Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Predicting Factors towards Students Satisfaction among Private Universities in Selangor, Malaysia

Wong Chee Hoo, Lee Alex, Yee Fong Wong

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i8/10676

Open access

Student satisfaction, a factor that has been increasing in importance as it continues to influence the development and operation amongst private universities in Malaysia. This research focuses on this factor, amongst others, in their roles in affecting undergraduate students’ satisfaction in private universities in Selangor, Malaysia. With higher education being an intangible service rather than a tangible product, this research seeks to hypothesis and analyse the relationship between service quality in the context of tangibility, assurance, reliability, responsiveness, and empathy. In this study, the research objectives and questions are highlighted, and a conceptual framework that integrates different factors influencing the satisfaction of undergraduates is proposed. A 5-point Likert scale survey (N=288) was conducted; data were analysed using Multiple Regression Analysis through SPSS. Three factors, tangibility, assurance and empathy showed a significant influence in predicting students’ satisfaction amongst private university students.

Abdullah, F. (2006). The development of HEdPERF: a new measuring instrument of service quality for the higher education sector. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 30(6), pp.569-581.
Azam, A. (2018). Service Quality Dimensions and Students’ Satisfaction: A study of Saudi Arabian Private Higher Education Institutions. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences. 7(2) pp. 275-284
Al-Azzam, A. F. M. (2015). The impact of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction: A field study of Arab bank in Irbid city, Jordan. European Journal of Business and Management, 7(15), pp.45-53.
Ali, M., & Raza, S. A. (2017). Service quality perception and customer satisfaction in Islamic banks of Pakistan: the modified SERVQUAL model. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 28(5-6), pp.559-577.
Anwowie, S., Amoako, J., & Abrefa, A. A. (2015). Assessment of Students' Satisfaction of Service Quality in Takoradi Polytechnic: The Students' Perspective. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(29), pp.148-155.
Dora, Y. M. (2017). Analysis Effect of Service Quality, Educational Facilities, and Method of Learning, Student Satisfaction and Loyalty to Students-Studies in the University of Widyatama Bandung. European Journal of Social Science Education and Research, 4(3), pp.16-27.
Dorherty, M. (1994). Probability versus non-probability sampling in the sample. The NewZealand Statistics Review, p 21-28.
Douglas, J., Douglas, A., & Barnes, B. (2006). Measuring Student Satisfaction at a UK University. Quality Assurance in Education. 14. 251-267.
Drucker, P. (1954). The Practice of Management. Harper & Row, New York, NY.
Minh-Quang, D. (2015). University Experiences and Satisfaction of Vietnamese University Students. Journal of Studies in Education. 5(4). Pp 90-99.
Etawau.com. (2019). Malaysian Private Universities. [online]. Available at: http://www.etawau.com/edu/IndexUniversityPrivate.htm[Accessed 15 November 2019].
Guilbault, M. (2018). Students as customers in higher education: The (controversial) debate needs to end. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 40, pp.295-298.
Haihambo, J. (2018). An investigation of students' perceptions of service quality at the Namibia Business School (Doctoral dissertation, University of Namibia).
Hofelich, A. J., and Preston, S. D. (2012). The meaning in empathy: Distinguishing conceptual encoding from facial mimicry, trait empathy, and attention to emotion. Cognition & Emotion, 26(1), pp.119-128.
Jahmani, A. (2017). The effect of Royal Jordanian Arline service quality on passsengers’s satisfaction.. International Journal of Business and Society, 18(S3), pp.519-530.
James, E., Bartlett, I., Kotrlik, J. W., & Higgins, C. C. (2001). Organizational research: determining appropriate sample size in survey research. Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, 19(1), p 43-50.
Kajenthiran, K., & Karunanithy, M. (2015). Service Quality and Student Satisfaction: A Case Study of Private External Higher Education Institutions in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Journal of Business, 1(2).
Kotler, P. (1977). From sales obsession to marketing effectiveness. Harv. Bus. Rev. 55 (6), pp 67-75.
Kunanusorn, A., & Puttawong, D. (2015). The Mediating effect of satisfaction on student loyalty to higher education institution. European Scientific Journal (Special Edition), 1, pp.449-463.
Lenton, P. (2015), “Determining Student Satisfaction: An Economic Analysis of the National Student Survey”, Economics of Education Review, vol. 47, pp. 118-127.
Li, I. W., & Carroll, D. (2017). Factors Influencing University Student Satisfaction, Dropout and Academic Performance: An Australian Higher Education Equity Perspective. National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE), Perth: Curtin University.
Mahmoud, A. B., & Grigoriou, N. (2017). When empathy hurts: Modelling university students’ word of mouth behaviour in public vs. private universities in Syria. Higher Education Quarterly, 71(4), pp.369-383.
Malaymail.com. (2019). Education Ministry: Revenue from international students expected to grow to RM15.6b. [online] Available at:
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/09/12/education-ministry-revenue-from-international-students-expected-to-grow-to/1789792 [Accessed 15 November 2019].
Nguyen, Q., Nisar, T. M., Knox, D., &Prabhakar, G. P. (2018). Understanding customer satisfaction in the UK quick service restaurant industry: The influence of the tangible attributes of perceived service quality. British Food Journal, 120(6), pp.1207-1222.
Yahaya, N. (2019). Recent Development of the International Higher Education in Malaysia - Challenges and Opportunities. EURIE Eurasia Higher Education Summit 2019 (EURIE2019). Istanbul. pp1-26.
Phi, H. D., Thanh, L. P., & Nguyen Viet, B. (2018). Effects of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty: A case of 4-and 5-star hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), 14(1232-2019-848), pp.437-450.
Pohyae, S., Romle, A. R., Saleh, N. H., Saleh, S., & Mohamood, K. B. (2016). The Relationship Between Service Quality and Student Satisfaction: The Case of International Students in Public University. World Applied Sciences Journal, 34(4), pp.491-498.
Sin, M. C., Yusof, B. B., & Sin, K. Y. (2018). International Students’ Satisfaction Level towards Service Quality in Academic Aspect and Loyalty to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(10).
Theresia, L., & Bangun, R. (2017). Service quality that improves customer satisfaction in a university: a case study in Institut Teknologi Indonesia. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. 277(1), p. 12-59.
Thien, L. M., & Jamil, H. (2019). Students as ‘Customers’: unmasking course experience and satisfaction of undergraduate students at a Malaysian Research University. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, pp.1-22.
Tompkins, K. A., Brecht, K., Tucker, B., Neander, L. L., & Swift, J. K. (2016). Who matters most? The contribution of faculty, student-peers, and outside support in predicting graduate student satisfaction. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 10(2), p.102.
Twaissi, N. M., & Al-Kilani, M. H. (2015). The Impact of Perceived Service Quality on Students' Intentions in Higher Education in a Jordanian Governmental University. International Business Research, 8(5), p.81.
Ung, V., & Norng, T. (2017). Gearing Service Quality into High Educational Institutes in Cambodia. Archives of Business Research, 5(9).
Xiao, J., & Wilkins, S. (2015). The effects of lecturer commitment on student perceptions of teaching quality and student satisfaction in Chinese higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 37(1), pp 98-110.

In-Text Citation: (Hoo et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Hoo, W. C., Lee, A., & Fong, W. Y. (2021). Predicting Factors towards Students Satisfaction among Private Universities in Selangor, Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(8), 1890–1900.