The Influence of University Image on Student Satisfaction and Loyalty in Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of image on student satisfaction and loyalty at Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce (FMSC), University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a model reflecting the impact of image on student satisfaction and loyalty is applied. Population of the study was second year management undergraduates of the FMSC.The model is tested through use of structural equations and the final sample is of 250 out of 1000 students from second year. 250 students were selected as sample by using stratified sampling technique. The findings of the study indicated that image of the university has greater direct impact on students’ satisfaction and less influence on student satisfaction through expectation of the degree program. Further, results confirmed that direct influence from image to loyalty is less but also significant in Sri Lankan context. Its indirect influence is greater and significant, in the formation of loyalty through students’ satisfaction. All the Goodness of Fit (GFI) indices are at acceptable levels. Thus, the satisfaction of students and loyalty seem to reflect quite well from the above construct; image and expectation. This results of the study shed light on the higher education sector in Sri Lanka student satisfactionformation process, revealing that image can influence to improve student satisfaction and loyalty. Thus, it is possible to suggest that to measure and understand university image is an essential because of its greater influence on the student satisfaction and loyalty formation process. Since this study successfully applied a SEM to identify the relationship among construct, ithas hopefully opened up avenues for other researchers to carry out such behavioral studies with larger sample sizes by applying R program with SEM analysis