Factors Affecting Student Satisfaction

CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER I

Chapter I has summarized the research situation on the main contents of the thesis including: Higher education services; Student satisfaction; Quality of higher education services; Value of higher education services; The relationship between quality, value of services and student satisfaction. The content of this chapter has helped to systematize the research works, the outstanding views on the main topic of the thesis. From the synthesized and analyzed contents, the author has pointed out a number of issues, theoretical and practical research gaps that need to be explored in the research context at public universities of economics and business administration in Vietnam. On this basis, the author proceeds to build a theoretical framework on the quality and value of higher education services and student satisfaction as well as establish the research model and hypothesis in Chapter II.

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL BASIS OF STUDENT SATISFACTION WITH THE VALUE AND QUALITY OF SERVICES OF UNIVERSITIES

2.1. Some basic concepts

2.1.1. Higher education services and services

2.1.1.1. Services

Services are elusive, not simple to measure and have diverse and rich meanings (Firdaus, 2005; Latif et al., 2019). According to Gronroos (1990), services are intangible activities that occur during the interaction between customers and service staff or material resources or goods of the service provider to satisfy customer needs. Meanwhile, Kitchroen (2004) defines services as intangible , recognizable activities whose main goal is to serve customer needs . Kotler and Keller (2012) propose that services are any intangible , non -ownership action or performance that one party provides to another to satisfy a need. The creation of services may or may not be associated with a tangible product. In terms of characteristics, most studies acknowledge four major characteristics of services including: Intangibility; Inseparability; Perishability; Heterogeneity . Because these characteristics are relatively abstract and vary depending on the characteristics of each specific service type, measuring service issues such as quality and value is difficult.

In summary, although there are diverse definitions and perspectives on services, most studies agree that services are an activity to satisfy human needs with basic characteristics including: Intangibility; Intangibility; Heterogeneity; Inseparability.

2.1.1.2 Higher education services

In Vietnam, in the past, the view that education was a pure service or a career activity with the obligation to train and develop human resources was a matter of debate. However, under the influence of the market economy and the context of increasing competition in the industry, education is gradually becoming a pure service in which customers (students, parents) can choose and decide to invest in a supplier (schools) that they find suitable (Pham Thi Lien, 2016). On a global scale, the view that higher education is a pure service is widely accepted. Oldfield and Baron (2000); Cuthbert (1996) argued that higher education can be recognized as a “pure service” with all the basic attributes of a service. Similarly, Hennig-Thurau et al. (2001) argued that higher education services are a component of service marketing . Zeithaml et al. (2006) argue that in the literature on service marketing, higher education is a highly typical example with limited tangible outputs . Higher education should be considered a type of service because the main focus is on delivering experiences.

learning for students through the training process (Yeo, 2008). In addition, the view that higher education is a type of service is also supported by many scholars (Joseph and Joseph, 1997a; Yildiz and Kara, 2009; Sultan and Wong, 2010).

The issue of the product nature of higher education services has also received attention from researchers. In fact, there is little consensus in research on the output of educational products (Shutler and Crowford, 1998). In the study of Lewis and Smith (1994), students, teaching staff, administrative staff, facilities and financial support are defined as the inputs of the education system. Next, the activities carried out to disseminate knowledge, research and provide services are the process of service and the results of research and service to the community are the output of higher education service products. MacRobert (1994) argues that the actual results achieved by students are the results of higher education service products.

Although studies support the view that higher education is a pure service with all the characteristics of a service, it is clear that higher education services still have their own unique characteristics (Nguyen Ngoc Diep, 2020). First, the efforts and efforts of lecturers are produced and consumed by both lecturers and students at the same time as part of the teaching experience. Second, higher education services play an important role in students' lives and require students to have large resources and thinking skills to achieve their goals (Shank, 1995).

From the above analysis, in this study, "University education services are understood as a type of service provided by higher education institutions to help learners develop knowledge, skills, and personality through learning and training activities."

2.1.2. Student satisfaction

2.1.2.1 Concept of student satisfaction

In business activities, there are many criteria used to evaluate efficiency. In addition to criteria related to finance, market share, and human resource efficiency, customer satisfaction is also commonly considered. From a marketing perspective, satisfaction reflects the level of customer satisfaction, which is an extremely important goal that businesses always strive to achieve in order to develop their business activities. Because of its importance not only to research activities but also to actual business activities, customer satisfaction attracts the attention of both researchers and business management teams. Many studies have mentioned the relationship between customer satisfaction and the profitability and overall business performance of the enterprise (Anderson et al., 1994; Bernhardt et al., 2000; Chand, 2010). Furthermore, customer satisfaction has also been shown to be closely related to customer loyalty and behavior (Mittal and Kamakura, 2001; Shankar and Rangaswamy, 2003; Namkung and Jang, 2007). Many studies have built

model to study the factors affecting customer satisfaction to explain the nature of satisfaction as well as the relationship between customer satisfaction and other factors in business operations. Studies by Taylor and Baker (1994), Lee et al. (2000), Dahlgaard et al. (2015) have verified the impact of service quality on customer satisfaction. Meanwhile, Zeithaml (1988), Lee et al. (2005) have pointed out the impact of service value on customer satisfaction. In general, studies on customer satisfaction are very diverse in approach, however, most studies support the assessment of customer satisfaction based on the correlation between expectations and the level of satisfaction of customer service products.

