wallace, 1994). A brief review of the literature of higher education
reveals that the major problems faced by 1098 IJPPM 65,8 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 156 universities today as a challenge towards CI on a sustainable basis,
relate to curriculum improvement, experiential learning, sponsorship, allotment of faculty
time, teaching practise vs research, faculty status, tenure, student access, distance learning
and the use of technology, pricing of higher education, etc. (Koch and Fisher, 1998). 6. Six
Sigma for higher education institutions Several other quality methodologies exist in market
for imbibing quality excellence in organisations; however, nothing compares the
effectiveness of Six Sigma when it comes to improving operational efficiency and productivity
(Welch and Welch, 2007). Six Sigma is an emerging approach to quality assurance and quality
management. Six Sigma emphasises on continuous quality improvements to improve process
efficiencies aiming to exceed the customer expectations (Sokovic et al., 2006). Six Sigma is a
business strategy that seeks to identify and eliminate causes of errors or defects or failures in
business processes by focussing on outputs that are critical to customers (Snee, 1999). The
important feature of Six Sigma is that it is a data-driven process improvement methodology,
used to achieve stable and predictable process results. Six Sigma not only focusses on
reducing process variation and defects, but also encourages creating a process thinking
mindset in the organisation (Vijaya Sunder and Antony, 2015). The problem solving approach
of Six Sigma suggests the define-measure-analyse-improve-control (DMAIC) and the design
for Six Sigma methods as the two most common methodologies to implement Six Sigma.
However, Edgeman and Dugan (2008) say that the main objectives of these two techniques
are quite different. The application of Six Sigma DMAIC methodology to improve quality in
engineering education has been successful in improving the quality consciousness with
students and the management of institution (Prasad et al., 2012). Several other authors have
examined the role of Six Sigma to support the decision-making in science and engineering
programmes at universities. Burtner (2004) recommended using the Six Sigma methodology
at the Mercer University School of Engineering to provide university administrators with the
data they needed to make effective changes in programming and policy. In the early stages of
deployment, four projects were identified as potential Six Sigma projects at the Mercer
University School of Engineering and these projects addressed issues ranging from retention
and success of students in mathematics classes, reduction in the amount of time taken by
students to graduate from an engineering programme, and success stories of women as
engineering students. Jenicke et al. (2008) suggested that a framework is needed to
successfully implement Six Sigma in academic environment. They propose such a framework
in terms of implementation level, Six Sigma methodology and key performance indicators.
They also provide examples of strategic objectives and performance indicators by levels of
implementation for the DMAIC process. Several other publications were identified in the
literature where researchers expressed various perspectives of Six Sigma implementation for
higher education institutions. Johnson (2006) described using Six Sigma to design university
housing. Kumi and Morrow (2006) elaborated the application of Six Sigma to improve service
at university libraries. A few authors sensed the importance of college professor’s role to
imbibe process thinking skills within students for successful implementation of Six Sigma. Ho
et al. (2006) recommend Six Sigma methodology for the higher education institutions as it
demonstrates an excellent platform for infusing statistical education into higher education
curriculum. Consof quaHE se Reader tekst 11 157 Shortcomings of Six Sigma Few studies in
higher education highlight the difficulties of implementing Six Sigma in an University
environment. The challenges include the difficulty in defining the right customers for a
university, the nature of the product, and the difficulty of measuring quality and reward
systems for employees (Holmes et al., 2005). Considering that the customer focus is
important, even at universities offering higher education, the customers have to be defined.
Maguad and Krone (2012) claim that students are the primary customers, while the faculty,
departments, non-teaching, administrative staff also form part of the customer community
at colleges. They claim that while students are primary customers for higher education, they
differ from typical business customers in a number of ways. For example, colleges or
universities often admit students based on certain academic standards and requirements.
Business usually does not do that, as business does not prevent prospective customers
purchasing their products or services (Maguad and Krone, 2012). Another challenge of
implementing a Six Sigma programme in the higher education sector is its statistical toolkit
which does not make all students comfortable to apply in projects without structured
education at least at green belt level (Vijaya Sunder, 2014). Students from science or
humanities background will definitely need more exposure to apply the Six Sigma toolkit
unlike statistics or management students. 7. Lean for higher education institutions Lean
manufacturing originated as a philosophy of continuously simplifying processes and
eliminating waste (Tatikonda, 2007). Lean encourages incremental improvement of an
activity to eliminate waste, variation and over-burden (called muda, mura and muri in
Japanese) and create more value (Ohno, 1988; Womack and Jones, 1996). In fact, Lean
implementation has led to better bottom-line performance including total cycle time
reductions, better customer service levels and higher profit margins (Towill, 2007). The Lean
methodology adopted the earlier quality concepts to make this easier for the front line of the
organisation to understand and apply quality excellence on the operations floor. For
example, Lean has a general process of implementation similar to the Shewhart cycle of plan-
do-study-act. Literature shows instances where various authors published several other Lean
models of working. Tapping et al. (2002) divided the implementation of Lean into three
stages – understand the demand, improve flow and level-load the process. The Womack and
Jones model, which is most widely used in Lean implementations, has five Lean principles
(Womack and Jones, 2003; Tischler, 2006): (1) value – asking what customers value and
want; (2) the value stream – map the value added and non-value added activities; (3) flow –
do the work in such a way that it flows through the process smoothly; (4) pull – produce only
what customers ask for, when they need it; and (5) perfection – keep improving. Lean and
the higher education sector have affinity to each other right from the early days. In fact the
approach to improving performance (doing more) while using the minimum amount of
precious resources (with less) has been nicknamed Lean by researchers at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) for its ability to do just that. The application of Lean principles
in higher education has led to significant improvements. The benefits include lead time
reduction, increase in throughput, low 1100 IJPPM 65,8 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing
158 infrastructure cost, increase student satisfaction, etc. (Parasmal, 2009). The primary
objective of Lean implementation is to eliminate waste, and Jens Jorn Dahlgaard in 2000, for
the first time defined the eight wastes in the context of higher education (Dahlgaard and
Ostergaard, 2000; Barroso et al., 2010): (1) uncoordinated teaching, coaching and testing,
with the consequence that students do not pass exams; (2) graduate students, who do not
have the ability to get a job and do not have lifelong learning capabilities; (3) scheduling
courses for which the students have not yet got the appropriate qualifications to pass; (4)
courses that do not contribute to the customer value concepts; (5) bad planning and
mistakes in teaching, coaching and testing so that students, teachers and the supportive staff
have to move from one place to another or from time to another without any purpose, or
have to repair damage and mistakes they are not responsible for; (6) bad planning so that
materials and facilities needed for teaching, coaching and testing are not appropriate in
terms of time, cost and quality; (7) teachers and students in downstream activities are
waiting because upstream activities at the supportive staff level have not been delivered in
time and viceversa; and (8) design of courses and supportive activities, which do not meet
the needs of the customers inside and outside the higher educational institution Further, few
authors have argued that there are four general categories of waste in higher education
institutions. People waste – refers to the category of waste that occurs when universities fail
to capitalise fully on the knowledge skills and abilities of employers and workgroups. Process
waste – refers to the cluster of wastes that occur due to shortcomings in the design or
implementation of university processes. Information waste – refers to the category of waste
that occurs when the information that is available is deficient for supporting the university
the processes. Asset waste – refers to the waste that occurs when the university does not
use its resources (human and material) in effective way. Many higher education institutions
have adopted a Lean initiative to improve the efficiency of processes by scientifically
eliminating waste and non-value added activities. In 2008, Cardiff University hosted the first
Lean thinking in Universities event. In November 2010 the University of St Andrews hosted
the second in the series, as over fifty Lean thinkers from across UK and further afield
gathered to address the challenges faced by the higher education sector. According to the
University of St Andrews, three different ways could be adopted in a Lean application –
project work, training and one-one work (www.st-andrews.ac.uk/liu/). Research shows that
institutions such as the Coventry University, University of Portsmouth (England), Central
Connecticut State University, Bowling Green State University, MIT, Oklahoma State University
(USA), etc. (Antony, 2014) have adopted Lean. Shortcomings of Lean Although Lean was
successful compared to other quality practices in the higher education sector, it too have
shortcomings. According to the American Society for 1Constof qualHE ser Reader tekst 11
159 Quality, starting a Lean initiative at a university can be a daunting task because one
cannot turn to the traditional methods that have been explained in books (Salewski and
Klein, 2013). Students generally feel that Lean is more about common sense than something
which they already know. This non scientific nature of Lean makes students reluctant to show
greater interest in participating in Lean programmes at universities. In a 1979 Harvard
Business Review article, reprinted in 2008 with the title Choosing Strategies for Change,
Kotter and Schlesinger (2008) argue that there is nothing more difficult and doubtful of
success than to initiate a new order of things. This is definitely true in the context of Lean for
higher education as there is no single proof found in the literature reviewed which says that
Lean was a success in universities in the first eight weeks of implementation. This is definitely
a shortcoming, as the Lean philosophy claims that it is known to generate rapid
improvements. Another challenge which many colleges faced while implementing Lean for
the first time is the lack of clarity on which version of Lean to follow. This is because Lean
after originating from Toyota has taken several shapes and evolved into many versions of
practise. Pettersen (2009) supports this notion, stating that Lean is a translated version of the
Toyota Production System and Lean has been translated into many different versions.
Another important shortcoming of Lean is its nature of producing many small improvements,
instead of one big breakthrough for excellence. This does not gel with the requirement of
creating breakthrough improvement at many situations. Just like Six Sigma, if Lean were to
be looked as a toolkit rather than philosophy or mindset for improvement, it leads to failure.
Several such attempts by higher education institutions were discussed by Liker and Hoseus
(2009) leading to failure of Lean. 8. LSS for higher education institutions LSS is the latest in a
progression of quality movements that were motivated by the teachings of a number of
industry leaders, most notably W. Edwards Deming (Maleyeff et al., 2012). More than looking
at quality from tools-techniques perspective, LSS is recognised an organisation strategy and a
leadership gizmo for imbibing the quality culture. The advantage of LSS methodology over
other quality approaches is that LSS puts the Six Sigma methods and tools in the service of a
critical goal, and at the same time uses Lean principles to reduce cycle times in the
processes, that chiefly drive customer satisfaction (Immelt, 2006). The integration of Lean
and Six Sigma aims to target every type of opportunity for improvement within an
organisation. If Lean is implemented without Six Sigma, then there is a lack of tools to
leverage improvement to its full potential. Conversely, if Six Sigma is adopted without Lean
thinking, then there would be a cache of tools for the improvement team to use, but no
strategy or structure to drive forward their application to a system. Although Lean and Six
Sigma (to a certain extent) evolved independently, there are a number of encouraging
articles discussing the use of an amalgamated approach (Pepper and Spedding, 2010).
Applying LSS principles to improve the higher education system and student instruction is an
approach which allows students to gain more knowledge through experience during the
learning process (Cooper, 2009; Patil et al., 2006). However, applying LSS in HEI is different
from that of manufacturing or other services. It is more important for the education
institution to express its maturity as an organisation before LSS implementation.
Implementing LSS programmes in HEI needs a strong drive from the cultural aspect of the
university. According to Antony, the following are the 1102 IJPPM 65,8 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 160 prominent readiness factors which HEI should imbibe for successful LSS
deployment (Antony, 2014): • Leadership and vision – university leaders should set a clear
vision for establishing the desired quality excellence culture. The whole idea of visionary
leadership is to enable the stakeholders to shift from their current working practices to Best-
in-Class practice. • Management commitment and resources – the uncompromising and
constant support from the senior management team and the allocation of resources (time,
money, etc.) for executing projects is an essential factor prior to kick off the quality
excellence initiative in HEI context. • Linking LSS to university’s strategy – one of the
challenges for the sustainability of LSS initiative is the selection of the right projects which
are aligned with strategic objectives of the university. LSS is best deployed into an
organisation’s strategy when it is the how to deploy of the strategy. Various types of metrics
could be then assigned to define success and measure the progress. • Customer focus – one
of the fundamental purposes of HE is to provide the students with skills and knowledge that
will enable the future employer to better succeed in a knowledge economy. In a HE setting,
typical customers may include students, staff members, alumni members, parents who pay
tuition fees for their children, industry and government who provides funding, etc. This list
clearly shows the complexity of the customer concept in the context of HE setting. •
Selecting the right people – LSS is about selecting and training the right people to execute
the projects at all levels across the HEI. Research shows that companies who have been
successful with LSS as a business process improvement methodology select their most
talented people to fill the key positions such as black belts, green belts, etc. so that the
quality excellence mindset could be established right from leadership level to down the
ladder. The biggest misconception of Six Sigma which also was its shortcoming was
considering Six Sigma as a statistical toolkit. LSS has overcome this with a customised toolkit
amalgamating both Lean and Six Sigma, which are simple and effective in application. Antony
et al. (2012), suggested a set of LSS tools which could be handy in LSS project management in
HE institutions. They include process mapping/value stream mapping, cause-effect analysis,
visual management techniques, Pareto analysis, project charter, SIPOC diagram and rapid
improvement workshops. Mukondeleli et al. (2012) claims that, as a methodology, LSS is no
different for HE industry than for the other industries. This could follow DMAIC flow for
project management. Though the application of LSS is at its initial stages in HE industry
(Vijaya Sunder, 2016a), a few universities have already started implementing and reaping the
benefits. One of initiatives of the chancellor of the Valdosta State University, Georgia was to
start the 2008 fiscal year with the implementation of LSS for Higher Education. This process
has involved migrating proven techniques for LSS from a business setting to an educational
setting. Valdosta State University has championed the chancellor’s cause by conducting a
number of campus LSS projects (www.valdosta.edu/administration/ six-sigma/). Heriott Watt
University, UK conducted the third international conference of LSS focussing on HE industry
in June 2015. The proceedings claim that the conference aimed to highlight that LSS has a
critical role to play in developing HE institution Consof quaHE se Reader tekst 11 161
processes by improving efficiency and creating a student-centric approach for greater
student retention
(www.sml.hw.ac.uk/departments/business-management/thirdinternational-conference-lean-
six-sigma.htm). Gordon State College has recently introduced a LSS programme to its
planning process, implementing a language for change to be understood not only across the
campus, but across the different institutions of the University System of Georgia. Gordon
State College aims to adopt LSS on a scale appropriate to the size and sector, emphasising
quality, transparency, and real usefulness. It aims to serve as a model for LSS implementation
among colleges of such size and mission (http://6sigma.gordonstate.edu/). Simons (2013)
argues that there are several benefits of implementing LSS for higher education, compared to
that of other quality constructs discussed. The benefits include – easily meeting the
accreditation requirements, providing a template for structured problem solving, promoting
total involvement, establishing a measurement system, making processes visible, gathering
the voice of the customer, helping to identify the hidden costs, etc. Another great advantage
of LSS over other quality practices is its complimentary nature of facilitating change
management. The niche skills professions called “Six Sigma Belts” strategically handle the
resistance to change and hence the change acceleration process becomes smooth with LSS.
