Validation of a Research Instrument to Measure Generation Y Parents’ Perception of Service Quality and Effect on Satisfaction and Word of Mouth in International Schools

Abstract

This quantitative research aimed to (1) validate an adapted instrument used for measuring service quality in private hospitals to measure the perceived service quality of K-12 international schools and (2) implement the instrument to assess service quality’s impact on word of mouth and satisfaction. It was necessary to contextualize the scale items through item objective congruence test using industry experts. Scale items were adjusted to reflect the service provided by teachers, staff, and leadership of the school. The resulting 27 scale items for service quality were shown to be contextually valid and internally reliable. The instrument was then implemented to measure parental service quality’s effect satisfaction and word of mouth. The survey was piloted by 33 parents and verified for internal consistency before being administered to 422 Generation Y parents. The results showed that the modified instrument was reliable and valid. The results showed that service quality had a direct and positive effect on both satisfaction and word of mouth but it had a greater effect on satisfaction.

Satisfaction as a key antecedent for word of mouth and an essential mediator for service quality and brand trust in international education

“…Improving the experience of the service received by the parents may not have a significant effect on referral rates but it will improve the satisfaction levels of The multiple dimensions of service quality should also be carefully considered to maximize the impact. The modified service quality instrument can be used by K12 schools to reliably measure the perceived service quality received by parents and can be further analyzed to determine the effect of service quality (Stribbell and Duangekanong, 2022b). Similarly, increasing parent trust in the brand of the school may not lead directly to increased referrals but will increase parent satisfaction which will lead to increased referrals.…”

“…While Gronroos developed a model that split service quality into the technical and functional aspects of service quality itself (Gronroos, 1984;Teo and Soutar, 2012). The SERVQUAL framework has been demonstrated to be an effective tool for measuring and evaluating the service quality received by university students in higher education (Hoang, 2013;Pariseau and McDaniel, 1997;Ruby, 1998) and has recently been validated for assessing satisfaction in K12 settings (Stribbell and Duangekanong, 2022b). SERVQUAL can be used to identify individual factors, dimension factors, or as a whole construct of service quality (Souca, 2011).…”