Perceived quality in higher education: an empirical study

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to address two issues. First research goal is about analyzing differences in perceived quality in higher education (HE) between a private and a public university centre. Second, the research aims to analyze which are the key dimensions in perceived quality in HE from the students' standpoint. Design/methodology/approach -An analysis based on a modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to respond to the objectives put forward. Then, a mean comparison and covariance structure analysis approach was carried out to test the differences in perceived quality between the students from both centres, as well as the dimensions with higher influence in perceived quality. Findings -The results suggest that tangibility and empathy dimensions are the most influent variables on perceived quality in HE. Furthermore, some relevant significant differences were found between the public and the private centre.Research limitations/implications -The results give an opportunity to HE institutions' managers to develop enhancing quality strategies for their institutions, given that the present study relies on a sample of actual undergraduate university students. Originality/value -The present research provides with a comparative analysis between a private and a public centre, in order to assess which one offers higher educational and teaching quality from the students' viewpoint, as well as an approach to the main variables in HE perceived quality.

Students’ loyalty in higher education: The mediating effect of satisfaction, trust, commitment on student loyalty to Alma Mater

“…To increase student loyalty through quality-based strategy Hennig-Thurau et al (2001) recommended universities to identify important service quality aspects. In the context of higher education, Calvo-Porral et al (2013) reported that tangibility and empathy had more influence on perceived quality than assurance, reliability or responsiveness.…”

A confirmatory factor analysis for SERVPERF instrument based on a sample of students from Syrian universities

“…On one hand, many researchers (Abu Hasan et al, 2008;Atrek and Bayraktaroglu, 2012;Calvo-Porral et al, 2013;Dado et al, 2011;Gallifa and Batalle, 2010;Ibrahim et al, 2013;Stodnick and Rogers, 2008) adopted the adapted version of SERVQUAL to evaluate service quality in higher education. The direct utilization of SERVQUAL, nonetheless, was met with little success (Cuthber, 1996a, b).…”

“…However, most of the literature on students' perceived service quality is still, to our knowledge, based on developed countries, such as Australia (Soutar and McNeil, 1996;Sultan and Wong, 2012), Japan (Sultan and Tarafder, 2007;Sultan and Wong, 2010), Spain (Calvo-Porral et al, 2013;Gallifa and Batalle, 2010), UK (Russell, 2005), and USA (Joseph et al, 2005). Little attention has been paid for such studies in developing countries, such as India (Senthilkumar and Arulraj, 2011), Indonesia (Sumaedi et al, 2012), and Malaysia (Abdulla, 2006), with very limited studies targeting higher education in Arab countries such as Lebanon (Abouchedid and Nasser, 2002), State of Palestine (Koni et al, 2013), and the United Arab Emirates (Badri et al, 2004).…”

Perceived Service Quality (SQ) and Customer Satisfaction (CS): Students’ Perceptions of Kenyan Private Universities

“…Although considerable research (Firdaus, 2006;Kimani, 2011;Khodayari & Khodayari, 2011;Govender & Ramroop, 2012;Calvo-Porall et al, 2013;Ravichandran, Kumar & Venkatesan, 2012), has been done using different instruments to measure the impact of SQ on customer satisfaction, virtually few applied HEdPERF dimensions in higher education environments in Kenya. Kimani (2011) who examined perceived service quality among students of universities in Kenya using the correlation approach by studying the six HEdPERF SQ construct measurements established that a positive perception of service quality by the students impacts their overall satisfaction.…”

“…Additionally, the extant literature on the aforementioned subject in the context of higher education sector is ever-increasing (Alaba & Olanrewaju, 2012;Calvo-Porall, Levy-Mangin & Novo-Corti, 2013;DeJager & Gbadamosi, 2010;Govender & Ramroop, 2012;Hasan & Ilias, 2008;Hishamuddin & Azleen, 2008;Khodayari & Khodayari, 2011;Trivellas & Dargenidou, 2009;Yunus, Ismail, Ishak & Juga, 2009). …”