Student Expectations on Service Quality as a Determinant of Service Planning and Marketing for Higher Education Institutions in Tanzania

Abstract

This paper examines the university students' expectations of higher education institution (HEI) service quality (SQ) as a determinant of service planning and marketing of institutions. The paper embraces three models of customer-provider relationships to examine the possibility of satisfying students' expectations on SQ to market HEIs to prospective students. These models encompass the relationship marketing (RM) model, Tinto's students integration theory, and Parasuraman et al.'s conceptual model of service quality (SERVQUAL). The study used students' demographic characteristics to examine their expectations about SQ in HEIs and the likelihood to attract other students to do the same for marketing strategy. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess the influence of demographic characteristics on students' expectations about SQ. Students' years of study and the degree programs had statistical significance on SQ. The overall service quality (OSQ) was a determinant of students' likelihood to entice colleagues to the same programme.