Measuring service quality in higher education: an empirical investigation of the hierarchical structure model in a high involvement setting

With the globalisation of the higher education industry, service quality in the higher education services is seen as a vital factor in determining a university’s competitive advantage. This study posits that higher education sector has unique characteristics that differ from retailing industries and therefore requires a customised approach towards service quality measurement. Existing measures of service quality in higher education have largely concentrated on the use of generic models such as SERVQUAL and SERVPERF in assessing students’ perception. However, these measures are found to be inadequate to capture the complexity of service perception in higher education service offering. This research study provides a new perspective on the conceptualisation of university service quality (USQ) by adapting Brady and Cronin’s (2001) hierarchical model in exploring the complex nature of perceived quality in a high involvement setting. This study aims to understand the nature of the USQ construct and to examine an individual’s motivation in higher education pursuit in influencing his/her USQ perception and the consequent effects in terms of satisfaction and behavioural intentions. This research study involves a two-stage design, which consists of qualitative and quantitative studies. The first stage consists of phenomenological interviews to gain in-depth insights into service quality experiences in the higher education institutions. The second stage which is a questionnaire survey, was then carried out to empirically verify the proposed hierarchical construct for higher education service quality and to examine the proposed antecedents and consequences model. A total of 1988 students from 9 participating universities in Malaysia responded to the questionnaire survey, and the data gathered was analysed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory data analysis and structural equation modeling. From the collective findings from Stage 1 and Stage 2 of this study, it was confirmed that the construct of service quality perception in higher education is multidimensional in nature, based on a fourth-order model which anchored upon ‘Academic Services Quality’, ‘Administrative Services Quality’ and ‘General Services Quality’ as the primary dimensions. Secondary dimensions are ‘Interaction Quality’, ‘Physical Environment Quality’ and ‘Outcome Quality’ with corresponding sub-dimensions attached to the respective dimensions. The effect of academic valence (in the form of students’ feelings towards their academic results) upon USQ perception is found to be an important influencing factor in service evaluation which requires careful attention in quality management. Further examination of the nature of USQ construct with the phenomenological findings revealed that students’ expectations are influenced by students’ sense of self which varied according to the different service they were engaged in. Their sense of self in this regard shapes their service expectations and hence, their perception of service quality. It is also established in this study that USQ perception is subject to individual characteristics such as their degree of self-determination in higher education pursuit and learning style. This study found that those who are more self-determined in the higher education participation tend to have a more favourable USQ perception, which then leads to a greater level of satisfaction and student loyalty. It was also found that the degree of the motivational effect upon USQ evaluation is moderated by the students’ learning styles. On the basis of the research findings, this study suggests that the complexity of the USQ construct as well as the effect of motivational differences and learning style upon USQ evaluation should be taken into account when considering how students’ USQ perception is formed. These pertinent issues deserve considerable attention as they have a bearing upon important outcomes such as student satisfaction and behavioural intentions. The complex nature of USQ evaluation calls for a holistic approach in managing service standards in academic services, administrative services and general services. Additionally, the understanding of the nature of students’ USQ perception and expectations can assist universities towards developing more effective quality management strategies in order to provide a meaningful USQ experience for the students