Thus from the above discussion, it is evident that LSS approach clearly overcomes the
drawbacks of other quality excellence concepts for the HEI. The power of this amalgamated
methodology not only helps create a powerful measurement system for the HE institutions,
but also serves in providing the structured approach for quality excellence. LSS programmes
are known for developing team dynamics which promote practical learning in higher
education institutions, thus encouraging more sustainable and robust results to overcome
the challenges faced by the HE industry at the current juncture. 9. Conclusion and discussion
for future research From the literature review it is very evident that the HEI having realised
the importance of quality excellence has adopted various quality practices, however, it has
not yet reaped complete benefits due to shortcomings. LSS in its introductory phase of
deployment in the HE industry has provided a clear opportunity for researchers to ponder
upon the subject. There are several aspects of LSS for HE industry which could be identified
for future research. When LSS evolved from manufacturing to services, ample amount of
research happened on the lines of customising the LSS methodology for services, since the
service industry is so different from that of manufacturing. Now looking at the HEI, the
literature shows instances that are diverse and complex compared to manufacturing or other
services. Hence there is an opportunity for research to show how to customise the LSS
methodology for the HE sector. Another important aspect which could attract researchers’
interest is the success factors and failure modes of LSS for higher education. This is because
of the huge investment involved in deploying LSS, and an education provider definitely
cannot afford to lose the potential gains if the programme fails. Hence it becomes essential
to understand the success and failure attributes of LSS in the HE industry. It was evident from
the literature that many HE organisations failed in their own quality practices because of lack
of clarity in defining and understanding customers. Though the LSS toolkit proposes specific
tools to capture the Voice of the customer, it is still a grey area of who exactly could fall
under the customer categorisation for higher education. Dedicated research on this area
could gather more interesting findings. Another important area for research on this subject
could be to develop a LSS quality excellence model for the 1104 IJPPM 65,8 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 162 HE industry. Literature has not shown any such models existing for the
HE industry, and definitely such a development would add value to academicians and
practitioners. Such a model become important for HE industry as all the stakeholders of the
HE industry may not have the knowledge about the structured problem solving or quality
excellence, and history shows evidences of such LSS models existing for manufacturing as
well as services. As the review of the literature indicates practical learning is a key focus area
for higher education institutions to impart in the life of students during their stay in
universities, it is essential to explore opportunities how LSS can instill such a integrated
approach to higher education. There was less literature found about the key metrics for the
HE industry. Case study-based research could be conducted to identify the opportunities for
LSS projects and key performance indicators of HE industry. Another important area for study
is how LSS can improve the infrastructure and administrative processes of universities,
alongside focussing on improving the curriculum and students knowledge level about the
respective subject in higher education courses. More opportunities for researchers about the
subject could include – how to handle resistance to LSS programmes in HE industry, how to
manage stakeholders while implementing LSS at HE industry, etc. The author suggests that
researchers should not limit the exploration to the opportunities discussed in this section.
There are several other grey areas to explore for this upcoming subject of interest – Lean Six
Sigma for Higher Education.
F. Ali, Y. Zhou, K. Hussain, P.K. Nair en N.A. Ragavan Does higher education service quality
effect student satisfaction, image and loyalty? in: Quality Assurance in Education, 2016 Open
Universiteit Relatiemarketing 8 Does higher education service quality effect student
satisfaction, image and loyalty? A study of international students in Malaysian public
universities Faizan Ali International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia Yuan Zhou School of Foreign Language and Culture, Beifang University of
Nationalities, Yinchuan, China Kashif Hussain School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts,
Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Malaysia Pradeep Kumar Nair Taylor’s University, Subang
Jaya, Malaysia, and Neethiahnanthan Ari Ragavan School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary
Arts, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Malaysia Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this study
is to investigate the effect of Malaysian public universities’ service quality on international
student satisfaction, institutional image and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – A total
number of 400 questionnaires were distributed to international students, selected using
convenience sampling technique, at three public Malaysian university campuses in Kuala
Lumpur. Of this, 241 were deemed fit for analysis (60 per cent response rate). Partial Least
Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the collected data, assess the
model and test hypotheses. Findings – The findings show that all the five dimensions of
higher education service quality influence student satisfaction which in turn influences
institutional image, and together, they influence student loyalty. Research
limitations/implications – There are a number of limitations associated with this study. First,
the findings of the study are based on data from international students at only three
Malaysian public university campuses. Second, this study focuses on a relatively small sample
of international students. Besides, this study uses HEdPERF to assess higher education
service quality which might exclude some factors that may influence international student
satisfaction. On the other hand, it highlights a number of implications for the management of
Malaysian universities. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm QAE 24,1 70 Received 22
February 2014 Revised 8 July 2014 7 December 2014 Accepted 5 February 2015 Quality
Assurance in Education Vol. 24 No. 1, 2016 pp. 70-94 © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883 DOI 10.1108/QAE-02-2014-0008 Reader tekst 1 9 Originality/value – This study
validates the HEdPERF scale in the context of Malaysian public universities with regard to the
perceptions of international students. Furthermore, this study extends the HEdPERF scale
and examines its effects on student satisfaction, institutional image and loyalty. Keywords
Malaysia, Image, Student satisfaction, Higher education, Service quality, Student loyalty
Paper type Research paper Introduction Organizations, irrespective of their industry, focus on
the quality of services provided because of its integral role in developing competitive
advantage and in attracting new and retaining existing customers (Ugboma et al., 2007).
Similarly, within the higher education context, provision of quality services is one of the most
important priorities of educational institutes around the world (Trivellas and Geraki, 2008).
The higher education sector is playing an increasingly important role in developing the
economy of many nations, and Malaysia is no exception. Internationalization of the higher
education sector is a top priority for the Malaysian Government, whereby education has
been identified as one of the National Key Economic Areas and Malaysia is trying to position
itself as a stable, safe and relatively cheap place for overseas students to study (Ministry of
Higher Education, 2011). According to a report published on the Study Malaysia Web site
(The Malaysian Higher Education System, 2013), there is ongoing effort to improve the world
ranking of Malaysian universities and to achieve 150,000 international students by the year
2015. The international student market is essential to the Malaysian economy, and the
government is committed to offering quality and certitude in teaching and learning. A report
published by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia in 2011 stated that by the end of
2010, there were more than 70,000 foreign students out of a total of 450,531 registered
students in Malaysian universities. By the end of 2010, Malaysia was the 11th largest
exporter of educational services, with more than 90,000 students from over 100 countries
studying at its schools, colleges and universities (The Malaysian Higher Education System,
2013). These numbers of international students – now consisting mainly of students from
East Asia (China, Korea, Indonesia), South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan), West
Asia or the Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Yemen), Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania)
and the Eastern European block – have more than doubled in the past five years (Ministry of
Higher Education, 2011). It has been rightly pointed out that analyzing students’ perceptions
of service quality with a marketing approach may assist in attracting and retaining students
(Sultan and Wong, 2013). According to Levy et al. (2003), international students grew up in a
different environment and are slightly different from the domestic students of a country.
Being uncertain and having to make high-risk decisions of choosing a university, international
students search for evidence of better quality in the services offered (Angell et al., 2008).
Thus, ignoring the nature and importance of service quality may prove to be perilous for
service providers in the higher education industry. As such, universities in Malaysia have to
consider various preferences and needs of international students to satisfy them. Student
satisfaction plays a crucial role in the success of a university and can act as an essential tool
in enhancing its perceived service quality (Abdullah, 2006a). Higeducaservice quaef Open
Universiteit Relatiemarketing 10 Previous studies have shown that improving service quality
has always been an internal goal for service providers of higher education; however, the
perception of students is not defined while the determinants and results of service quality
improvement are also not identified (Narang, 2012; Sultan and Wong, 2013). In the higher
education context, a five-dimensional scale for measuring service quality, “HEdPERF”, which
includes aspects of academic and non-academic service, program issues, access and
reputation was developed by Abdullah (2005). The scale was tested on a sample of 409
students from six Malaysian universities. The results of the study showed that students
perceived “access” to be the only significant determinant of service quality. Hence, further
validation of this scale was proposed by Abdullah (2005). This scale was subsequently tested
by a limited number of scholars to assess students’ perceived service quality (Abdullah,
2006b; Brochado, 2009). However, these studies were comparative in nature where HEdPERF
was compared with SERVPERF to test their relative efficacies. For instance, Abdullah (2006b)
and Brochado (2009) tested and compared the relative efficacy of various measuring
instruments of service quality, namely Higher Education PERFormance (HEdPERF), SERVPERF,
the moderating scale of HEdPERF-SERVPERF and SERVQUAL within the higher education
setting. The results of both these studies concluded that the measurement of service quality
by means of the HEdPERF method yielded more reliable estimations, greater criterion and
construct validity, better explained variance, and consequently, HEdPERF was found to be a
better fit than the other two instruments. Apart from these comparative studies, there is a
lack of studies that have empirically tested HEdPERF and its influence on students’
satisfaction, institutional image and loyalty. Therefore, to validate the dimensions of
HEdPERF with regard to the perceptions of international students in Malaysian public
universities, this paper aims to examine the effect of service quality dimensions (HEdPERF)
on international student satisfaction and the effect of student satisfaction on university
image and student loyalty. The empirical findings in this study shed light on how service
quality affects student satisfaction and how student satisfaction affects institutional image
and student loyalty. The insights from these findings can help Malaysian higher education
policy makers and managers to improve the quality of service provided, enhance student
satisfaction and loyalty and strengthen the image of Malaysian universities. Literature review
Service quality Service quality is regarded as an important dimension of competitiveness (Ali
et al., 2012; Lewis, 1990) and is frequently reported in the services marketing literature.
During the past two decades, this topic became a major focus of researchers due to its strong
impact on customers and organizations (Ali and Zhou, 2013; Seth et al., 2005; Sureshchandar
et al., 2003). The copious research available on the subject has resulted in various
conceptualizations and little agreement on what constitutes a universally accepted and
standardized definition of service quality (Sharif and Kassim, 2012; Wicks and Roethlein,
2009; Kitchroen, 2004). The American Society for Quality defines quality as “the totality of
features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy given
needs” (Haksever et al., 2000, p. 331). An early conceptualization of service quality was
presented by Juran (1988), describing it as meeting user’s expectations, whereas Zeithaml
(1988) defined service quality as QAE 24,1 72 Reader tekst 1 11 superiority or excellence in
service delivery. Crosby (1979) posited another conceptualization of service quality referring
to it as conforming to needs and requirements. In this context, Sharif and Kassim (2012)
stated that service quality is usually consumer driven, making it difficult for service providers
to understand and apply “service quality” and define it in a standardized fashion (Zeithaml,
1981). This difficulty in determining service quality is also repeated in the measurement of
service quality, as there is no general or widely accepted framework that can be
operationalized to make a precise assessment of service quality (Seth et al., 2005). Several
measurement instruments have been developed to capture and explain service quality
dimensions. SERVQUAL is the most commonly used instrument which links the concept of
service quality to the notions of perception and expectations (Ali et al., 2012). Perceived
service quality is the result of comparing expectations and perceptions (Parasuraman et al.,
1988; Gronroos, 1994); however, this conceptualization was extensively criticized by Cronin
and Taylor (1992) and Teas (1994) in terms of its applicability and generalizability. Current
literature attests that perception-only measures of service quality produce a better result
compared to the measurement of perception versus expectation (Sultan and Wong, 2011).
Service quality in higher education Service quality in the field of higher education is
particularly essential and important. It is an established fact that positive perceptions of
service quality have a significant influence on student satisfaction (Alves and Raposo, 2010).
However, the debate remains on the best way to define service quality in the context of
higher education (Becket and Brookes, 2006). According to Cheng and Tam (1997, p. 23), “[…]
education quality is a rather vague and controversial concept”. The definition of higher
education quality is dependent on various stakeholders who experience the different
services provided by higher education institutions. As students are the main stakeholders of
any higher education institution, their experiences in engaging with the different services
provided during their student years comprise service quality (Jancey and Burns, 2013).
Several studies have attempted to develop and examine service quality models in the context
of higher education. For example, Abdullah (2005) proposed HEdPERF, a scale to measure
perceived service quality in the Malaysian higher education sector using five dimensions,
that is, academic aspects, non-academic aspects, program issues, reputation and access. The
initial scale was developed and validated using a sample of 409 students from six Malaysian
universities in July-August 2003. The results of this study showed that students perceived
only “access” to be a significant determinant of service quality. Hence, further validation of
this scale was suggested by Abdullah (2005). In addition, another scale called “The
Performance-based Higher Education” was also developed, which included a 67-item
instrument for evaluating the perceived service quality of Japanese universities (Sultan and
Wong, 2010a). This instrument covered eight dimensions, namely, dependability,
effectiveness, capability, efficiency, competencies, assurance, unusual situation management
and semester-syllabus. Another study was conducted by LeBlanc and Nguyen (1997) who
examined the dimensions of service quality and their relative importance to service quality
as perceived by business students. This study developed a 38-item instrument based on
seven dimensions, that is, personnel/faculty, contact personnel/administration,
responsiveness, reputation, curriculum, physical evidence and access to facilities.
