Factors affecting the loyalty of pharmacy students at non-public universities in Ho Chi Minh city

Abstract

This study aims to explore the factors and the impact of these factors on the loyalty of pharmacy students at non-public universities in Ho Chi Minh City. Survey data was collected from 400 full-time and continuous students, final-year students and recent graduates of 04 universities: Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Hong Bang International University, Van Lang University, and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. Results from the Bootstrap approach implemented in the Amos 20 software identifies the mediating role of Satisfaction. Furthermore, the results from the linear structural model (SEM) show that, among the factors that have a positive indirect effect on Loyalty, Service quality has the strongest impact, followed by Communication information, Word of mouth, School image, Financial support and Training quality. Besides, of the three factors that have a direct positive influence on Loyalty, the factor Expectation has the strongest impact, followed by Satisfaction and School image being the weakest. Research also showed that Internationalization has no effect on Satisfaction. Finally, some managerial implications regarding tuition fees and support policies, the image and reputation of the University along with some implications for improving training quality and student satisfaction are proposed to improve the loyalty of students in the above four universities.