Regarding the concept of customer satisfaction, the views on customer satisfaction are diverse and approached in many different directions. Customer satisfaction originates from customer evaluations after using products/services (Hunt, 1977). According to Churchill and Surprenant (1982), customer satisfaction is made up of 3 factors including expectation , performance of products/services and disconfirmation . Oliver (1980) proposed the view that customer satisfaction is their response when their needs and desires are met . The research results of Churchill and Surprenant (1982) are considered the foundation for Anderson and Sullivan (1993), Rust and Zahorik (1993), McKinney et al. (2002) to develop the theory of customer satisfaction. In this study, satisfaction was also shown to be closely related to customer expectations and the performance of the product/service in satisfying customer needs. Similarly, Kotler and Armstrong (2010) argued that customer satisfaction originates from the correlation between customer expectations and the level of customer satisfaction of the product/service. Based on the correlation between the two basic factors of response level and expectation, it is possible to explain three states of customer satisfaction including: One is dissatisfaction when the level of response of the product/service is lower than expectation; Two is satisfaction when the level of response of the product/service is equal to expectation; Three is very satisfied when the level of response of the product/service exceeds customer expectations. Satisfaction is like a review of the ability to meet the needs of the product/service. The difference between the achieved quality and the expected quality is customer satisfaction (Parasuraman et al., 1988). It can be seen that most of the research on customer satisfaction refers to perception and expectation ( Alves and Raposo, 2007). Besides the basic factors such as expectation and performance of the product/service, factors such as comparison with similar products , consumer experience (Oliver, 1980). Fornell et al. (1996) developed the theory of customer satisfaction when referring to the role of perceived value . Accordingly, the

Customer perceptions of price, perceived value and cost also have important influences on customer satisfaction alongside expectations and perceptions of quality.

Thus, based on the synthesis and analysis of past results, some conclusions can be drawn about the concept of satisfaction in studies of consumer goods and services.

Firstly, studies have acknowledged that customer satisfaction is an important destination in business activities. Satisfied customers will be an important premise for consequences such as repurchase behavior, loyalty, word-of-mouth behavior, thereby bringing business efficiency to the organization.

Second, customer satisfaction is largely viewed as a combination of psychological and behavioral factors. Specifically, psychology reflects satisfaction, a state of meeting expectations or surpassing them when compared to the consumer experience. Meanwhile, behavior is expressed through post-purchase activities such as word of mouth, repurchase, and post-purchase evaluation.

Third, for consumer goods and services, satisfaction is often associated with the correlation between the level of response and the level of expectation . In particular, for short-term consumer products and services, the correlation between expectation and the level of response in terms of price receives great attention.

For decades, customer satisfaction theories have been diverse and have attracted the attention of researchers. Many perspectives and approaches have been proposed due to the complex characteristics of services and the heterogeneous research context. In this study, the basic theory of satisfaction is applied according to the research results of Oliver (1980). According to this theory, customer satisfaction can be understood as a process including: First, expectations about service quality will be formed in the minds of customers before the time of purchasing products/services. Then, purchasing and using products/services will help customers have confidence in the performance of the products/services they use. Finally, satisfaction will be determined based on the comparison between perceived performance and expectations. Some reasons for the choice include:

First, Oliver’s (1980) theory has been developed and widely used in studies on student satisfaction (Helgesen and Nesset, 2007; Arambewela and Hall, 2009; Wong et al., 2017). The expectation-based and confirmation approach is appropriate for students because expectations are important factors influencing students’ decisions to study at university.

Second, Oliver's (1980) theory developed in educational context studies is closely related to the overall assessment of satisfaction, expectations, and value. Meanwhile, price issues are often limited to mention because higher education services have a long experience time, and costs are not simply financial costs.

Third, Oliver's (1980) theory emphasizes the role of expectations and performance. In higher education services, performance is reflected largely through learning outcomes and career opportunities. Therefore, this theory will be consistent with the characteristics of higher education services.