Hieducaservice que Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 12 However, the major limitation of
this study was that it focused on a small student population of a small university business
school (LeBlanc and Nguyen, 1997). Furthermore, in another study, Tahar (2008) postulated
that students define quality based on five dimensions, namely, ability to create career
opportunities, issues of the program, cost/time, physical aspects and location. All of these
studies suggest that the dimensions of higher education service quality vary widely (Angell et
al., 2008; Sultan and Wong, 2013). This current paper has adapted HEdPERF to assess the
service quality of Malaysian Universities, considering it as a complete measurement
instrument that is able to capture the authentic determinants of service quality within the
higher education sector (Abdullah, 2006b). This notion is supported by Sultan and Wong
(2010b). The authors conducted a study to explore and examine the perception of students
with regard to antecedents and dimensions of service quality in the higher education
context. Taking into account the dimensionalities, the authors proposed HEdPERF as a
comprehensive scale because it includes a broad range of service attributes in the context of
universities. Student satisfaction The literature on customer satisfaction is based on various
definitions revolving around concepts such as experience or quality of service, expectations,
perceived value and consequent evaluation of service (Ali and Amin, 2014). For example,
satisfaction is a state felt by a person who has experienced performance or an outcome that
fulfills his or her expectation (Arif and Ilyas, 2013; Kotler and Clarke, 1987). Similarly, Hunt
(1977, p. 459) defined satisfaction as: […] a consumer’s post purchase evaluation of the
overall service experience (process and outcome). It is an affective (emotion) state of feeling
reaction in which the consumer’s needs, desires and expectations during the course of the
service experiences have been met or exceeded. Another conceptualization presented by
various scholars states that satisfaction is a judgment of a specific service encounter (Cronin
and Taylor, 1992; Bolton and Drew, 1991). Additionally, satisfaction can be measured as an
overall feeling or as satisfaction with the elements of a transaction (Fornell, 1992). In the
context of higher education, students are the primary customers (Sultan and Wong, 2013).
The concept of regarding students as customers of higher education service providers is not
novel. Various researchers have suggested that students are primary customers and partners
in the higher education sector as they consciously choose and buy services (Kuh and Hu,
2001). Moreover, Elliott and Healy (2001) argued that student satisfaction is a short-term
attitude, the result of their experience with the education services received. According to
Sapri et al. (2009), student satisfaction plays an important role in determining the accuracy
and authenticity of the services being provided. This is further supported by Barnett (2011)
who states that satisfaction of students is important as it is the only performance indicator of
service quality for service providers of higher education. There are many ways to explain the
facets of student satisfaction. As an example, Kaldenberg et al. (1998) looked at factors such
as coursework quality, non-curriculum events and other university-related factors as
determinants of student satisfaction. Grossman (1999) also pointed out that students are
customers or clients and education providers are expected to prioritize and meet the
expectations of their students. On the QAE 24,1 74 Reader tekst 1 13 other hand, Appleton-
Knapp and Krentler (2006) divided factors influencing student satisfaction into institutional
factors and personal factors. Institutional factors included quality of instruction, quality and
promptness of the instructor’s feedback as well as the clarity of his/her expectations, the
teaching style of the instructor, the research emphasis of the institute and the size of classes
(Dana et al., 2001; Fredericksen et al., 2000;Krentler and Grundnitski, 2004; Porter and
Umbach, 2001). Personal factors that were found to be predictors of student satisfaction
were age, gender, employment, temperament, preferred learning styles and students’
average grade point (Brokaw et al., 2004; Fredericksen et al., 2000; Porter and Umbach,
2001). Therefore, to ensure students are satisfied, higher education service providers have to
consider both institutional and personal factors (Chahal and Devi, 2013). Student loyalty In
the literature, loyalty is associated with different entities such as suppliers, stores, products,
brands and organizations to present various definitions of customer loyalty (Day, 1984;
Helgesen and Nesset, 2011). For example, Oliver (1997, p. 392) defined loyalty as: […] a
deeply held commitment to rebuy or re-patronise a preferred product or service consistently
in the future, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to
cause switching behaviour. Lovelock and Wirtz (2007, p. 629) defined loyalty as “a customer’s
commitment to continue patronising a specific firm over an extended period of time”. Similar
to customer loyalty, student loyalty is also composed of attitudinal and behavioral
components (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2001). The attitudinal component can be described as
tripartite, consisting of cognitive, affective and conative elements, whereas the behavioral
component can be perceived as being related to decisions that students make regarding their
mobility options (Helgesen and Nesset, 2011). Simply put, behavioral loyalty can be referred
to as the frequency of repeat purchases, while attitudinal loyalty refers to stated preferences,
commitment or purchase intentions of the consumers (Day, 1984). Contextually, Helgesen
and Nesset (2007) stated that the loyalty of a former student may be more important than
that of a current student and can apply to any university, any particular course or any other
component of the university because student loyalty is not a short-term effect. Loyal
students show active participation and positive behaviors which influence the overall
teaching quality as well (Rodie and Kleine, 2000). It is quite possible that loyal students
become good advocates, recommending the institution to others. In examining the effect of
higher education service quality on student satisfaction, institutional image and student
loyalty, both the attitudinal and behavioral components of student loyalty were considered in
this study (Helgesen and Nesset, 2007). Image The literature shows the confusion that exists
around the conceptualization and definition of the term “image” (Ali et al., 2013). Arpan et
al. (2003) stated that image has often been used interchangeably with reputation,
whileGatewood et al. (1993)referred to image as being merely associated with the
organization’s name. Likewise, Haedrich (1993) defined image as a psychological personality
profile of an organization which is constructed by an individual. Notwithstanding the
variations that exist, most Hieducaservice que Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 14
researchers have come to an agreement on the definition of image as provided by Capriotti
(1999, p. 16), “the mental representation of a real object that acts in that object’s place”
(Palacio et al., 2002). Alves and Raposo (2010) who studied the image of colleges and
universities highlighted that the image of a university is a perception of services provided
which is partly communicative and partly cognitive. This perception about the university is
affected by various tangible and intangible elements, values and communication (Alves and
Raposo, 2010). There is now a growing consensus among researchers that image is owned by
organizational stakeholders and it is a complex construct based on a variety of factors (Arpan
et al., 2003). Palacio et al. (2002) conducted a study on university image and demonstrated
that the image of a university is made up of cognitive and affective components. Some
examples of these components as provided by Huddleston and Karr (1982) include academic
reputation, campus appearance, cost, personal attention, location, distance from home,
graduate and professional preparation and career placement. Arpan et al. (2003) also found
three stable factors that influence university image, including academic attributes, athletic
attributes and news media coverage. Many scholars have studied the various returns of
corporate image, including increased profits, improved perceptions of value, favorable
consumer attitude and behavior, favorable perceptions and familiarity of the service provider
and improved sales (Alves and Raposo, 2010). Moreover, Palacio et al. (2002) and Helgesen
and Nesset (2007) affirmed the influence of image on consumer behavior in a university
context. The current study also adopted the same notion and considers institutional image as
an attitude shaped by student satisfaction that may result in student loyalty. Service quality,
student satisfaction and institutional image Many scholars have studied the impact of various
dimensions of higher education service quality on student satisfaction. In a study conducted
by Abdullah (2005), it was observed that within the higher education context, major
determinants of student satisfaction include academic and non-academic aspects, issues
related to programs, access and reputation. Another study conducted by Afzal et al. (2010)
explicated that there are eight dimensions of higher education service quality. These
dimensions include design, delivery and assessment, academic facilities, non-academic
facilities, recognition, guidance, student representation, study opportunities and group size.
The teaching skills of the academic faculty and their interaction with students can also lead
to student satisfaction (Bitner and Zeithaml, 1996). This is supported by Kuh and Hu (2001)
who posited that student satisfaction is significantly influenced by effective interaction
between student and faculty. Similarly, Kara and De Shields (2004) stated that the
determinants of student satisfaction include service quality dimensions such as faculty
performance, advisory staff performance and classes. Additionally, Brochado (2009)
compared HEdPERF with other alternative higher education service quality models and
ascertained that HEdPERF’s five dimensions have higher correlation with student satisfaction
and future behavioral intentions. Hence, this study also hypothesizes that the five
dimensions of HEdPERF significantly influenced student satisfaction (as shown in Figure 1):
H1. Non-academic aspects impact overall student satisfaction significantly. H2. Academic
aspects impact overall student satisfaction significantly. H3. Reputation impacts overall
student satisfaction significantly. QAE 24,1 76 Reader tekst 1 15 H4. Program issues impact
overall student satisfaction significantly. H5. Access impacts overall student satisfaction
significantly. Customer satisfaction is derived from the judgment of a specific service
encounter (Han and Ryu, 2009; Cronin and Taylor, 1992) and it varies. A study by Hu et al.
(2009) found that customer satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on corporate
image. This correlation is also supported by Nguyen and LeBlanc (2002) who stated that
satisfaction with service performance affects image assessment. In the context of higher
education, Helgesen and Nesset (2007) supported the impact of customer satisfaction on
image. In addition, Helgesen and Nesset (2011) argued that the institutional image might be
derived from consumer satisfaction, as when students are satisfied, their attitudes toward
the university improves. Therefore, this study also hypothesizes the relationship between
student satisfaction and image as follows: H6. Overall student satisfaction impacts university
image significantly. Student satisfaction, institutional image and student loyalty Literature
shows that one of the most prominent determinant of loyalty is customer satisfaction (Alves
and Raposo, 2010; Douglas et al., 2008; Ryu et al., 2012; Helgesen and Nesset, 2011) and
corporate image (Alves and Raposo, 2010; Arpan et al., 2003; Hu et al., 2009). As explained
by Helgesen and Nesset (2011), customer loyalty is often perceived as the main consequence
of customer satisfaction. Researchers have also confirmed a positive and significant influence
of customer satisfaction on loyalty (Athiyaman, 1997). Within the context of higher
education, the linkage between student satisfaction and student loyalty has also been
confirmed (Arif and Ilyas, 2013; Helgesen and Nesset, 2011; Palacio et al., 2002). Therefore,
this study also hypothesizes the relationship between student satisfaction and student
loyalty as follows: H7. Overall student satisfaction impacts student loyalty significantly. On
the other hand, institutional image is also considered to have a positive influence on
customer loyalty. An image of a product or service is observed to have a strong effect on the
loyalty of customers as it is the first point of attraction for customers to show a positive
response (Aydin and Ozer, 2005; Narteh, 2013). Kandampully and Suhartanto FigProposed
framHieducaservice queignificantly. ntly. fic service encounter (Han y by Hu et al. (2009)
found t on corporate image. This ho stated that satisfaction ntext of higher education, r
satisfaction on image. In itutional image might be satisfied, their attitudes pothesizes the
relationship e significantly. ant of loyalty is customer uet al., 2012; Helgesen and Arpan et al.,
2003; Hu et al., loyalty is often perceived ers have also confirmed a oyalty (Athiyaman, 1997).
n student satisfaction and 013; Helgesen and Nesset, othesizes the relationship significantly.
ave a positive influence on d to have a strong effect on for customers to show a dampully and
Suhartanto Figure 1. Proposed framework 77 Higher education service quality effect Open
Universiteit Relatiemarketing 16 (2000) found a positive relationship between the image of a
hotel and customer loyalty. This relationship was also studied in the higher education sector
by Helgesen and Nesset (2007, 2011). It is therefore hypothesized that: H8. Institutional
image impacts student loyalty significantly. Methodology Sample design and data collection
The target population for this study was limited to international students studying in
Malaysian public universities. The survey was conducted through self-administered
questionnaires with students at three different universities in Malaysia considering that only
these three universities have campuses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and have a higher number
of international student enrolments as compared to other public universities. A convenience
sample was drawn for the survey. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed and 260
were returned (65 per cent response rate). All the responses with missing data were also
excluded and ultimately, 241 responses were deemed fit for further analyses (60 per cent
response rate). Of these valid responses, 52 per cent were from male whereas 48 per cent
were from female. Three per cent were from those of 18-20 years of age, 67 per cent from
21 to 30 years, 22 per cent from 31 to 40 years and 8 per cent were from those more than 41
years. Students across ethnicity and nationality were included in the sample as much as
possible. The demographic data of the sample shows that 49 per cent of the respondents
were from the Middle East, 6 per cent from Europe, 15 per cent from South Asia and 30 per
cent from Asia Pacific region. The survey also attempted to investigate the sources of funding
for the respondents. The findings showed that 65 per cent of the respondents were funded
by their parents, family or self-funded, 11 per cent by their organizations or workplace,
whereas 24 per cent by their respective governments. The demographic profile of the
respondents is shown in Table I. Research instrument The constructs in this study were
measured using five-point Likert-type scale and multiple items. All measurement items
validated in previous studies were adopted for Table I. Respondent’s PROFILE Variable Items
(%) Gender Male 52 Female 48 Age 18-20 years 3 21-30 years 67 31-40 years 22 Above 35
years 8 Ethnicity Middle East 49 Europe 6 South Asia 15 Asia Pacific 30 Source of funding
Self/parent 55 Organization 13 Government 32 QAE 24,1 78 Reader tekst 1 17 this study. For
all measurement items across all categories, scores ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
(strongly agree). Academic aspects and non-academic aspects were assessed using nine and
ten items, respectively; all adapted from Abdullah (2006a) and Huang (2009). Program
issues, reputation and access were measured using four items, each adapted from previous
studies (Abdullah, 2006a; Brochado, 2009). Student satisfaction was measured using five
items adapted from Abdullah (2006a) and Westbrook and Oliver (1991). Student loyalty was
measured with three items adapted from Helgesen and Nesset (2011), whereas image was
measured using three items adapted from Narteh (2013). The questionnaires were sent to
two reviewers to check the face and content validity. Based on their suggestions, a few
grammatical and structural modifications were made to some of the statements. Since a
multi-item scale was used to measure each of the constructs, an inter-item analysis was used
to verify these scales for internal consistency or reliability (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994).
