Search results

This paper aims to identify and test four competing models with the interrelationships between students’ perceived service quality, students’ satisfaction, loyalty and motivation using structural equation modeling (SEM), and to select the best model using chi-square difference (Δχ2) statistic test.

The study uses survey research design to gather data regarding attitudes of students about quality of services and their level of satisfaction, motivation and loyalty. A total of 1,439 valid questionnaires were collected from four public universities in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, and the relationships between four variables using SEM are tested.

The structural model with direct and indirect relationships between the constructs proves as a best among the competing models. The result supported direct effect of students’ perceived service quality on students’ satisfaction and motivation; and indirect effect on students’ loyalty. Implications and research contributions are discussed and directions for further research are indicated.

The study considers the examinations of the simple bivariate relationships between service quality, satisfaction, motivation and loyalty may mask or overstate their true relationships due to omitted variable bias. Structural theory with simultaneous measurement of the direct and indirect relationships between students’ perceived service quality, satisfaction, motivation and loyalty adds a unique contribution to the existing field of knowledge, especially higher education sector.

The results of SEM show that the service quality is a key antecedent to students’ satisfaction, loyalty and motivation. Motivating students for present and future studies with better participation in the process is important to increase quality and efficiency in their output. The best services also make students loyal to the institution. The findings suggested that it would be worthwhile for university’s administration to make proper allocation of resources, to provide better educational services. It is believed that this study has a significant competence for engendering more precise applications related to quality of services, especially concerning students’ satisfaction, loyalty and motivation.

The research provides significant insights and demonstrates good understanding of students’ perceived service quality in the context of Indian universities. The changing nature and need of higher education services and increase in competitive intensity necessitates higher performance levels in the realm of Indian higher education (universities). The study identified that students’ perceived service quality is a key antecedent to students’ satisfaction, motivation and loyalty, which conveys that service quality is an important construct.

Several points are addressed based on the models identified in the study. First, there is sufficient evidence of a significant bivariate relationship between service quality, satisfaction, loyalty and motivation. Second, although service quality is an important determinant of loyalty, the exact nature of this relationship remains unresolved. Third, it is evident that very few studies have investigated multiple direct links between service quality, satisfaction, motivation and loyalty. Further, there is no reported investigation of whether any or all of these variables directly and indirectly influence loyalty when the effects of service quality, satisfaction, motivation are simultaneously considered in Indian higher education sector. Therefore, to present a more pragmatic picture of these relationships, the study identified the “collective model” that investigates the underlying relationships that exist among these constructs.

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the antecedents of student satisfaction and tests the interrelationships between student satisfaction, motivation and loyalty.

The study used survey research design and collected valid sample 738 from the three oldest public universities in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

The study extracted four antecedents: academic facilities, administration services, support services and campus infrastructure. The results established that student motivation serves as a mediation role between satisfaction and loyalty and also proved a direct effect of student satisfaction on student loyalty.

The study focuses on student satisfaction and motivation, as these two constructs are the most important inputs in the creation of student loyalty. Student satisfaction and motivation have been found to be critical inputs for the development of student loyalty.

This research helps the management in acquiring a better understanding of the relationship between student satisfaction, motivation and loyalty, to exercise better strategies to improve its own performance and ultimately to well understand student priorities.

The Indian higher education institutions are facing enormous issues related to quality in education. Changes in the requirements of higher education and related services as well as intense competition have necessitated higher performance levels in the realm of Indian higher education (universities). The key issues examined in the course of the authors research along with the findings can help in achieving such levels.

The present research contribute to the existing field of knowledge by providing support for the contention that student satisfaction is a key influencing factor in the creation of student loyalty and in the development of the mediation role of motivation between student satisfaction and loyalty.

Student loyalty in higher education sector helps college administrators to establish appropriate programs that promote, establish, develop and maintain successful long-term relationships with both current and former students. The purpose of this study is to propose the use of mediation model that links service quality and student loyalty via student satisfaction and test the direct and indirect effects of service quality on student loyalty with the mediation role of student satisfaction.

