Dimensions of Students’ Satisfaction with Residential Housing and its Impact on their Loyalty – A South African Study

Abstract As an important component of student lifestyle, satisfaction with residential housing has become important in examining student housing quality and services. The current study used five attributes – bedroom environment, building quality, washroom facilities, support services, and leisure room facilities – to examine the relationship between student satisfaction with and loyalty to their residential housing. Each construct was measured using four items on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 ‘Strongly disagree’ to 5 ‘Strongly agree’. The data were collected from South African students aged 18 years and above in tertiary institutions in Johannesburg, using paper-based questionnaires. Four hundred and forty-three (443) usable questionnaires were obtained for the analysis. The results showed that all the attributes, except for the bedroom environment, had a positive and significant relationship with student loyalty to student housing, although the effect was small for all the attributes. The control variables – age and gender – showed a similar relationship in regards to student loyalty. Academic and management implications of this study’s results are also discussed extensively. Overall, students’ satisfaction with residential housing dimensions has a positive and significant impact on their loyalty to the providers of residential housing.