Specifically, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for each scale. All scales were found to be
deemed reliable as they surpassed the minimum threshold of 0.70 for Cronbach alpha values
(Nunnally, 1978) as shown in Table II. Table II also shows the descriptive statistics for the
dimensions of higher quality education service, student satisfaction, university image and
student loyalty. Ratings on “academic aspects” (mean 3.90; standard deviation 0.527), “non-
academic aspects” (mean 3.85; standard deviation 0.521), “access” (mean 3.70; standard
deviation 0.569), “program issues” (mean 3.97; standard deviation 0.585), “reputation”
(mean 3.54; standard deviation 0.689), “student satisfaction” (mean 3.91; standard
deviation 0.506), “image” (mean 3.90; standard deviation 0.612) and “student loyalty”
(mean 3.77; standard deviation 0.716) indicated that respondents understood the questions
and avoided favorable responses (response bias). All the mean scores were above 3 on the
five-point Likert scale which indicated a positive response and agreement of respondents
toward all the items related to higher education service quality, university image, student
satisfaction and student loyalty. Analytical methods For this study, hypotheses were tested
based on structural equation modeling using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method. Analysis
was conducted using the Smart PLS M3 Version 2.0 (Ringle et al., 2005) software. PLS is a
well-established technique for estimating path coefficients in structural models and has
become increasingly popular in marketing studies in the past decade because of its ability to
model latent constructs under conditions of non-normality and suitability for small to
medium sample sizes TabDescriptive staand reliaanConstructs No. of items Mean score SD
Cronbach’s alpha Academic aspects 9 3.90 0.527 0.866 Non-academic aspects 10 3.85 0.521
0.871 Access 4 3.70 0.569 0.745 Program issues 4 3.97 0.585 0.771 Reputation 4 3.54 0.689
0.844 Student satisfaction 5 3.91 0.506 0.750 Image 3 3.90 0.612 0.716 Student loyalty 3 3.77
0.716 0.788 Higeducaservice quaef scores ranged from 1 d non-academic aspects d from
Abdullah (2006a) re measured using four rochado, 2009). Student Abdullah (2006a) and with
three items adapted ured using three items o reviewers to check the mmatical and structural
ti-item scale was used to to verify these scales for in, 1994). Specifically, ere found to be
deemed Cronbach alpha values sions of higher quality dent loyalty. Ratings on “non-
academic aspects” 70; standard deviation 0.585), “reputation” faction” (mean 3.91;
deviation 0.612) and dicated that respondents ponse bias). All the mean ated a positive
response higher education service alty. tion modeling using the using the Smart PLS M3
tablished technique for me increasingly popular model latent constructs o medium sample
sizes Table II. Descriptive statistics and reliability analysis D Cronbach’s alpha 27 0.866 21
0.871 69 0.745 85 0.771 89 0.844 06 0.750 12 0.716 16 0.788 79 Higher education service
quality effect Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 18 (Ali et al., 2014; Rezaei and Ghodsi,
2014; Hair et al., 2013). The bootstrapping technique was applied to determine the
significance levels of the loadings, weights and path coefficients. As suggested by Anderson
and Gerbing (1988), validity and goodness of fit for the measurement model was estimated
before the structural relationships outlined in the structural model were tested. Results
Common method variance Common method variance refers to “variance that is attributable
to the measurement method rather than to the construct of interest” (Podsakoff et al., 2003,
p. 879). It may present itself because of the single survey method used to collect responses
(Hair et al., 2006). At the data analysis stage, Harman’s (1967) one-factor test was also
applied to control the common method variance. The test yielded nine factors accounting for
65.01 per cent of the variance, and factor 1 accounted for 23 per cent of the variance. As no
single factor accounted for the majority of the variance in the variables, we believe that
common method variance did not pose a major threat for the data. Measurement model
First, we tested the measurement model for convergent validity. This was assessed through
factor loadings, composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) (Hair et al.,
2006). Table III shows that all item loadings exceeded the recommended value of 0.6 (Chin,
1998). CR values, which depict the degree to which the constructindicatorsindicate thelatent
construct, exceeded the recommended value of 0.7 (Hair et al. 2006), while AVE, which
reflects the overall amount of variance in the indicators accounted for by the latent
construct, exceeded the recommended value of 0.5 (Hair et al. 2006). We investigated
discriminant validity by comparing the square root of AVE with the correlations between the
variables. If the correlation between the different variables is lower than the square root of
the AVE, the variables can be considered as distinct theoretical entities (Hulland, 1999). Table
IV shows that this is the case for all the relevant variables. The square root of AVE (diagonal
values) of each construct is larger than its corresponding correlation coefficients which
confirms adequate discriminant validity (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Structural model We
used SmartPLS 2.0 to test the structural model and hypotheses (Ringle et al., 2005). A
bootstrapping procedure with 1,000 iterations was performed to examine the statistical
significance of the weights of sub-constructs and path coefficients (Chin et al., 2008). PLS
does not generate overall goodness of fit indices. A diagnostic tool, presented by Tenenhaus
et al. (2005), known as the goodness of fit (GoF) index was used to assess the model fit. GoF
is measured using the geometric mean of the average communality and the average R2 (for
endogenous constructs). Hoffmann and Brinbrich (2012) reported the following cutoff values
for assessing the results of the GoF analysis: GoFsmall 0.1; GoFmedium 0.25; GoFlarge 0.36.
The model used in this study yielded a GoF value of 0.464 which indicates a very good model
fit as shown in Table V. Next, the hypothesized relationships in the structural model were
tested. Figure 2 shows the results of the structural model. The values in the figure show the
standardized coefficients and their respective t-values. The corrected R2 value in the figure
refers to the explanatory power of the predictor variable(s) on the respective construct. All
five QAE 24,1 80 Reader tekst 1 19 TabValidireliabiconConstructs Items Statements Loadings
CRa AVEb Academic aspects AA1 Instructors have the knowledge to answer my questions
relating to the course content 0.696 0.894 0.585 AA2 Instructors deal in a courteous manner
0.714 AA3 When I have a problem, instructors show a sincere interest in solving it 0.693 AA4
Instructors show positive attitude toward students 0.736 AA5 Instructors communicate well
in the classroom 0.739 AA6 Instructors provide feedback about my progress 0.721 AA7
Instructors are highly educated in their respective field 0.666 AA8 The hand-outs are
provided adequately by the instructors 0.651 AA9 The documentations are provided
adequately by the instructors 0.641 Non-academic aspects NA1 When I have problem,
administrative staffs show a sincere interest in solving it 0.689 0.895 0.561 NA2
Administrative staffs provide caring attention 0.678 NA3 Inquiries are dealt with efficiently
0.685 NA4 Administration offices keep accurate and retrievable records 0.719 NA5 When the
staffs promise to do something by a certain time, they do so 0.625 NA6 Administrative staffs
show positive work attitude toward students 0.633 NA7 Administrative staffs communicate
well with students 0.757 NA8 Administrative staffs have good knowledge of the systems
0.733 NA9 Students are treated equally by the staffs 0.697 NA10 The staffs respect the terms
of confidentiality when I disclose information to them 0.657 Access A1 Academic staffs are
willingness to respond my request for assistance 0.694 0.788 0.583 A2 Academics staffs
allocate sufficient time for consultation 0.636 A3 The staffs ensure that they are easily
contacted 0.675 A4 Academic staff are knowledgeable to respond my request 0.767
(continued) Hieducaservice queTable III. Validity and reliability for constructs Loadings CRa
AVEb 0.696 0.894 0.585 0.714 0.693 0.736 0.739 0.721 0.666 0.651 0.641 0.689 0.895 0.561
0.678 0.685 0.719 0.625 0.633 0.757 0.733 0.697 0.657 0.694 0.788 0.583 0.636 0.675 0.767
(continued) 81 Higher education service quality effect Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 20
dimensions of higher education service quality explains 53.4 per cent of student satisfaction
(R2 0.534). Student satisfaction explains 38.5 per cent of the image, whereas student
satisfaction and image explains 32 per cent of the student loyalty. With regard to model
validity, Chin et al. (2008) classified the endogenous latent variables as substantial, moderate
or weak based on the R2 values of 0.67, 0.33 or 0.19, respectively. Accordingly, student
satisfaction (R2 0.534), image (R2 0.385) and student loyalty (R2 0.320) can all be described
as moderate. Table III. Constructs Items Statements Loadings CRa AVEb Program issues PI1
The university runs excellent quality programs 0.693 0.852 0.59 PI2 The university offers a
wide range of program with various specializations 0.795 PI3 The university operates an
excellent counselling service 0.778 PI4 The university offers programs with flexible structure
0.801 Reputation R1 The university has a professional image 0.801 0.895 0.683 R2 The
academic program run by the university is reputable 0.861 R3 The university’s graduates are
easily employable 0.864 R4 The university has a good image 0.773 Student satisfaction SS1 I
am satisfied with my decision to register at this university 0.742 0.834 0.502 SS2 My choice
to choose this university was a wise one 0.707 SS3 I think I did the right thing when I chose to
study at this university 0.766 SS4 I feel that my experience with this university has been
enjoyable 0.651 SS5 Overall, I am satisfied with this university 0.668 Image IM1 This
university was recommended to me by my friends 0.779 0.84 0.637 IM2 This university was
recommended to me by my family 0.807 IM3 This university has a prestigious image 0.808
Student loyalty SL1 I will continue at the same university if I wanted to start a new course
0.840 0.829 0.618 SL2 I will continue at the same university if I wanted to further my
education 0.797 SL3 I will recommend this university to my friends and family 0.718 Notes: a
Composite reliability (square of the summation of the factor loadings)/[(square of the
summation of the factor loadings) - (square of the summation of the error variances)]; bAVE
(summation of squared factor loadings)/(summation of squared factor loadings) (summation
of error variances) QAE 24,1 82 Reader tekst 1 21 Calculating predictive relevance (Q2 ) and
effect size (f 2 ) In addition to the value of R2 , the predictive sample reuse technique (Q2 )
can be effectively used as a criterion for predictive relevance (Akter et al., 2011; Chin, 2010).
Based on the blindfolding procedure, Q2 evaluates the predictive validity of a complex
TabDiscriminant vNo. Academic aspects (1) Non-academic aspects (2) Access (3) Program
issues (4) Reputation (5) Student satisfaction (6) Image (7) Student loyalty (8) 1 0.764 2 0.688
0.748 3 0.557 0.493 0.763 4 0.563 0.604 0.540 0.768 5 0.559 0.568 0.589 0.472 0.826 6
0.598 0.571 0.643 0.564 0.510 0.708 7 0.568 0.569 0.504 0.512 0.405 0.621 0.798 8 0.507
0.435 0.568 0.485 0.478 0.485 0.530 0.786 TaGoodness of fitConstructs AVE R2 Academic
aspects 0.585 – Non-academic aspects 0.561 – Access 0.583 – Program issues 0.59 –
Reputation 0.683 – Student satisfaction 0.502 0.385 Image 0.637 0.385 Loyalty 0.618 0.320
Average scores 0.594 0.363 AVE * R2 0.216 (GOF AVE - R2 ) 0.464
FigStructuralHieducaservice quee technique (Q2 ) can be et al., 2011; Chin, 2010). ve validity
of a complex Table IV. Discriminant validity Student tisfaction (6) Image (7) Student loyalty (8)
0.708 0.621 0.798 0.485 0.530 0.786 Table V. Goodness of fit index R2 – – – – – 0.385 0.385
0.320 0.363 0.216 0.464 Figure 2. Structural model 83 Higher education service quality effect
Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 22 model by omitting data for a given block of indicators
and then predicts the omitted part based on the calculated parameters. Thus, Q2 shows how
well the collected empirical data can be reconstructed with the help of the model and PLS
parameters (Akter et al., 2011). For this study, Q2 was obtained using cross-validated
redundancy procedures as suggested by Chin (2010). Based on Fornell and Cha’s (1993)
study, a Q2 value greater than 0 means the model has predictive relevance, whereas a Q2
value of less than 0 means otherwise. As shown in Table VI, the Q2 values for student
satisfaction, image and student loyalty which are 0.267, 0.244 and 0.197, respectively, are all
above 0 and thus, indicate acceptable predictive relevance. In some models,
dependent/endogenous variables are predicted by more than one predicting/exogenous
variable. In this situation, according to Wong (2013), effect sizes are calculated to assess the
extent a predicting (exogenous) variable contributes to the R2 value of an endogenous latent
variable by using the equation f 2 (R2 included - R2 excluded)/(1 - R2 included). According to
Cohen (1988), a f 2 value of 0.02 shows a small effect, a f 2 value of 0.15 shows a medium
effect and a f 2 value of 0.35 shows a large effect. In this study, student satisfaction was
predicted using the five dimensions of higher education service quality, and student loyalty
was predicted by student satisfaction and institutional image; therefore, the relative effect
sizes (f 2 ) of the predicting (exogenous) constructs were calculated and are shown inTable VI.