The study used survey research design and collected data from three oldest state universities in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India to find the relationships between service quality, student satisfaction and student loyalty in higher education sector using structural equation modeling.

This study tested the proposed research model and proved the mediator role of student satisfaction between service quality and student loyalty. Service quality has been found to be an important input to student satisfaction. The result also shows that while university provides no basis for differentiation among the constructs, age and gender play a major role in determining the different perceptions of students about the constructs investigated.

The study focuses on student satisfaction, of which service quality is an important antecedent. Identification of other variables, besides service quality, is crucial to contribute to the overall student satisfaction. Similarly, it is just as critical to identify the other elements like value, image or institution reputation which may have direct impact on service loyalty. It would be more precise when the studies also consider the opinion of the students before joining the institute based on word of mouth of passed-out students and after finishing the course. Longitudinal studies to collect predictor and criterion variables before and after the course would be much stronger.

A clearer understanding of the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and loyalty that helps ensure the management to take better strategies to concentrate and improve the performance is aided by this study. It is interesting to note that the student loyalty is primarily affected by age and gender. This type of analysis helps to identify the target students who have high potential of defection.

Higher education and their respective institutions seek to enhance socio-cultural and economic development to promote active citizenship by inculcating ethical values among students. The Indian higher education institutions are facing enormous issues related to quality in education. The changing nature and need of higher education services and an increase in competitive intensity necessitates higher performance levels in the realm of Indian higher education (universities). These can be achieved through a thorough understanding of the expectations of students and the importance placed by them on aspects found by the study such as teaching, administrative services, support services, hostel facilities, library and lab facilities and internationalization.

Previous studies have proved the mediation role of satisfaction between service quality and loyalty in marketing literature, but no significant studies have empirically tested the same in higher education sector. The service quality measurement in higher education is complex because of some unique features like customers’ (student) cognitive participation in the service process, the needs of the students being fulfilled by different parties, long-term and continuous services. The study contributes to the existing field of knowledge by providing support for the contention that student satisfaction performs a mediating role in the link between service quality and student loyalty in higher education sector.

This study aims to extend the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model to explain youth’s recycling behavioural intentions in India. Perceived moral obligation (PMO) to perform such pro-environmental activities is incorporated in the TPB model. The study also aims to validate the extended version of TPB models with direct and indirect relationships and identify the best competing model among original TPB, extended TPB model “Model A” (moral obligation is an explanatory variable to recycling behaviour) and extended TPB model “Model B” (moral obligation as an explanatory variable to attitude, perceived behavioural control [PBC] and recycling behavioural intentions; and responsive variable to subjective norms) to predict Indian youth’s waste recycling behaviour.

The descriptive study adopted a hypo-deductive research design to test the proposed extended TPB models. The study used a survey research design with a structured questionnaire. A sample of 782 youth with a mean age of 18 was obtained to perform the correlational analysis. The scale validity and reliability are measured using structural equation modelling and identified the robust model with higher explanatory power using the Chi-square difference (Δχ²) statistic test.

Results show that the extended TPB model “Model B” has a better fit and explanatory power than competing models to predict the waste recycling behaviour of youth. Further findings substantiate that PMO has a higher indirect effect on recycling intention. Model B supports the utility of moral obligation and its association with youth’s higher waste recycling intention and actual recycling behaviour.

The study considers solid waste recycling in general, and therefore future research should test the proposed model specific to other household wastes like water recycling. Furthermore, future studies can experiment with the model with additional variables like perceived relative benefits, social benefits, self-efficacy and education level of the respondents. In a strict sense, the research concern the respondents and the generalisation to a broader population should be made with caution. Hence, further studies in various geographical areas with larger sample sizes would allow the generalizability of the results.

This research provides insights into PMO and its influence on recycling intention. Promoting waste recycling behaviour through campaigns, social pressure and accepting the phenomena of “significant others” will encourage better waste recycling behavioural purposes. Indian households who are highly concerned and obliged towards environmental protection would develop favourable attitudes and subjective norms towards waste recycling.

