The Marketing Aspect of the Relationship Between the Perceived Quality of Higher Education Services and Students’ Loyalty
Marketinški aspekt odnosa percipiranog kvaliteta usluge visokog obrazovanja i studentske lojalnosti
Abstract
The application of the marketing concept in higher education is specific. It implies a new approach to students as users of higher education services. The role of marketing is especially important in improving the quality of higher education services, which can increase students’ loyalty and influence their future intentions. This paper, from the marketing aspect, provides the results of research on the relationship between the quality of higher education services and students’ loyalty, using the SERVQUAL model to test the relationship between these two categories in higher education. The research was conducted on students of two public universities in Republic of Srpska. The results of the research show that there is a strong connection between all dimensions of perceived service quality and students’ loyalty in higher education. The results obtained are significant for universities that want to compete in an uncertain market environment.
Apstrakt
Primjena marketinškog koncepta u visokom obrazovanju je specifična. Ona podrazumijeva novi pristup studentima kao korisnicima usluge visokog obrazovanja. Posebno je značajna uloga marketinga u poboljšanju kvaliteta usluge visokog obrazovanja, što može povećati lojalnost studenata i uticati na njihove buduće namjere. Ovaj rad, sa marketinškog aspekta, daje rezultate istraživanja odnosa kvaliteta usluge visokog obrazovanja i studentske lojalnosti, koristeći SERVQUAL model za testiranje odnosa ove dvije kategorije u visokom obrazovanju. Istraživanje je sprovedeno na studentima dva javna univerziteta u Republici Srpskoj. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da postoji jaka veza svih dimenzija percipiranog kvaliteta usluge i lojalnosti studenata u visokom obrazovanju. Dobijeni rezultati su značajni za univerzitete koji se žele takmičiti u nesigurnom tržišnom okruženju.
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