With regard to predicting student satisfaction, all five dimensions of higher education service
quality had small effects, whereas in predicting student loyalty, student satisfaction and
image also had small effect sizes (Cohen, 1988; Peng and Lai, 2012; Wong, 2013). Structural
estimates and hypotheses testing The complete results of the structural model and
hypotheses testing are presented in Table VII. The results strongly support all the eight
hypotheses of the study. H1 which hypothesized that academic aspects will influence student
satisfaction significantly was supported by results (H1: b 0.186, t 2.34, sig 0.05). These
results confirmed that students that have positive perceptions of academic aspects in a
university will have higher levels of satisfaction. Similarly, H2 hypothesized that non-
academic aspects will influence student satisfaction significantly and was supported by
results (H2: b 0.152, t 2.15, sig 0.05). These results confirmed that students that have
positive perceptions of non-academic aspects will have higher levels of satisfaction. H3 which
hypothesized a significant effect of program issues on student satisfaction was also
confirmed (H3: b 0.157, t 1.987, sig 0.05). These results confirmed that students who have
positive perceptions of the program issues will have higher levels of Table VI. Predictive
relevance (Q2 ) and effect size (f 2 ) Constructs Q2 f 2 (student satisfaction) f 2 (student
loyalty) Academic aspects – 0.034 (small) – Non-academic aspects – 0.021 (small) – Access –
0.146 (small) – Program issues – 0.028 (small) – Reputation – 0.020 (small) – Student
satisfaction 0.267 – 0.051 (small) Image 0.244 – 0.120 (small) Loyalty 0.197 – – QAE 24,1 84
Reader tekst 1 23 satisfaction. Similarly, H4 hypothesized that reputation will influence
student satisfaction significantly, which was supported by results (H4: b 0.133, t 1.96, sig -
0.05). These results confirmed that students who have positive perceptions of the reputation
of the service provider will have higher levels of satisfaction. Similarly, the results also
supported H5 which hypothesized access having a significant effect on student satisfaction
(H5: b 0.361, t 4.828, sig - 0.01). These results confirmed that students who have positive
perceptions of access will have higher levels of satisfaction. The findings from these five
hypotheses are in line with findings from previous studies (Abdullah, 2005, 2006a; Afzal et
al., 2010, Brochado, 2009; Huang, 2009; Kara and DeShields, 2004). H6 hypothesized that
student satisfaction will influence university image significantly, which was supported by
results (H6: b 0.621, t 9.518, sig - 0.01). These results confirmed that satisfied students will
have positive perceptions of the institutional image. An increasing number of research
scholars are now confirming the role of customer satisfaction in developing customer
perceptions of institutional image (Ali et al., 2013; Han and Ryu, 2009). In the context of
higher education, this relationship is supported by Helgesen and Nesset (2007). Furthermore,
Helgesen and Nesset (2011) argued that the image might be derived from consumer
satisfaction as when students are satisfied, their perception of their university improves.
Similarly, H7 hypothesized that student satisfaction will influence student loyalty significantly,
which was supported by results (H7: b 0.254, t 3.38, sig - 0.01). These results confirmed that
students who are more satisfied are more likely to stay loyal. The influence of customer
satisfaction on their loyalty is evident in a large body of literature (Alves and Raposo, 2010;
Douglas et al., 2008; Ryu et al., 2012). Helgesen and Nesset (2011) posited that customer
loyalty is often perceived as the main consequence of customer satisfaction. In the higher
education context, this link between student satisfaction and student loyalty has also been
confirmed a number of times (Arif and Ilyas, 2013; Helgesen and Nesset, 2011; Palacio et al.,
2002). The results also strongly support H8 that hypothesized the significant effect of image
on student loyalty (H8: b 0.372, t 5.10, sig - 0.01). Students that perceive a positive image of
the institution are more likely to display loyalty. Findings from previous studies confirmed
that image can also impact positively on customer loyalty (Ali et al., 2013; Almossawi, 2001;
Alves and Raposo, 2010; Arpan et al., 2003; Hu et al., 2009). Kandampully and Suhartanto
(2000) found a positive TabStructural est(hypotheses tHypothesis Standard beta Standard
error T statistics Decision H1: Academic aspects ¡ Student satisfaction 0.186 0.079 2.348*
Supported H2: Non-academic aspects ¡ Student satisfaction 0.152 0.070 2.154* Supported
H3: Program issues ¡ Student satisfaction 0.157 0.083 1.998* Supported H4: Reputation
¡ Student satisfaction 0.133 0.074 1.961* Supported H5: Access ¡ Student satisfaction 0.361
0.075 4.828** Supported H6: Student satisfaction ¡ Image 0.621 0.065 9.518** Supported
H7: Student satisfaction ¡ Student loyalty 0.254 0.075 3.380** Supported H8: Image
¡ Student loyalty 0.372 0.073 5.100** Supported Notes: *p - 0.05; **p - 0.01 Hieducaservice
que will influence student b 0.133, t 1.96, sig - sitive perceptions of the atisfaction. Similarly,
the g a significant effect on se results confirmed that her levels of satisfaction. gs from
previous studies Huang, 2009; Kara and ence university image 1, t 9.518, sig - 0.01). sitive
perceptions of the s are now confirming the ons of institutional image ucation, this
relationship lgesen and Nesset (2011) faction as when students milarly, H7 hypothesized
gnificantly, which was se results confirmed that The influence of customer ature (Alves and
Raposo, esset (2011) posited that customer satisfaction. In ction and student loyalty 13;
Helgesen and Nesset, H8 that hypothesized the 2, t 5.10, sig - 0.01). e more likely to display
an also impact positively and Raposo, 2010; Arpan (2000) found a positive Table VII.
Structural estimates (hypotheses testing) ard rT statistics Decision 9 2.348* Supported 0
2.154* Supported 3 1.998* Supported 4 1.961* Supported 5 4.828** Supported 5 9.518**
Supported 5 3.380** Supported 3 5.100** Supported 85 Higher education service quality
effect Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 24 relationship between image and customer
loyalty. This relationship has also been studied in the context of higher education by
Helgesen and Nesset (2007, 2011). Discussion and conclusion Higher education service
providers emphasize service quality because of its strategic role in enhancing
competitiveness, attracting new students and retaining existing students (Wong and Sultan,
2010b). In the higher education context, a five-dimensional scale to measure service quality
called “HEdPERF”, which includes aspects of academic and non-academic, program issues,
access and reputation, was developed by Abdullah (2005). This scale has been used by a
limited number of scholars to assess students’ perceived service quality. However, these
studies were comparative in nature where HEdPERF was compared with SERVPERF to test
their relative efficacies. These comparative studies concluded that HEdPERF is a more reliable
instrument to assess the quality of higher education services compared to other instruments
(Abdullah, 2006b; Brochado, 2009). Apart from these comparative studies, there has been a
lack of studies that have empirically tested HEdPERF and its influence on student satisfaction,
institutional image and student loyalty. Moreover, although service quality in the context of
higher education has been studied by numerous researchers, not many have focused on
perceptions of international students (Hanaysha et al., 2011). This study fills the gap in the
existing literature by investigating the effect of Malaysian universities’ service quality
dimensions (HEdPERF) on international student satisfaction and its subsequent effects on
institutional image and student loyalty. The findings reveal that students are generally
satisfied with various aspects of service quality within the Malaysian universities, in
particular, academic and non-academic aspects, program issues, university reputation and
access to university facilities. This confirms the proposed hypotheses that all five dimensions
of service quality influence student satisfaction which in turn influence institutional image.
These two in turn affect student loyalty. These findings are consistent with previous studies
examining the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction (Abdullah, 2006a; Afzal et al.,
2010; Hanaysha et al., 2011; Helgesen and Nesset, 2011; Kuh and Hu, 2001; Sultan and
Wong, 2010a). Hypercompetition in the higher education sector has resulted in a situation
where students compare the “knowledge value” which they expect from service providers.
This implies that students expect maximum value for each ringgit that they pay (Sharabi,
2013). The most important factors in creating this knowledge value are the quality of the
academic staff and the curriculum including the structure and delivery of international
programs. The findings from this study strengthen these arguments further and show that
students with better perceptions of the various dimensions of higher education service
quality (academic aspects, non-academic aspects, program issues, reputation and access) are
more likely to have higher satisfaction levels resulting in better perceived institutional image
and student loyalty. Among all these dimensions, program issues and academic aspects had
the highest mean scores which suggest that the range and design of programs offered, their
flexibility and a robust curriculum are most important in forming the perceptions of service
quality. Higher education service providers should, therefore, concentrate their efforts on the
dimensions students perceive to be important rather than focusing on a number of different
attributes, which they feel are important determinants of service quality (Abdullah, 2006b).
While the idea of providing adequate services on all dimensions may seem attractive to most
service QAE 24,1 86 Reader tekst 1 25 marketeers and managers, failure to prioritize them
may result in inefficient allocation of resources. Determining and assessing student
satisfaction based on their perception of the quality of a university’s services may not be an
easy task, but it can be very helpful for the universities to build a strong relationship with
their existing and potential students (Hanaysha et al., 2011). In the context of higher
education service quality, students evaluate the depth of customer-orientation in university
services based on their perceptions of multiple factors such as the structure, design and
delivery of international programs. Considering the average mean scores of service quality
dimensions, it can be observed that while international students have positive perceptions of
the quality of the services provided by the Malaysian universities, there is still room for
improvement in their methods of attracting students. The results of this study show that
students were relatively satisfied with issues related to their program and other academic
aspects. This indicates that Malaysian universities have been successful in emphasizing the
quality of academics and courses, which is the main product of higher education. However,
the mean score for another related dimension, “access”, was low as compared to the mean
score for other dimensions of service quality. This dimension is related to matters such as
ease of contact, approachability and accessibility of staff, including both non-academic and
academic. A bad perception of this dimension may impact negatively the satisfaction levels
of students. Therefore, Malaysian universities should make sure that international students
have regular access to their staff via multiple channels such as e-mail, phone or face-to-face.
In this regard, Jancey and Burns (2013) stated that electronic communication provides an
excellent means of engaging with both internal and external students and providing
opportunities to personalize advice and feedback. It enables less confident students to ask
questions while allowing staff to provide non-judgmental and timely responses (Errey and
Wood, 2011). By adopting these steps, the perception of existing international students on
Malaysian universities can be improved, thus improving their satisfaction levels as well. This
in turn can enhance the image of Malaysian universities and help attract new students by
using existing students as promotional channels. The findings also revealed the relatively low
score for the “reputation” dimension as compared to other dimensions. It has been observed
that when students are satisfied with the services provided, their perception of the
institutional image improves which may positively affect student loyalty too. However, the
point of concern here is the low reputation of Malaysian universities as perceived by
international students. Malaysian universities should design better marketing and awareness
campaigns to enhance their reputation and help international students develop a positive
perception of them. In this manner, universities can retain their positive reputation and
attract international students in line with the Malaysian Higher Education Ministry’s objective
of attracting as many international students as possible to study in Malaysian universities.
Nevertheless, this study shows that the international students in Malaysian public
universities were mostly satisfied with other dimensions of service quality such as academic
and non-academic aspects and program issues. In other words, Malaysian universities have
successfully implemented their strategies related to improving their quality of service.
Heducservice que Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 26 Despite shedding some light on
understanding the relationship between higher education service quality, student
satisfaction, institutional image and student loyalty, it is vital to explain the limitations of this
study to help guide future research. This study was only conducted at three public university
campuses in Kuala Lumpur. As the sample size was not large, the findings from this study
cannot be generalized to the wider population of international students in Malaysia.
Therefore, similar studies in other public and private universities in other cities of Malaysia
can be conducted to provide more fruitful insights and extend the generalizability of the
findings. Moreover, this study only adapted HedPERF dimensions to assess the service
quality of Malaysian universities; future research might consider other dimensions of service
quality that may affect student satisfaction. In addition, future studies can include cultural
background in understanding the perception of service quality and its effect on their
satisfaction and behaviors.
J. Bowden en L. Wood Sex doesn't matter: the role of gender in the formation of student-
university relationships in: Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 2011 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 44 Sex doesn’t matter: the role of gender in the formation of student-
university relationships Jana Bowden∗ and Leigh Wood Department of Marketing &
Management, Faculty of Business & Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
(Received 21 June 2011; Accepted 23 August 2011) As competition intensifies, higher
education providers are facing ever more complex challenges in attracting and retaining
students. These new marketing challenges have necessitated a need to more
comprehensively understand the factors that lead to positive perceptions of the institutions
services, as well as positive referral of the brand. This research focuses on students’
perceptions of the importance of satisfaction, trust, and commitment in the development of
student loyalty. In particular this research examines whether or not these antecedents differ
for male versus female students. A structural equation modelling approach was adopted
using a sample of 447 students. Despite literature which characterises males as task
oriented, and females as relationship oriented, gender did not influence the salience of the
antecedents to loyalty. These results show that first and foremost both gender groups seek
to form affective and emotional bonds with their institution and hence a sense of
psychological closeness to it. Student satisfaction was found to be the second most
important driver of loyalty across both genders. Conclusions, implications and opportunities
for future research are presented. From a managerial perspective, it is expected that
uncovering the importance of key relationship marketing constructs between genders will
enable higher education institutions to develop more targeted relationship marketing
programs. Keywords: gender; relationship marketing; student loyalty; higher education;
affective commitment; satisfaction Introduction Attracting and retaining students has
become increasingly important as competition intensifies and as institutions endeavour to
attract a greater share of both domestic and international students (Helgesen, 2008;
Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka, 2006). This challenge is compounded by a range of additional
factors including fluctuating, international economic conditions, an increasingly globalised
competitive environment, widespread provision of online qualifications, ISSN 0884-1241
print/ISSN 1540-7144 online # 2011 Taylor & Francis

∗Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Journal of Marketing For Higher

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2011.623731 http://www.tandfonline.com

Education Vol. 21, No. 2, July–December 2011, 133 –156 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at
11:32 07 November 2011 Reader tekst 3 45 and high student drop-out rates (Helgesen, 2008;
Mansfield & Warwick, 2006; Yang, Alessandri, & Kinsey, 2008). Many institutions are also
facing political and economic pressure to be more responsive to ‘real world’ needs through
the development of industry-ready graduates. Institutions are additionally faced with a
student population who view the need for a degree as a necessity rather than a privileged
choice resulting in a student base which can within their grade entrance limits, shop around
between institutions (Klassen, 2001). These new marketing challenges have necessitated a
need to more comprehensively understand the university selection processes driving choice
as well as the factors that lead to high levels of student satisfaction (Mansfield & Warwick,
2006). Retention is therefore becoming an increasingly important strategic theme for higher
education institutions given that it has a positive effect on financial performance and
subsequently allows institutions to achieve their organisational goals (Helgesen, 2008;
Reichheld, 1996). As a result of these challenges, there has been an increasing focus in the
last decade on the benefits of adopting a marketing orientation in the higher education
sector (Helgesen, 2008; Marsfield & Warwick, 2006; Thomas & Cunningham, 2009). A
marketing orientation can assist with both attraction and retention of students since an
understanding of students’ choice processes enables institutions to provide them with a high
quality tertiary experience (Thomas & Cunningham, 2009). In line with the marketing
orientation, a recently espoused view is to conceptualise the student as a customer of the
institution. This perspective sees the student and the institution as being in a dynamic and
mutual process of co-production and exchange of value (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). Under this
perspective, the very nature of the service is ‘people-based’ and the relationships that are
created between the institution and its customers are pivotal to both pedagogical and
business outcomes. Although there is a strong base of literature associated with relationship
marketing in the service sector, little is understood about the role of gender and how it
influences the development and maintenance of relationships (Ndubisi, 2006; Smith, 1998).