The study proved the effect of subjective norms on intentions. This contention explains that recycling mostly happens within the house and is mostly not witnessed by society and friends. Therefore, adopting waste recycling behaviour is not socially acceptable as they are not fully aware of its benefits. Policymakers should create awareness to develop environmental-friendly behaviour through recycling solid waste and develop exclusive campaigns to sensitise the negative impact on the environment.

The study’s originality is to test the extended TPB model “Model B”, with PMOs as an additional key variable, which has higher explanatory power to predict the youth’s waste recycling behavioural intentions in the Indian context. PMO found a positive and significant effect on attitude, PBC and recycling behavioural intentions. The higher indirect result of PMO on behavioural purposes through TPB variables indicates the importance of personal moral obligation in pro-environmental behaviour.

This paper attempts to develop and validate a service quality instrument called HiEduQual to measure the perceived service quality of students in higher education institutions. This paper aims to propose a structural model by examining the theoretical and empirical evidences on the relationships between students’ perceived service quality (SPSQ), students’ satisfaction (SSt), students’ loyalty (SL) and students’ motivation (SM).

The paper uses survey research design to gather data regarding attitudes of students about quality of service, satisfaction, motivation and loyalty from seven public universities in India and tests the relationships between these variables using structural equation modeling.

The paper identifies a model with six-structured dimensions containing 23 items for HiEduQual. It proved the direct positive effect of the perceived service quality of students on satisfaction, loyalty and motivation. The paper also supports the partial and complete mediation role of students’ satisfaction between perceived service quality of students, their loyalty and motivation toward services being provided by the universities. The competing Model 1 (M1) with partial mediation role of students’ satisfaction between students’ perceived service quality, loyalty and motivation was proved as the best among the alternative models.

The paper developed and tested a new measurement instrument that covers all the service aspects experienced by the student as primary customer in higher education. Further studies can also measure service quality of the universities in the perspective of other key stakeholders. The authors would recommend studying other possible antecedents which would have influence on satisfaction motivation and loyalty.

The findings suggested that it would be worthwhile for university leaders to make proper allocation of resources, to provide better educational services including support services and facilities. It is believed that this paper has a significant competence for engendering more precise applications related to quality of services, especially concerning students’ satisfaction, loyalty and motivation.

The changing nature and need of higher education services and increase in competitive intensity necessitates higher performance levels in the Indian higher education (universities). These can only be achieved through a better understanding of the expectations of students and the importance placed by them on aspects such as teaching, administrative services, academic facilities, campus infrastructure, support services and internationalization. The paper identified that student perceived service quality is a key antecedent to student satisfaction, motivation and loyalty, which conveys that service quality is an important construct.

Previous studies have primarily focused on the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and loyalty. Along with the above, this paper includes students’ motivation and assesses the effect of service quality and satisfaction on motivation which was not previously used in services marketing research, especially in higher education sector. Higher education service holds some unique features like customers’ (student) cognitive participation in the service process, requirements of the students to be fulfilled by different parties and long-term continuous services. All these features require student participation. The results indicate that quality of academic and non-academic services play a vital role in motivating students to perform better in their academics.

This study aims to intend to contribute to the literature by testing the effect of scepticism on green consumer behaviour through environmental concern, knowledge, value and willingness to pay more in the Indian context. Thus, the comprehensive model with new directions of antecedents of green consumer purchase behaviour and direct and indirect effects was examined using structural equation modelling.

The study adopted the hypo-deductive research design to test the proposed structural model. Cross-sectional data were collected through a predesigned questionnaire from the households living in Visakhapatnam city using a purposive sampling method. The proposed theoretical model was tested using structural equation modelling.

The results support five antecedents’ direct and indirect effects on green purchase behavioural intentions and actual buying behaviour, except for the indirect effect of green scepticism on green purchase behaviour (GPB). Similarly, scepticism is responsible for significant variation in GPB.

The present study’s findings imply the role of scepticism on GPB, and the policies of adopting green products need to be addressed. Green buying is an obscure task; however, it can be evident by adding eco-friendly aspects and persuading consumers of a win-win situation for themselves, the environment and the company.

