Relationship marketing in Australian higher education: The impact of relationship perceptions on the retention intentions of first year students in regional, new universities

"Relationship marketing (RM) represents a possible marketing strategy for regional, new universities in Australia. Universities have been interested in student retention for many reasons other than marketing. However, now faced with increased domestic competition and the adoption of a student customer focus, the need to stem first year student attrition has become more pronounced. RM is an attractive strategy for regional, new universities as the key outcome of RM is the retention of current customers. However, RM thoery remains fragmented with many gaps in the literature..." -- abstract. Relationship marketing (RM) represents a possible marketing strategy for regional, new universities in Australia. Universities have been interested in student retention for many reasons other than marketing. However, now faced with increased domestic competition and the adoption of a student customer focus, the need to stem first year student attrition has become more pronounced. RM is an attractive strategy for regional, new universities as the key outcome of RM is the retention of current customers. However, RM theory remains fragmented with many gaps in the literature. Accordingly, the research problem investigated was: How do first year students' perceptions of their relationship with the regional, new, Australian university in which they are enrolled impact upon their retention intentions (to complete their current degree) for a higher education service product? Two research questions were developed to address two primary theoretical concerns. Firstly, this research was concerned with the further development of four specific RM themes, these being: relationship desire, relational benefits, relationship satisfaction and relationship strength. Secondly, this research was concerned with the interrelationships between these four RM themes and their subsequent impact upon relationship-based retention intentions. A two-stage methodological approach was used. An exploratory study using interviews and focus groups was undertaken first. In concert with the literature review, the exploratory study formed the basis for the development of the main study questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was then administered at three regional, new universities and provided quantitative data about the research questions and hypotheses. The data generated by the 334 useable questionnaires were analysed with SPSS and AMOS 4.0 with structural equation modelling the primary data analysis technique. In addressing the research problem, this research makes contri-butions to RM theory. Firstly, theoretical contributions were made to each RM theme, thus adding to the understanding of relationship desire, relational benefits, relationship satisfaction and relationship strength. Primarily, this research found that: 1) a customer's desire for a relationship impacts upon their perceptions of relational benefits and relationship satisfaction; 2) there are three context-specific categories of relational benefits, namely learning environment, motivation and assessment confidence; 3) relationship satisfaction is the primary influencer of relationship-based retention intentions; and 4) there are three categories of context-specific relationship strength dimensions, namely bene-volence, care and feedback. The second contribution to theory made by this research was the model of RM theme interrelationships, which empirically identified the links between the four RM themes and their impact upon relationship-based retention intentions. This research also has practical implications for higher education marketing. The findings of this research provide useful and meaningful practical information about first year students' perceptions of their relationship with their university, and the impact of these relationships upon their retention intentions. As such, the findings of this research may assist in the adoption, design and implementation of RM strategies by regional, new universities. The overall conclusion of this research was that for some first year students, relationships are an important retention criterion, for other first year students relationships are a retention consideration but of lesser importance, while for the remaining first year students, relationships are inconsequential to their retention decisions. As such, RM remains a potential marketing strategy for regional, new universities to enhance the retention of some, but not all, of their first year student consumers