Drawing from the literature on information processing, Iacobucci and Ostrom (1993, p. 260)
suggest that men tend to exhibit agentic behavior in that they are characterised as
instrumental and task oriented. In addition, they have also been characterised as selecting
and using information in a confirmatory way in order to arrive at a decision outcome
(Iacobucci & Ostrom, 1993). Conversely, women are generally characterised as adopting a
communal and social relationship orientationise(Iacobucci & Ostrom, 1993). Given these
suggested differences, an examination of the role of gender should be of interest to higher
education institutions as it assists in uncovering the importance of key relationship marketing
constructs between genders. This will enable higher education institutions to develop more
targeted relationship marketing programs. Such research can therefore assist in the
development of communication appeals which can then be tailored to the needs of male and
female students (Mansfield & Warwick, 2006). 134 J. Bowden and L. Wood Downloaded by
[Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 46 The
purpose of this paper is to address these two important gaps in the literature. Firstly, this
paper will examine the relative importance of selected relationship marketing determinants
of loyalty including satisfaction, trust, and commitment within the sector (e.g., Al-Alak, 2006;
Helgesen, 2008; Shah, 2009). Secondly this paper will analyse gender differences with regard
to the determinants of student loyalty and recommendation. The context is a large university
in Australia. The research questions addressed in this paper include; how important is
student satisfaction, trust and utilitarian versus attachment commitment in determining
student recommendation and loyalty? Does the relative importance of these antecedents
differ for males versus females? In order to answer these interrelated questions a structural
equation modeling approach is employed. The paper is organised as follows. The next section
provides a brief discussion of relationship marketing, customer orientation and the
moderating role of gender. The hypotheses and the theory supporting these research gaps
are then reviewed. The research model is presented in Figure 1. The paper concludes with a
discussion of the theoretical and managerial findings from this study, after which a
conclusion is offered. Theoretical Framework Relationship marketing: a brief background The
marketization of higher education is a well established phenomenon (Baldwin & James,
2000; Helgesen, 2008; Thomas & Cunningham, 2009). It is not uncommon to see institutions
implementing corporate values from the for-profit sector and adapting these to fit their more
specific needs within the Figure 1. Effect of relational constructs on loyalty. Journal of
Marketing for Higher Education 135 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November
2011 Reader tekst 3 47 higher education sector. Most institutions recognise that there is a
need to market themselves in order to develop a clear positioning amongst competitors
(Hemsely-Brown & Oplatka, 2006). Developing a distinctive image of the institution and
emphasising aspects of institutional reputation is now commonplace. Furthermore, an
understanding of students’ expectations enables institutions to provide them with a high
quality educational experience. This perspective recognises that understanding client
perceptions and their level of satisfaction with the service is essential to retention and loyalty
(Thomas & Cunningham, 2009). Understanding the particular needs of the target market
enables institutions to deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction, recommendation and
loyalty. Relationship marketing broadly refers to all marketing activities which are directed
towards the establishment, development and maintenance of mutually beneficial relational
exchanges (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). In the higher education sector, relationship marketing is
defined as ‘the set of all marketing activities or actions that attract, motivate, and enhance
existing and potential students’ relationships as well as students’ parents, relatives, friends,
and reference groups ...emphasizing on retaining existing students until their graduation, and
attracting further students’ (Al-Alak, 2006, p. 4). The primary goal of relationship marketing is
to develop a base of customers which have formed strong relationships with the brand and
which are therefore deeply committed to that brand. Strong relationships result in customer
retention, positive referral, an increased propensity to repurchase, and most significantly,
customer loyalty (Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, & Gremler, 2002; Mattila 2006; Palmatier, Dant,
Grewal, & Evans, 2006; Reichheld, 2003). Customer retention is also a more cost effective
approach than continual customer acquisition (Anderson & Mittal, 2000; Reichheld, 1996).
Whilst considerable research exists with regard to relationship marketing as a broad strategic
option for firms to pursue, the relationship marketing paradigm as a method by which to
engage students in the higher education sector has only received limited attention (e.g.,
Helgesen, 2008; Litten, 1998; Ng & Forbes, 2009). This is despite calls for higher education
research to specifically investigate the role of relationship marketing in the establishment of
student loyalty (Helgesen, 2008; Clemes, Gan, & Kao, 2008). A relationship marketing
approach has however been found to be appropriate for the sector given its context as an
intangible service exchange, as well as the centrality of ‘people’, both students and staff in
the production of the service (Binsardi & Ekwulugo, 2003; Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka, 2006).
On this latter point Carvalho and de Oliveira Mota (2010) note that the ‘relational exchange’
is even more pronounced in the higher education sector when compared to the general
service sector. This is due to: (a) a fiduciary responsibility to do what is right for the student;
(b) the dual role of educator and mentor that faculty staff often assume; (c) the importance
of student involvement in co-creating the university experience through participation and;
(d) the fact that co-creation of the 136 J. Bowden and L. Wood Downloaded by [Jana
Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 48 experience itself
directly contributes to students perceptions of value (Carvalho & de Oliveira Mota, 2010).
Students in particular form a relationship with their educational institution since they
perform multiple roles (Yang & Grunig, 2005). The student-university relationship therefore
has the potential to lead to the development of a positive reputation in the educational
marketplace. Based on the nature and quality of the relational exchange between the
student and the institution and the students’ level of satisfaction, trust and commitment in
the university, students can be advocates and loyal constituents for the institution (Paswan &
Ganesh, 2009). On the flip side, they can also be detractors of the brand spreading negative
word of mouth recommendation to others. The purpose of this study is to address these
issues and to demonstrate how a relational marketing orientation can assist higher education
management. Applying relationship marketing: viewing the student as a customer The
adoption of mainstream marketing approaches is a contentious matter in the higher
education sector. Binsardi and Ekwulugo (2003) point out that all marketing activities should
be geared towards the customer. However defining the customer concept in the context of
higher education is an issue that has raised much debate and in many cases clear resistance.
Naidoo and Jamieson (2005) point out that the higher education system has shifted from
being an elitist one to a mass higher education system. The resulting consumerist
mechanisms are expected to place pressure on institutions to become more responsive to
market demands through for example: publishing detailed information on programs available
to facilitate student choice, publishing institutional rankings so students can evaluate
institutional performance and enabling the student voice through student satisfaction
surveys (Naidoo & Jamieson, 2005). However this perspective has been met with
considerable resistance. Barrett (1996, p. 70) suggests that ‘it is both regrettable and
ominous that the marketing focus...should be accepted and even welcomed.’ McCulloch
(2009, p. 173) contests that marketization in higher education acts to ‘lessen the autonomy
and authority of academic staff, with a corresponding increase in managerial control’ and
that a marketing concept ‘inappropriately compartmentalises the educational experience as
a product.’ At the extreme, Delucchi and Smith (1997) have gone as far as to say that this
approach leads to ‘coddled’ students who are required to do less work, and receive inflated
grades for their efforts. Delucchi and Smith (1997, p. 324) argue that ‘few institutions are
immune from this phenomenon although it is one of the dirty little secrets’ publically denied.
Such comments highlight concern over the adoption of a marketing paradigm within higher
education, and draw attention to the deep emotional reactions that these strategies elicit
from opponents within the sector. Despite this concern, in this paper we adopt the
perspective that marketing is not simply the creation of pseudo differences between
institutions through branding, imagery, copy lines and aggressive selling (Ng & Forbes, 2009).
Journal of Marketing for Higher Education 137 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07
November 2011 Reader tekst 3 49 Rather at the core of the marketing paradigm is the belief
that a two-way mutual exchange of value should be cooperatively achieved between the
student and the institution. Both customer objectives and pedagogical objectives can be
achieved simultaneously. The notion of the student as a customer has at the core of it, the
belief that students are direct participants of knowledge co-construction. Students extract
value from the educational experience through participatory meaning-making and
experiential learning (Yeo, 2009). In other words, the very nature of the service is ‘people’
based and the relationships that are created with customers are pivotal to both pedagogical
and marketing based outcomes for the institution. As suggested by Ng and Forbes (2009, p.
58) ‘good marketing and a student orientation do not need to be at the expense of higher
education. The two are allies, not adversaries. Marketing can help universities reach out and
genuinely develop insights into student needs and communicate their ideologies.’ Students
and institutions are subsequently active participants in service exchanges. The institutions
role is not therefore to statically deliver product information to passive student recipients.
Rather the role of the institution is to actively participate and dynamically interact with the
customer. Marketing is therefore the process of undertaking activities in participation with
the customer to create, foster and maintain relationships in the pursuit of mutual value
(Vargo & Lusch, 2004). An understanding of the relational determinants of student loyalty
can assist with this process. Understanding gender differences in relationship formation
Although a relationship marketing approach is considered applicable in the higher education
sector, little is understood about the role of gender and the way this moderates perceptions
of satisfaction, trust and commitment in the development of student loyalty (Ndubisi, 2006).
Understanding the role of gender in shaping the effectiveness of relationship marketing
efforts is however important for informing higher education marketing strategy. Research
suggests that gender may play an important role in the development and maintenance of
consumption relationships (Smith, 1998). Two research streams provide a theoretical basis
for the differences in consumption relationships between men and women. The perspective
suggests that women have an innate relational orientation that predisposes them to develop
different traits, characteristics and values when compared to men (Smith, 1998). The
sociological perspective suggests that women are in addition, socialised into different gender
roles to men, thus increasing their tendencies towards a relationship orientation. As a result
of these and sociological drivers of behavior, women are believed to be more concerned with
relationships, have a more sensitive relational orientation, and engage in more communally
based activities than men (Iacobucci & Ostrom, 1993). Empirical support for gender
differences in consumption decision making have been found in a range of service sectors
including finance (Powell & 138 J. Bowden and L. Wood Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at
11:32 07 November 2011 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 50 Ansic, 1997), retail (Fischer
& Arnold, 1990), sales (Palmer & Bejou, 1995). Women and men have been found to differ in
their consumer behavior with regard to the products they consume, and to their responses
to advertising stimuli and product positioning. This has led marketers to attempt to target
these two segments differently (Mansfield & Warwick, 2005). Women for example have been
found to value relationships more over time and emphasise relational quality in exchanges
(Iacobucci & Ostrom, 1993), have stronger interpersonal and brand relationships than men
(Fournier, 1998), and display stronger patronage behaviors. In terms of information
processing, women engage in effortful, comprehensive, itemised analysis of product
attributes and features. Mansfield and Warwick (2006) suggest that this may be in part due
to the purposive consumer training that women receive from family when growing up.
Women are also characterised as having an affective concern for the welfare of others
(Arnold & Bianchi, 2001). In terms of higher education institutional selection processes
women have been found to place more emphasis on parents, friends and family as a source
of information and recommendation than men (Kolhede, 2001; Shank & Beasley, 1998).
Additionally, Kolhede (2001) suggests that women viewed advice from industry experts in
their field of work choice as being more important than men. For women, there thus appears
to be a strong socially driven theme to consumer choice when selecting and patronizing a
higher education institution. Specific attributes that appear to determine selection choice for
women include: location (Hayes, Walker, & Trebbi, 1995), physical factors, safety and security
(Mansfield & Warwick, 2006), academic excellence, diversity and favorable student-teacher
ratios (Shank & Beasley, 1998). In contrast men are described as having a much more agentic,
instrumental goal and task oriented approach to relationships (Iacobucci & Ostrom, 1993).
