Abstract
Higher educational institutions face increasing competition from local and international education providers. In view of this development, most higher educational institutions focus on service quality delivery in attracting and retaining students. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction and to ascertain the moderating role of brand positioning in the relationship between service quality and customer (student) satisfaction. The study adopted a quantitative approach using self-administered questionnaires to collect data from the respondents and a moderated hierarchical regression model was performed to assess the statistical interdependencies between the service quality measures and student satisfaction. The results revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between service quality and student satisfaction in Private Ghanaian Universities. The results indicate however, that brand positioning was not statistically significant in the relationship between service quality and student satisfaction as only one path was supported, which suggests that brand positioning moderates only the relationship between empathy and student satisfaction. Based on these findings, it is recommended that private universities must adopt measures to enhance on the delivery of service quality since it plays a major role in determining the satisfaction of students. One limitation is related to the scope of the study which is limited to the education industry, specifically private tertiary education industry in Ghana. Despite these limitations, the study offers practical recommendations on how private tertiary educational institutions can continue to improve on the level of student satisfaction in order to ensure their survival and profitability. Keywords: Service Quality, Brand Positiong, Student Satisfaction, Private Universities DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/74-04 Publication date: December 31 st 2020
Highlights
IntroductionGiven the severe competition among higher educational institutions, McGregor (2017) asserted that these institutions must not be complacent about improving the student experience
Firms, regardless of size and industry focus on quality of services offered as it plays a crucial role in gaining competitive advantage as well as attracting and retaining profitable customers
The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of service quality on student satisfaction in Private Ghanaian Universities by considering the moderating role of brand positioning
Summary
Given the severe competition among higher educational institutions, McGregor (2017) asserted that these institutions must not be complacent about improving the student experience This is very www.iiste.org critical because there are so many options with regard to the number of universities in the world, the need for higher educational institutions to keep in perspective the needs and interests of such groups as students, employers, government, alumni, parents and funding agencies, among others (Rozsa, 2010). This was verified by Donaldson & McNicholas (2004) when they argued that when making the uncertain and high-risk decision of choosing a university, students looks for evidence of service quality (SQ), which confirms its importance in the university’s function This is because the quality of higher education as a service is fundamental to a country’s development since universities prepare the professionals who will work as managers in companies and manage public and private resources and care for the health and education of new generations (Oliveria, 2009). This means that ignorance of the competitive nature of attracting students, along with the importance of measuring service quality, will be at the disadvantage to any tertiary institution (Angell, Heffernan, & Megicks, 2008)
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