Assessing the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and loyalty: the Vietnamese higher education experience
Quality Assurance in Education
ISSN: 0968-4883
Article publication date: 16 September 2022
Issue publication date: 28 February 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Service quality has been widely recognized as the core value of any higher education institution (HEIs), especially in the context of higher education reform in Vietnam. The paper aims to assess the student’s perceived service quality using SERVPERF scale and to find the relations between perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty in one public university in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
The self-structured questionnaire using SERVPERF scale was administered to 350 students currently attending full-time courses at the university. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to certify the elementary factors. The regression models were applied to determine the relationship between service quality, student satisfaction and student loyalty.
Findings
The findings revealed the significant relationships between student perceived service quality with satisfaction and loyalty. However, this relationship is mediated by student satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to public university education service and examined the perspective of student as “primary customer”; therefore, generalizing the results to other service industries and other role of student as stakeholder or citizen should be used with caution.
Practical implications
The SERVPERF scale could be delivered regularly to get the student’s perception on the HEIs performance. The results should be taken for purpose of continuing quality improvement to enhance the satisfaction and loyalty, particularly in the context of highly competitive environment and university autonomous in Vietnam.
Originality/value
This is believed to be the first study in Vietnam with sufficient evidence to support the concept that service quality positively related to students’ satisfaction and loyalty and satisfaction as mediating factor.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the students from HUPH for their contribution to the data collection stage. The authors would like to thank the Hanoi University of Public Health for supporting the study.
Authors’ contribution: BTTH and BTTQ designed and conceptualized the paper. BTTQ analyzed the data. All authors interpreted the results and prepared and reviewed the manuscript. All authors contributed to the critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual contents read and approved the final manuscript.
Disclosure statement: None of the authors has any competing interest.
Conflict of interest and funding: The authors have not received any funding or benefits from the industry or elsewhere to write this paper. The Hanoi University of Public Health supported data collection.
Ethical consideration: Students were provided written informed consent forms and were required to complete self-administered questionnaire forms.
The protocol was approved by the Hanoi University of Public Health research review board (Decision No. 404/2018/YTCC-HD3). Written informed consent forms were obtained from all participants. The student’s personal information would be kept confidential.
Citation
Bui, H.T.T., Bui, Q.T.T., Nguyen, T.T.P., Cao, Q.H., Phung, T.V. and Nguyen, H.T. (2023), "Assessing the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and loyalty: the Vietnamese higher education experience", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 197-214. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-01-2022-0015
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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