Creating customer loyalty through global engagement: the role of university social responsibility

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to examine how university social responsibility (USR) global engagement is influenced, and its impact on service quality and “customer” loyalty. There are four determinants of USR global engagement which are responsible education programs, knowledge management, organizational management and social engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected through a structured questionnaire survey conducted in five universities in Vietnam. The dataset consists of 446 valid responses by Vietnamese students. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test the proposed relationships. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted to verify the reliability and validity of each latent construct, and to evaluate the discriminant validity, convergent validity, composition reliability and average variance extracted (AVE) for the latent constructs.FindingsThis study finds statistically significant and positive effects of responsible education programs, knowledge management, organizational management and social engagement on USR global engagement. The results also reveal the interrelationships among USR global engagement, service quality and loyalty.Practical implicationsFirstly, universities need to facilitate the involvement of all their stakeholders when they adopt USR engagement with the world. Second, universities should seek funders in society, or funders from the trade agreement between their countries and foreign ones to invest in research projects. Third, with the IT development, universities have to explore technological innovation in their teaching and training. Fourth, universities have to reform their mission and strategy to implement USR global engagement as a central pillar.Originality/valueThis study has some contributions to the scarce literature on USR. This study highlights that universities in developing countries like Vietnam need to make a large effort to enhance their teaching and training systems in order to meet the global education standard. The second highlight lies in developing research projects on discovery, methodologies, interpretation and orientation. Further, universities need to address the requirement for more internal communication with students and more external communication with society. Finally, this study found that USR global engagement make customers (students, students' families, businesses, and other stakeholders) trust and become loyal to universities.