International student expectations, perceived HEI quality, satisfaction and loyalty : a proposed conceptual model

Internationalization is widely considered to be the most important issue in higher education in recent decades. International student expectations, satisfaction and loyalty have become central in understanding and satisfying international students’ needs. This paper sheds new light on these factors by developing a conceptual model of international student expectations, satisfaction and loyalty. Based on the literature review and the results of previously carried out primary research, a new conceptual model is proposed. This paper aims at introducing secondary and primary findings and the steps of building and defining the new conceptual model. The investigations revealed that there is a connection between the researched factors: school-related expectations have an effect on school-related satisfaction and on the perceived quality of the institution, perceived quality affects school-related satisfaction, while non-school- related expectations affect non-school-related satisfaction. The overall satisfaction of students with the study-abroad experience is affected by school-related and non-school- related satisfaction, and this overall satisfaction, it is proposed, leads to loyalty. These results further our knowledge of internationalization and international students at a Hungarian higher education institution and could conceivably be used to better understand international students’ needs in general. The new model could be tested in future research