Arnold and Bianchi (2001) and Mansfield and Warwick (2006) describe men as being typically
defined by separation, independence, self focus and assertiveness. This is expressed in their
information decision making patterns to the extent that they tend to process information
heuristically, and display a preference for factual and straight product information. In a
higher education context, institutional selection tends to be driven more so by factors such
as the quality of the faculty, and the availability of extracurricular activities and quality of
social life (Broekemier & Seshadri, 1999). It is important to note that gender differences are
not ubiquitous and may be mitigated by other factors (Smith, 1998). Gilligan (1982) suggests
that general discussions about the differences between sexes are subject to within group
variances and that whilst useful, interpretations should not stereotype either sex. However if
an association can be demonstrated between gender and the effectiveness of relationship
marketing approaches, then research is required to explore how this association operates to
influence relationship marketing outcomes. It may be the case that when making evaluative
judgments of the service encounter in a higher education context, men and women may
focus Journal of Marketing for Higher Education 139 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32
07 November 2011 Reader tekst 3 51 on different intangible aspects of the service
encounter. That is the level of satisfaction, trust and commitment perceived in the service
exchange, and the importance of these antecedents in determining loyalty may be
moderated by gender. The question is: does gender influence the salience of these
antecedents to loyalty and if so, what are the implications for higher education
management? This is an important issue given the strategic role of relationship marketing
and management in the attraction and retention of students in the highly competitive and
globalised higher education sector. Conceptual model and hypotheses Student loyalty
Student loyalty has received increasing attention in the higher education marketing and
management literature (e.g., Arnett, German, & Hunt 2003; Carvalho & de Oliveira Mota,
2010; Hennig-Thurau, Langer, & Hansen, 2001). High levels of student loyalty have been
found to lead to positive word of mouth recommendation as well as repeat purchase
through continuing education (Mavondo, Tsarenko, & Gabbott, 2004). In the service sector
more generally, loyalty has also been found to lead to increased brand equity, reduced
marketing costs, increased market share, and enhanced consumer resistance to competitor
strategies (eg., Bowen & Chen, 2001; Rundle-Thiele, 2005). Higher education researchers
have identified a number of important determinants of student loyalty including:
institutional reputation (Helgesen, 2008; Helgesen & Nesset, 2007), service quality and
image (Hemsley-Brown & Oplatka, 2004; LeBlanc & Nguyen, 2001). Studies have also found
that student participation and co-production of the educational experience (Yeo, 2009),
perceived satisfaction (Athiyaman, 1997), trust in the institution (Carvalho & de Oliveira
Mota, 2010) and commitment strongly determine student loyalty. In order to analyse loyalty,
we first define it as a ‘deeply held commitment to re-buy or to re-patronise a preferred
product/service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same-
brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the
potential to cause switching behaviour’ (Oliver, 1999 p. 34). This deterministic approach to
loyalty emphasises the role of psychological mediating variables such as dispositional
commitment, satisfaction and trust as antecedent to the development of loyalty. Defining
loyalty as the outcome of a psychological choice process provides higher management with
the opportunity to isolate and manipulate psychological variables of interest in order to
explore the drivers of loyalty (Odin, Odin, & Valette-Florence, 2001). Student satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is defined as the extent to which a customer experienced a pleasurable
level of consumption related fulfillment (Oliver, 1997; Verhoef, 140 J. Bowden and L. Wood
Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 52 Franses, & Hoekstra, 2002). Satisfaction suggests that the service
provided consistently meets customers’ expectations. The concept has been perceived as
involving an emotional and cognitive evaluation, and is typically assessed at a global
evaluative level (Storbacka, Strandvik, & Gronroos, 1994). In the higher education sector, the
definition of satisfaction has been adapted to suit the context. Elliott and Healy (2001) for
example define it as a short-term attitude which arises from the students’ evaluation of the
educational experience. Elliott and Shin (2002) define it as the subjective outcome of the
various outcomes and experiences at the institution. Student satisfaction has been found to
positively influence student loyalty through positive recommendation (e.g., Al-Alak, 2006;
Athiyaman, 1997; Marzo-Navarro, Pedraja, & Rivera, 2005; Mavondo et al., 2004), increased
revenue and reduced costs for educational institutions (Shah, 2009), and continued
education (Helgesen & Nesset, 2007). Consequently satisfaction may be assumed to
positively affect student loyalty. We propose that: H1: Student satisfaction is directly and
positively related to student loyalty. Student trust Trust is traditionally defined as the level of
confidence in an exchange partners reliability and integrity and is demonstrated through
relational qualities such as consistency, competency, honesty, and benevolence (Morgan &
Hunt, 1994). The development of trust between exchange partners is considered particularly
important in the service sector (Verhoef et al., 2002), and for services which are highly
experiential and difficult to evaluate (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2002). Morgan and Hunt (1994)
conceptualise trust as the cornerstone of exchange relationships. Carvalho and de Oliveira
Mota (2010) note that the higher education sector is particularly appropriate for
investigating the role of trust in creating loyalty since it is a high involvement context and
involves an extended service encounter. Despite this, they suggest that research on higher
education has yet to include student trust as a direct antecedent of student loyalty. One of
the few studies investigating the role of trust in the sector found that the establishment of a
trusting exchange relationship is essential in the sector in order to reduce the high levels of
perceived risk that students experience in their exchanges with the institutions (e.g.,
Carvalho & de Oliveira Mota, 2010; Sirdeshmukh, Singh, & Sabol 2002). They suggested that
if students trusted the institution then the students would be confident in the service
provider, and therefore develop a sense of loyalty towards it. Students were therefore
considered no different from consumers of other service settings in that strengthening the
level of trust between the student and the institution positively impacted their willingness to
recommend the institution and return to it in the future. We propose that: Journal of
Marketing for Higher Education 141 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November
2011 Reader tekst 3 53 H2: Student trust is directly and positively related to student loyalty.
Student commitment Commitment is defined as a customers’ enduring desire to maintain a
valued relationship (e.g., Morgan & Hunt, 1994) and it reflects the degree to which a service
provider is the most acceptable choice within the service category (Liljander & Roos, 2002;
Amine, 1998). A customers’ dispositional commitment is indicative of an assessment of the
perceived value of a loyal relationship (Fullerton, 2005; Evanschitzky, Iyer, Plassmann,
Niessing, & Meffert, 2006). From the firms’ perspective, mutual commitment between the
organisation and the customer focuses managements’ efforts on the development of
longterm exchange relationships (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Commitment has been classified
into two specific types: calculative and affective commitment (e.g., Amine, 1998; Fullerton,
2003). Calculative commitment occurs where the customer faces significant switching costs,
relational dependency, and a lack of choice (Fullerton, 2003). Affective commitment is
defined as an emotional attachment that a customer develops towards a service provider
which expresses their psychological closeness to that provider (Garbarino & Johnson, 1999).
It indicates a desire to remain with an exchange partner because of a sense of identification,
belongingness, liking, involvement and trust (Bendapudi & Berry, 1997; Pritchard, Havitz, &
D. Howard, 1999). In the higher education sector student commitment to the institution is
presented as one of the key drivers of degree completion (Tinto, 1993). Preexisting attitudes
towards the institution (Athiyaman, 1997; Hennig-Thurau et al. 2001), social inclusion, as
well as belief in the institutional brand are important for student retention. DeShields, Kara
and Kaynak (2005) found that treating students as partners to the institution was essential in
instilling a sense of mutual relationship-based commitment. In addition the value of the
educational experience perceived by the student has been found to be directly related to the
students willingness to recommend the institution to others (Carvalho & de Oliveira Mota,
2010). The quality of the relational exchange is subsequently central to the development of
student loyalty (Helgesen & Nesset, 2007). We propose that: H3: Student affective
commitment is directly and positively related to student loyalty. H4: Student calculative
commitment is directly and positively related to student loyalty. The moderating role of
gender As previously discussed, research suggests that gender may play an important role in
the development and maintenance of consumption relationships (Smith, 1998). Despite this,
only limited attention has been given to the nature of the 142 J. Bowden and L. Wood
Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 54 relational bonds that men and women develop towards their service
provider. Iacobucci and Ostrom (1993) suggest that the social exchange between the service
provider and the customer is an essential, value creating element of the service encounter.
Whilst the core service provided by higher education institutions is education itself, the
relationship component such as satisfaction, trust, and commitment, which is created and
maintained by the interactions students have with the institution, are important to the
satisfactory provision of the educational experience. Given the highly interpersonal nature of
the higher education experience at both an administrative and an academic level, the
relationship between student and institution may significantly impact upon not only the
students’ willingness to recommend the institution to others, but also their intentions to
undertake further study at the institution. Several studies have found differences in the
evaluative processes of men and women in the service sector. Iacobucci and Ostrom (1993)
found that from a relationship marketing perspective women perceive their relationship with
the service provider as increasing in importance over time; seek relational aspects over core
service aspects, and establish higher baseline expectations of relational performance when
compared to men. Similarly Ndubisi (2006) found that women place a higher emphasis on
developing trustworthy relationships with the service providers that they patronise and show
an increased level of loyalty towards providers that are perceived as trustworthy. Women are
therefore viewed as emphasising the importance of interpersonal affiliation in their
consumption relationships (Mansfield & Warwick, 2006). Research within the higher
education context supports this view (e.g., Hayes, Walker, & Trebbi 1995; Kolhede, 2001;
Shank & Beasley, 1998). Given that women have been found to be more oriented towards
the relational aspects of consumption and evaluation, women might be expected to place a
greater emphasis on the relational constructs of satisfaction, trust and commitment in their
relationships when compared to men (Smith, 1993). It is therefore expected that gender will
act as a moderator on the relationships in the research model. Research is required to
investigate whether the salience of key relational determinants such as satisfaction, trust,
and commitment differs by gender within the higher education sector. This study therefore
contributes to a deeper understanding of relationship formation and maintenance in the
higher education sector. Research design A self-administered, cross sectional survey was
given to first year students undertaking a first year unit at one metropolitan Australian
university. These students were enrolled in a variety of degree specializations including for
example, commerce, accounting, law, arts, linguistics, media, language, psychology, and
science. The survey was voluntary and was administered during Journal of Marketing for
Higher Education 143 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Reader
tekst 3 55 class. The survey was anonymous, and a student representative was asked to
collect completed questionnaires to maintain student anonymity and to ensure that students
did not feel compelled to undertake the survey. A total of 447 participants agreed to
participate in our study representing a response rate of 81%. This sample was sufficient to
achieve a high level of statistical power (McQuitty, 2004). The total sample was split into two
separate groups based on the students’ gender in order to investigate the effect of gender on
the relational constructs. Cohort 1 which had a total of 228 respondents represented
females. Cohort 2 which had a total of 219 respondents represented males. Measures All
measures were taken from the existing literature. Satisfaction is summarised in this study as
the extent to which customers experienced a pleasurable level of consumption based
fulfillment (Oliver, 1997). Satisfaction was measured with the scales provided by Dagger,
Danaher and Gibbs (2009). These scales were designed to capture the extent to which
customers’ expectations were either confirmed, or positively or negative disconfirmed.
Calculative and affective commitment was measured using Verhoef, Franses and Hoekstra
(2002) scales. Calculative commitment was defined in this study as a psychological
commitment which arises from a sense of inertia leading the customer to remain with the
current service provider (Fullerton, 2003). Alternatively, affective commitment was defined
as a psychological commitment based on a customer’s sense of identification with and
belongingness towards a service provider (Verhoef et al., 2002). The affective commitment
items were designed to capture the customer’s emotional feelings of attachment and were
measured using Verhoef et al.’s(2002) scales. Trust was summarised as confidence in the
service provider’s reliability and integrity (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). The scales to measure trust
were taken from Verhoef et al.(2002). Finally, customer loyalty which was defined as a deeply
held commitment to repatronise (Oliver, 1999) was measured using the scales of Zeithaml,
Berry and Parasuraman (1996) as well as Plank and Newell (2007). The actual scales can be
found in Appendix 1. All measures were first subjected to exploratory factor analysis.
Cronbach’s alpha was examined (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2006) as was
average variance extracted. These criterion were found to be strong. Fornell and Larcker’s
(1981) stringent tests were used to establish the discriminant validity of the measures and all
construct pairs passed these tests (see Appendix 2). Multicollinearity was not considered to
be a problem as the tolerance values were lower than the recommended 10% cut-off. Data
analysis followed the two step procedure recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988)
including estimation of the measurement model followed by estimation of the structural
model. The measurement model indicated good fit and all items retained served as strong
measures for their respective constructs (x 2 ¼ 47.4, df ¼25, GFI ¼ 0.98, CFI ¼ 0.99, IFI ¼
0.99, RMSEA ¼ 0.04). 144 J. Bowden and L. Wood Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07
November 2011 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 56 Results Goodness of fit statistics
indicated that the structural model fitted the data adequately (GFI ¼ 0.98, CFI ¼ 0.99, IFI¼
0.99. RMSEA ¼ 0.04, n¼ 474). The proposed model explained 84% of the variance in the
customer loyalty construct. Support was found for hypothesis 1 and 3. That is, satisfaction
had a large and significant effect on loyalty, as did affective commitment. Support for
hypothesis 2 and 4 however was not found indicating that in this study, trust and calculative
commitment did not predict student loyalty. The results are summarised in Table 1. To test
the invariance across customer cohorts, a multigroup analysis of structural invariance was
conducted (Byrne, 2004). An unconstrained baseline model was established which had an x 2
(df) of 86.464(50), and a CFI, IFI GFI and RMSEA of 0.99, 0.99, 0.96 and 0.04, respectively.
Measurement invariance was then determined by fixing all item-factor loadings to be equal
across cohorts resulting in an x 2 (df) of 92.003(55). When compared with the unconstrained
model, the item-factor loadings were determined equivalent across cohorts (Dx 2 ¼ 5.54(5)).
Having satisfied the conditions necessary at the measurement level structural invariance
tests were undertaken (Byrne, 2004). The results of this analysis are shown in Table 2. The
analysis indicated that although both satisfaction with the services provided, and affective
commitment were positive and significant drivers of loyalty for both genders, the effect of
these two relational aspects on customer loyalty were consistent across cohorts. These
findings suggest that in the context of this study, gender does not affect the way in which
students evaluate their higher education service experiences. Discussion and implications
Understanding the way in which student-university relationships are developed is important
given that the nature of the interactions between students and their Table 1. Standardised
path estimates for research model. Relationship b CR H1 Satisfaction Loyalty 0.401 4.372 H2
Trust Loyalty 0.013 0.197 H3 Affective Commitment Loyalty 0.552 6.364 H4 Calculative
Commitment Loyalty -0.117 -2.756 Model Fit n ¼ 447: Chi-square (d.f.) 47.400 (25) CFI 0.99
IFI 0.99 GFI 0.98 RMSEA 0.04 Journal of Marketing for Higher Education 145 Downloaded by
[Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Reader tekst 3 57 institutions directly influences
the institutions reputation in the educational marketplace (Yang, Alessandri, & Kinsey, 2008).