Student satisfaction is understood as a case of customer satisfaction when studying in the context of higher education. Students can be treated as real customers in universities (Grossman, 1991). Like customer satisfaction, student satisfaction also plays an extremely important role for both learners and higher education institutions. For the benefit of learners, studies by Chumney and Ragucci (2006), Baldwin et al. (1997), Bean and Bradley (1986) have shown the positive effects of student satisfaction on learning efficiency as well as output quality . For educational institutions, student satisfaction has a great impact on student commitment and loyalty , thereby helping universities maintain stable training activities (Schertzer and Schertzer, 2004; Helgesen and Nesset, 2007). However, due to the unique characteristics of specific types of services, customer satisfaction in each research context has differences and is not easily unified in terms of concepts and measurement methods (Souca, 2011). Student satisfaction is considered a complex concept and contains different aspects (Marzo-Navarro et al., 2005). Student satisfaction is also considered a measure of the quality of teaching activities and training outcomes (Ramsden, 1991). According to Elliott and Shin (2002), student satisfaction is the evaluation of the difference in experience and effectiveness in education-related issues. Carey (2002) believes that the perception and experience throughout the university learning process play an important role in creating student satisfaction. Sweeney and Soutar (2001) believe that student satisfaction is the perception and excitement when completing tasks related to studying at school and the nature of student satisfaction comes from students ' feelings and attitudes towards learning activities at university. In Vietnam, Hoang Thi Phuong Thao and Hoang Trong (2006) proposed specific criteria for assessing student satisfaction, which are the correlation between actual and expected results , students' ideal standards of university and satisfaction.based on experience. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan (2018) believes that student satisfaction is a comprehensive assessment of the educational activities that the school provides to satisfy the needs of students.

In summary, the concepts of customer satisfaction and student satisfaction are presented with many perspectives and approaches in many different research contexts. However, the distinct characteristics that make student satisfaction still have its own features compared to the satisfaction of customers consuming other products and services.

First, the correlation between expectations and learning effectiveness is emphasized more. If the performance satisfies the needs of customers when using products and services,

While conventional education is often considered based on the expectation of features and prices, the learning outcomes in higher education services are always considered to play an important role in the development of learners. The results to be achieved are not only limited to scores and degrees, but also the formation and development of skills to help individuals advance in their careers.

Second, student satisfaction is not a one-time concept because higher education services are complex and each time cycle may have heterogeneity in quality and value provided to students. Therefore, determining whether students are satisfied or dissatisfied will be a general assessment process over a long period of time.

Third, student satisfaction can increase even after experiencing the services provided at educational institutions because the value that this type of service brings will be clearly revealed over time, especially after students graduate and enter the labor market.

Based on past research results, it can be generalized that "Student satisfaction is understood as the satisfaction of needs, expectations, feelings, attitudes and emotions of students towards educational services provided by universities."

2.1.2.2. Factors affecting student satisfaction

Student satisfaction is related to the fit of the university environment with the student's priorities (Borden, 1995). Similar to customer satisfaction, student satisfaction is also inconsistent among measurement perspectives, which is reflected in the diversity of assessment models explaining student satisfaction. Elliot and Shin (2002) have compared methods of measuring student satisfaction. Two popular methods include using a single question to assess overall customer satisfaction and a set of observed variables that are specifically analyzed to represent a group of satisfaction factors. From the research results, the authors have proposed using a set of questions to assess satisfaction instead of using a single question to assess overall satisfaction. Using a single question may not bring much meaning to propose solutions and cannot reflect in detail student satisfaction with each specific factor. Alves and Raposo (2007) developed a model to explain student satisfaction with influencing factors including perceived technical quality , perceived functional quality , expectations, image and perceived value . To test the research hypotheses, the authors used a primary data set collected from 2678 students at 13 universities in Portugal. Not only analyzing the influence of factors to explain student satisfaction. The study also assessed the consequences of student satisfaction with two factors considered including loyalty and word-of-mouth behavior. Zineldin et al. (2011) pointed out the factors affecting student satisfaction.

Student satisfaction includes technical quality , functional quality, infrastructure, interaction and atmosphere at the higher education institution. Studies by Aldridge and Rowley (1998), Hill (1995), Harvey (1995), Douglas et al. (2006), Helgesen and Nesset (2007) have proposed more detailed groups of influencing factors based on the characteristics of higher education services instead of the general factors of customer satisfaction theory. Specifically , course content ; financial services , teaching methods , library services , teaching quality , reputation , etc. In general, it can be seen that the factors influencing student satisfaction appearing in the studies are diverse and closely linked to the main activities of the higher education service provision process. Some outstanding studies are summarized by the author in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1. Some studies on factors affecting student satisfaction

Author

Factors affecting student satisfaction

Harvey (1995)

Library service; Computer service; Refectories; Accommodation; Course organization and assessment; Teaching staff and teaching style; Teaching method; Student workload and assessment; Social life; Self-development; Financial circumstance; University environment.

Elliot and Shin (2002)

Valuable course content; Registration process; Excellence of instruction in major; Able to get classes; Placement rate of major; Knowledgeable advisor; Knowledgeable faculty; Reasonable graduation time; Overall quality of instruction; Tuition; Approach of advisor; Safe and secure campus; Clear and reasonable requirements for major; Availability of advisor; Variety of classes; Adequate computer labs; Fair and unbiased faculty

faculty); faculty availability; access to information; intellectual growth.

Alves and Raposo

(2007)

perceived technical quality; perceived quality

perceived functional quality; expectation; image; perceived value

Hoang Thi Phuong Thao and Hoang Trong (2006)

Service value: Epistemic value; Functional value; Social value; Emotional value. Service quality: Training activities; Facilities; Support

Helgesen and Nesset (2007)

Service quality; Facilities; Program image

image of study programme; image of university

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