This study adds to the field of knowledge by exploring and testing the factors affecting GPB, which was not emphasized earlier in the Indian context and second, by developing a theoretical consensus on testing the antecedents of GPB. The results strengthen the argument that scepticism is an antecedent that drives GPB.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of service marketing mix (SMM) as service input and service output in terms of students’ performance, satisfaction and referral act in context to higher and technical education (HTE) through the application of structural equation modeling.

A quantitative research, conducted through a self-administered survey composed by a closed-ended structured questionnaire, was incorporated for the students who were enrolled in the technical educational institutions situated in the Khandesh region of India.

The findings of this study revealed that traditional SMM is statistically linked with the performance of students in terms of skill and knowledge enhancement, satisfaction and referral act of students, which are perceptible new emerging SMM; performance, pleasure and pointing out in terms of service output.

Integrating SMM as service input and service output are productive for HTE in enhancing growth (quantitatively) by the inclusivity of diversified students and development (qualitatively) by enhancing their performance for global standing, making them satisfied and motivating them for recommending their institution to others. This integration can be utilized as a yardstick by the institutions for staying ahead in students’ market with a distinctive competitive advantage.

Growth and development of HTE will raise a society’s quality of life and thereby increase a country’s socio-economic status.

The study has exhibited SMM as input and output of a service system that is useful for the growth and development of HTE. The measurement tool presented is effective in (re)framing policies on SMM as service input based on desired service output.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of service quality and university image on student satisfaction and student loyalty.

This study employed a set of survey instrument adapted from previous studies. The construct of the service quality consisted of 12 indicators, one of which was originally designed by the researcher, and the rest were adapted from other researchers. For the construct of university image, there were five indicators, while the rest were designed by the researcher. There were six indicators of construct student satisfaction, while the other three were designed by the researcher. Lastly, the construct student loyalty consisted of five indicators, three of which were originally designed by the researcher. All of those constructs used seven-point Likert scale scoring, which ranged from 1= strongly disagree to 7= strongly agree.

The findings of this study are as follows: the result of the data analysis has confirmed the existence of a positive and significant influence of service quality on student satisfaction, there is a positive and significant influence of student satisfaction on student loyalty, there is no positive or significant influence of service quality on student loyalty, and university image has a positive and significant influence on both student satisfaction and student loyalty.

The originality of this study has been confirmed, considering the fact that only few studies on service quality in education field were conducted. In this study, researchers were interested in developing the service quality based on five dimensions. This model have been applied by a number of researchers. Unfortunately, some other researchers showed their disagreements upon the use of only these five dimensions in the research in the field of education, and they suggested that more appropriate dimensions should be applied.

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.

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.

The findings revealed the significant relationships between student perceived service quality with satisfaction and loyalty. However, this relationship is mediated by student satisfaction.

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.

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.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the themes of core-competencies required for future-oriented and sustainable e-governance practices, especially across the developing nations.

The present study has been conducted using the sequential mixed method research wherein the exploratory qualitative study is first carried out with the government officials involved in e-governance implementation across India to identify the themes of core-competencies. The findings of this exploratory study are then empirically tested with the 359 respondents from Group A and Group B officers of the two government departments in India using partial least square technique.

The findings suggested that to ensure the implementation of future-oriented and sustainable e-governance, it is required to develop the core-competencies. The significant core-competencies explored are, namely, process management, employee engagement, internal service quality, external service quality, citizen satisfaction, leadership, culture and technology.

As strategic implementation of e-governance is a relatively new area of study, the present study has used the learning from core-competencies studies in the non-government sector.

The findings of this study underscore the need for strategic implementation of e-governance to have long-term success of e-governance. The requirement is to develop the core-competencies. These core-competencies are the key to making the government departments proactive in dealing with any future contingency without compromising on the departmental performance.

The present research is one of the few research studies focusing on the implementation of sustainable and future-oriented e-governance. The current study has laid the stepping stone for investigating the role of core-competencies to ensure the implementation of sustainable and future-oriented e-governance.