The relational exchange between the two parties, as well as the level of students’
satisfaction, trust and commitment in the institution, can result in positive recommendation
of the institution, and attitudinal and behavioural loyalty towards it (Paswan & Ganesh,
2009). The model presented in this paper provides an exploration of the role of satisfaction,
trust and commitment in the development of loyalty and secondly investigates the
moderating effect of gender on the formation of student-university relationships. Satisfaction
is most frequently conceptualised and assessed according to the extent to which customers’
expectations are either confirmed, exceeded or disconfirmed (Oliver, 1999). In the higher
education context, Elliott and Healy (2001) define student satisfaction as a short term,
subjective attitude which arises from the students’ evaluation of the total educational
experience. In this study, student satisfaction was found to have a positive and significant
effect on student loyalty. This is in line with previous findings within the higher education
sector. For example, Al-Alak (2007) and Helgesen and Nesset (2007) found that student
satisfaction strongly predicts students intentions to continue their relationship with the
institution and positively recommend the institution. Student satisfaction has also been
associated with the development of a positive image of the college as well as a positive
image of the qualification program. Based on the findings of this study, it would be beneficial
for higher education management to monitor and measure student Table 2. Structural
invariance analysis of constructs across cohorts. Constraint Weight C1 (Female) C2 (Male)
Chi-square (d.f.) D Chi-square (d.f.) 1. Fully unconstrained model 86.46 (50) 2. Factor loadings
92.003 (55) 5.54 (5) Factor loadings and equal coefficients for: 3. Satisfaction �Loyalty
0.326∗ 0.495∗ 92.541 (56) 0.539 (1) 4. Trust � Loyalty 0.02 0.02- 92.279 (56) 0.279 (1) 5.
Affective Commitment � Loyalty 0.625∗ 0.495∗ 92.945 (56) 0.942 (1) 6. Calculative
Commitment � Loyalty 20.144∗ 20.110∗ 92.182 (56) 0.179 (1) Model Fit: Chi-square (d.f.)

Males; ∗p , 0.05 146 J. Bowden and L. Wood Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07
86.464 (50) CFI 0.99 IFI 0.99 GFI 0.96 RMSEA 0.04 Note: (a) c1 n ¼ 219, Females; c2 n ¼ 228

November 2011 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 58 satisfaction on an ongoing basis. This

would ensure that students’ expectations regarding the educational experience continue to
be met. Given that satisfaction judgments are expectation based, it would also be beneficial
for management to assess students’ expectations before they enter the higher education
system. It is conceivable that students’ expectations change markedly as students progress
through their qualifications and as they become more experienced with the service provider
(Mavondo et al., 2004). For example, students graduating from school and entering the
higher education system may have a very different set of expectations when compared to
pre-existing first, second or third year higher education students. Measuring and monitoring
institutional student satisfaction across enrolment cohorts and by gender, would assist in the
management of the value that students perceive in the educational process. Interestingly, a
key finding of this research was that affective commitment was found to be the strongest
predictor of student loyalty. The effect of affective commitment on loyalty was even greater
than that of satisfaction. Affective commitment was described in this study as the desire of a
student to remain with the institution premised on the development of a psychological
closeness with the institution based on free will and choice (e.g., Bendapudi & Berry, 1997;
Pritchard et al., 1999). The finding that affective commitment strongly drove loyalty supports
research in the higher education sector which has found that the development of mutual
relationship-based commitment strongly and positively influences student evaluations of the
institution (DeShields, Kara, & Kaynak 2005), and that students actively seek to socially
engage with the institution. Matilla (2004) found that affective commitment provides a form
of ‘loyalty based stickiness’ which encourages customers to remain with a service provider
despite once-off or intermittent service failures. The development of affective commitment
in the student-institution relationship is important given that the educational service is an
extended experience in which students remain a customer of the institution for a number of
years. Given the length of the service encounter within the sector, as well as the number of
constituents with which the student interacts with throughout their degree, it is highly likely
that students will experience some form of institutional service failure during their
qualification period. A sense of rapport and belongingness with the organisation may
therefore militate against the negative impact of a service failure, and act to maintain the
students’ positive evaluations of the institution. The findings of this study therefore suggest
that higher education institutions would do well to invest in service development programs
which target the development of affective bonds between the student and the institution.
These programs could be centred on the role of interpersonal bonds such as familiarity, care,
friendship, and trust in the development of strong and enduring student-institution
relationships (Gremler & Gwinner 2000). These bonds could be developed across all touch-
points within the institution including the academic, administrative and marketing
communication functions. Institutions may for example develop Journal of Marketing for
Higher Education 147 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Reader
tekst 3 59 communication programs including mass communications that focus on fostering a
sense of belongingness for students. Institutions could for example place an emphasis on
messages which promote in students, a sense of inclusiveness, socialisation, and care. At the
tactical and operational level the institution may provide students with activities like
formalised study groups based on specific disciplines, official discipline and industry based
societies, and peer mentor advisors. This will help to ensure that students receive a
consistent, unified relational experience when they interact with the institution. Two findings
were surprising in this study. Firstly, trust was found to have a non-significant effect on
loyalty. Secondly, calculative commitment was found to be negatively related to student
loyalty. Previous studies in the service sector have found trust to be strongly and positively
related to loyalty (e.g., Berry, 1995). In the higher education sector, trusting exchange
relationships have been found to be no less important that in the broader service sector
(e.g., Carvalho & de Oliveira Mota, 2010; Sirdeshmukh, Singh, & Sabol 2002). However the
findings of this study are contrary to this. One speculative reason for this is that service
providers in in the current research context are strongly regulated by the government. They
are publically funded institutions that are subject to Government approval to operate, and
must therefore meet the minimum requirements under Commonwealth law. By its very
nature, Government regulation is likely to increase perceptions of trustworthiness as the
public is likely to associate permission to operate as a tertiary provider with credibility. In
addition, institutions are monitored by industry and professional associations in order to
ensure that a high standard of staff, research and pedagogy services are maintained at an
international level. Higher education institutions may subsequently by default be perceived
by the students as trustworthy, honest and as having the students’ best interests at heart. In
highly regulated tertiary environments, student loyalty may therefore be driven by other
more salient determinants such as student satisfaction and a sense of belongingness, as was
the case in the present study. Calculative commitment has typically been found to be
positively associated with loyalty (e.g., Evanschitzky et al., 2006). Interestingly, calculative
commitment was negatively related to student loyalty in this study. An explanation may be
that students do not perceive themselves to be in a service relationship which is governed by
switching costs and inertia. They may instead view themselves as being in a relationship
which is governed more by free will and choice despite the fact that they have enrolled in
long undergraduate degree qualifications. In the context of this study, students are able to
switch between higher education providers after several semesters of study provided that
minimum grade point average requirements are achieved. Students may therefore perceive
their educational programs as offering a reasonable degree of flexibility. A further
explanation may be that unlike other service categories where calculative commitment does
positively influence loyalty, the measurement of calculative commitment may not be
appropriate for the higher education context. 148 J. Bowden and L. Wood Downloaded by
[Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Open Universiteit Relatiemarketing 60 Again,
students may for example not be basing their attitudes and behaviours on perceived
switching costs. Student loyalty may instead be determined by other less cognitive and more
emotional aspects of their relationship with the institution as this study has demonstrated. A
compelling finding of this study was that gender did not influence the salience of the
determinants of loyalty. This suggests that in the study context, students had very similar
needs with regard to the nature of the relationship that they formed with the higher
education service provider. Interestingly, this is in direct contrast to previous research on
gender differences in the service sector which have found for example that women rate
social exchange and the development of trustworthy relationships with service providers
more highly than men (Iacobucci & Ostrom, 1993; Ndubisi, 2006). It is also in contrast to
prior research within the higher education sector which has found differences in the
evaluative processes of men and women (e.g., Hayes, Walker, & Trebbi 1995; Kolhede, 2001;
Mansfield & Warwick, 2006; Shank & Beasley, 1998). It follows that understanding the
evaluative processes of both male and female students is an important issue given the
strategic role of relationship marketing and management in the attraction and retention of
students within the sector. The findings of this study suggest that when evaluating the nature
of the student-university relationship in a higher education context, male and female
students focus on the same relational determinants of loyalty. Both gender groups are
seeking to form affective bonds with their institution and hence a sense of psychological
closeness to it. This finding is noteworthy since prior research tends to describe men as
independent in nature and agentic in their decision making with a preference for functional
and factual interactions (Mansfield & Warwick, 2006). However, in this study male students
did seek to form emotional bonds with the institution. As with female students, male
students also display a need to associate with the institutional identity, and feel like they are
a part of it. Male students therefore seek to form close attachments to the institution, just as
much as the stereotypically ‘social’ female student does. Consequently whilst the central
aspect of the higher education service is the provision and exchange of knowledge, the social
exchange that occurs between the student and the higher education provider is an essential
value creating mechanism for both male and female students alike. Meeting and potentially
exceeding students’ expectations was the second most important determinant of loyalty for
both genders. This is perhaps not unexpected given that if a student is not satisfied, a deeply
committed, emotionally bonded relationship cannot occur. Surprisingly trust and calculative
commitment were not found to influence either male or female students’ intentions to
recommend the institution to others or to return to the institution. The finding regarding
trust is interesting since previous studies in the service sector as well as the higher education
sector found that females place great importance on trustworthy sources of information
(e.g., Kolhede 2001; Shank Journal of Marketing for Higher Education 149 Downloaded by
[Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Reader tekst 3 61 & Beasley, 1998) and display a
more sensitive relational orientation than their male counterparts (Iacobucci & Ostrom,
1993; Smith, 1998). In the current study context, irrespective of gender, trust did not
influence students’ loyalty behaviors. On the other hand the findings with regard to
calculative commitment demonstrate that perceived switching costs and inertia are not a key
consideration in either male or female students’ decisions to patronise their institution of
choice. Given the highly interpersonal nature of the higher education experience, the
relationship between student and institution may significantly impact upon not only the
students’ willingness to recommend the institution to others, but also their intentions to
undertake further study at the institution. This study has provided an examination of the role
of satisfaction, commitment and trust in the development of student loyalty. It suggests that
management should be cautious when segmenting their student population based on
gender. Relationship marketing initiatives should not be tailored to male and female cohorts
as both groups display similar relationship needs. Conclusion Adopting a relationship
marketing orientation within the higher education sector, may provide one method by which
institutions can create a sustainable competitive advantage. Viewing students as customers
of the institutions’ offerings may also be beneficial as it may encourage institutions to view
students as active co-producers of value in the service exchange. Interestingly, this study
found that there were no differences in the way in which male and female students
evaluated their service experience. This was despite research which suggests that females
are more likely to form relational bonds with the service providers that they patronise. In
fact, both male and female students exhibited a tendency to place a greater emphasis on the
establishment and maintenance of affective, psychological bonds which are associated with a
sense of belongingness to the institution. This finding is interesting as it suggests that in this
service setting, men are looking to form attachment bonds with their institutions irrespective
of their tendencies towards being agentic, task and outcome focused in their decision
making and consumption evaluation processes. In addition, both male and female students
placed equal emphasis on satisfaction with the service provider’s performance. Within the
context of higher education services, male and female students are equally likely to value
affective, and satisfaction based bonds with their institution. Some prior research has
suggested that marketing efforts should be tailored to the student population based on
gender. This study suggests that in a relationship marketing context, this is not the case.
Rather, institutions should use the same relationship-building mechanisms to develop and
maintain the studentuniversity relationship for both female and male students. It also points
out that in particular, institutions should be cognizant of the importance of 150 J. Bowden
and L. Wood Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Open Universiteit
Relatiemarketing 62 developing a strong psychological attachment and emotional bond
between the student and the institution in the development of enduring loyalty. Limitations
and future research The results of this study need to be interpreted in light of several
limitations. This study employed a cross sectional convenience sample of first year university
students at one institution. The sample respondents were therefore responding to all survey
items with reference to their own single institution, its particular ethos, and its services. The
findings are therefore not generalizable to other institutions. Future longitudinal research
should therefore investigate whether the results from this study generalise to other
institutions. Future longitudinal research could also investigate the extent to which the
student-university relationship changes over time as students’ progress through their degree.
This would provide insights into the evolution of student-university relationships, and the
potentially dynamic nature of student needs and expectations throughout their programs.
Future research should therefore consider exploring behavioral loyalty, in other words, actual
student retention throughout the duration of the qualification as opposed to the
measurement of attitudinal loyalty only. Replication should also be extended to other
university contexts, and in particular other cross-cultural contexts, in order to further
increase confidence in the research model and enhance a broader understanding of the
loyalty-formation process. Secondly, this study adopted a global, evaluative approach to
ascertaining the nature of the student-institution relationship. Future studies should explore
whether gender difference exist at the attribute level of the relationship. Thirdly, at the
methodological level, it should be acknowledged that the scales used to measure affective
commitment were designed to try to capture students’ desire to remain with the institution
because of their feelings of attachment, identification and loyalty towards it (Verhoef et al.,
2002). The specific item concerning ‘loyalty’ was retained as a measure of affective
commitment for the purposes of this investigation on the basis of prior theory which has put
forward this item as an acceptable component of the affective commitment construct (e.g.,
Garbarino & Johnson, 1999; Verhoef et al., 2002). It is noted however, that this item could be
interchangeable with the student loyalty construct since it pertains to a global evaluation of
the students’ perceptions of their attitudes and behaviours as they relate to the institution.
Future studies should further explore the conceptualization of affective commitment within
the higher education sector. The item pertaining to a willingness to maintain a relationship
with the institution was taken from Plank and Newell (2007) and was designed to capture
relationship loyalty. Plank and Newell suggest that relationship loyalty taps in to the
customer’s perceptions of whether or not they will continue to use, and remain committed
to the service provider. As with the items used to Journal of Marketing for Higher Education
151 Downloaded by [Jana Bowden] at 11:32 07 November 2011 Reader tekst 3 63 measure
affective commitment, the wording of this specific item should be explored in future studies.
For example, an intention to take some future action appears to be a stronger expression
than to merely be willing to take some future action as expressed in the original scales.
Future studies could also compare both of the scales in order to explore the extent to which
students’ ratings differ on each. These limitations and future research directions aside our
study makes an important contribution to understanding how satisfaction, commitment and
trust influence loyalty for higher education students and thus how university management
can more effectively engage its student base.