The Impact of Service Quality, Student Satisfaction, and University Reputation on Student Loyalty: A Case Study of International Students in IIUM, Malaysia

Djafri Fares,Omar Kachkar

doi:10.22610/imbr.v5i12.1091

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between service quality, student satisfaction, university reputation, and student loyalty in the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). This study aims to improve our understanding of student loyalty and to highlight the effect of student satisfaction, service quality, and brand image in building student loyalty towards IIUM. Data were randomly collected from 160 students studying in IIUM during the 2012/2013 academic session. Data analysis encompasses descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), correlation, and regression analysis. The data resulted in acceptably high reliability. The result indicates that all independent variables have significant impact on student loyalty. All three hypotheses were supported. This study is set to assist institutions of higher education to identify improvements in the service delivery process by identifying different aspects of service quality, brand image, and student satisfaction in IIUM.

Highlights

With the increasing significance of the service sector in the global economy beside the ever mounting competition between companies to attract new customers, educational institutions and universities are placing greater emphasis on meeting the expectation and needs of their customers “students” (Thomas, 2011)
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between service quality, student satisfaction, university reputation, and student loyalty in the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
This study sought to examine the impact of service quality, students’ satisfaction, and university reputation on student loyalty IIUM

Summary

Introduction

With the increasing significance of the service sector in the global economy beside the ever mounting competition between companies to attract new customers, educational institutions and universities are placing greater emphasis on meeting the expectation and needs of their customers “students” (Thomas, 2011). Student (customer) loyalty is supposed to be positively related to student (customer) satisfaction and the performance of an educational institution. On the other hand, Ravald and Grönroos (1996) stated that customers’ appreciation is the focal product, but is the organization supplying the product or services. Both the satisfaction experienced and the reputation (image) of the supplier are important for customer loyalty (Zabala et al, 2005). The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between service quality, student satisfaction, university reputation (image), and student loyalty in the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion