Proceedings of the 52nd International Academic Conference, Barcelona

ARE GENERATION Y STUDENTS BRAND LOYAL TO THEIR UNIVERSITY? A CASE OF ATTITUDE, COMMITMENT AND TRUST ON STUDENT BRAND LOYALTY

COSTA SYNODINOS, KIRTY-LEE SHARP

Abstract:

Customer loyalty is at the epicentre of any successful business. As such, the ultimate goal for any organisation is to create a loyal customer base. Loyalty occurs when organisations consistently satisfy the needs and wants of their customers. In addition, the more trust a consumer places in a particular organisation, the more loyal they will be to that organisation. Supportive attitudes and relationship commitment are perceived as valuable predeterminants when measuring customer loyalty and predicting future purchasing behaviour of consumers. Similarly, student loyalty is a major goal for a university. Loyal students engage in positive word of mouth marketing and could consider returning to their university to complete their postgraduate studies. This study aimed to determine if Generation Y students display both supportive attitudes towards their current university and if they possess some sort of relationship commitment towards their university. In addition, the study sought to understand the impact with which Generation Y students’ trust exhibits towards brand loyalty of their respective universities. A total of 480 self-administered questionnaires were distributed across three higher education institutions in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A variety of statistical techniques were employed to analyse the captured data. These included internal-consistency reliability and validity measures, descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling. The study’s results found Generation Y students’ supportive attitudes and their relationship commitment have a direct positive significant influence towards trust in their university. Moreover, the trust that Generation Y students placed into their university has a direct positive influence on student brand loyalty. Based on the commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing, both relationship commitment and trust need to exist for relationships to be successful. The results indicate that relationship commitment and trust are cooperative behaviours that allow both Generation Y students and universities to mutually fulfil their needs. Thus, Generation Y students feel a sense of value, whilst, the university receives customer loyalty in return. The results of this study indicate that universities should take note of a student’s supportive attitudes and relationship commitment. In addition, universities must take students’ trust into consideration, as this affects student brand loyalty and ultimately student retention for the institution.

Keywords: Relationship commitment, attitudes, trust, brand loyalty, Generation Y students, South Africa

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2019.052.062

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