Examination of the Linkages among Educational Service Quality, Attachment, and Satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose: Along with rapid demographic decline, university student population is steadily declining and universities arestarting to experience student shortage nowadays. It is not only important for universities to attract as many newstudents as possible to their school but also to retain the students that are currently enrolled. Despite its importance,little is known about how universities can stay competitive in keeping their student enrollment rate consistent. Students’ attachment level towards their university and their satisfaction level with the service offered by the schoolare some of the factors that are important in improving students’ evaluation of the service received by students. Moreover, it is critical to understand the antecedents to these outcomes to devise strategies in maximizing students’attachment and satisfaction level. Based on this background, this research intends to understand the role of universitystudents’ perceived educational service quality of the service provided by the school they are current enrolled inshaping their attachment level towards the school and their satisfaction level. Moreover, the influence of attachmentlevel on students’ satisfaction level will be examined. Research design, data, and methodology: A quantitative approach was applied to address the research objective ofthis study. Questionnaires were distributed to students currently enrolled in the College of Commerce and Economicsof D university in Busan. A total of 228 questionnaires were returned and 211 questionnaires were used for analysis. SPSS and AMOS statistical packages were used for analysis to test the hypothesized model. Results: The findings of this research can be summarized as the following. First, out of the educational service qualitydimensions, instruction, educational program, and administrative service qualities positively influence students’satisfaction level. Second, the quality of instruction and educational program positively affect students’ attachmentlevel towards the university. Last, students’ attachment level positively impacts their satisfaction level. Implications: This research attempted to understand the influence of students’ perceived educational service quality ofthe university they are enrolled in determining their attachment and their satisfaction level. The results of this studysuggest that universities should pay attention to enhancing the quality of the services offered to students to staycompetitive and to recognize the importance of students’ attachment level in shaping their satisfaction level regardingthe service provided by the university.