SERVICE QUALITY AND STUDENTS’ SATISFACTION IN B.SC MARKETING DEGREE PROGRAMMES OF SELECTED PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH WESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Delivering satisfactory educational quality is paramount to achieving institutional objectives such as improve revenue, enrolment growth, contributes significantly to the goal of sustainable competitive advantage for most for-profit universities. In Nigeria, many private universities are recording low enrolment into their BSc Marketing degree programmes. However, students’ disposition to marketing as a course of study has not been well studied. Most marketing education studies have focused mainly on the teaching methodologies without giving due consideration quality of educational experience that shape enrolment into this vital field of study. This study examined the effect Service Quality (SQ) and Students’ Satisfaction (SS) into BSc. Marketing degree programmes in selected Nigerian private universities in South Western Nigeria. Cross-sectional survey research design was adopted in this study. The population consisted of 201 BSc undergraduate students from six selected private universities from South Western geo-political zone of Nigeria. Total enumeration was employed and all the undergraduate marketing students of the six selected private universities were respondents for this work. A structured questionnaire was adapted and validated. The Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient for the constructs were indicated thus; SQ =0.833 and SS=0.88807. The response rate of 97.5 % was achieved for this study. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that that service quality had significant effect on student satisfaction for B.Sc. Marketing degreeprogrammes in selected private universities in South Western Nigeria (R2= 0.084, β = 0.252, t = 2.757, p<0.05). The study recommended that universities and marketing professional associations should commit significant resources to organizing career fairs, workshops, essay competitions and expert series to create public awareness on the importance of marketing as a career and the foundational role the profession plays in profit and non-profit organizations.