Modeling the Effects of Relational Constructs On Student Satisfaction and Loyalty to University

Muhammad Mujtaba Abubakar; Sany Sanuri Mohd Mokhtar

Muhammad Mujtaba Abubakar School of Administrative and Business, Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, P.M.B 1034, Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria
Sany Sanuri Mohd Mokhtar School of Business Management, University Utara Malaysia, Sintok Kedah, Malaysia.

Keywords: relationship marketing, relational constructs, students satisfaction, student loyalty, higher education

Abstract

The global higher education sector has gone through a radical shift in its modus operandi occasioned by the strategic implication of student loyalty to university given low state funding, globalization and competition among universities around the world. This paper seeks to fill literature gap in relationship marketing studies applied to education sector by modeling relational constructs of student satisfaction and loyalty to the university. A self-administered questionnaire was used to solicit data from 535 students of six federal universities in Nigerian using multi-stage cluster sampling procedure. The Partial least squares method was used to analyze the data collected. The results show that relational constructs of bonding, communication and personalization predict student satisfaction which in turn predicts student loyalty.Theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future studies are documented in the paper.

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Author Biographies

Muhammad Mujtaba Abubakar, School of Administrative and Business, Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, P.M.B 1034, Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria

Chief Lecturer, Department of Marketing

Sany Sanuri Mohd Mokhtar, School of Business Management, University Utara Malaysia, Sintok Kedah, Malaysia.

Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing

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