Determinant of student loyalty in an open distance learning institution

University students’ loyalty is a key factor that contributes to the long term growth and survival of a university. The aim of this research is to develop a comprehensive university student loyalty model that incorporates important constructs in service quality dimension and relationship quality dimension. The study sample comprised of 2068 respondents who are undergraduate students from an open distance learning institution. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) through principal component technique with varimax rotation of the 48 items questionnaire from four constructs was able to account for 79.27% for the variance in student loyalty. The proposed model was empirically tested to validate the framework. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the significance of relationship between the constructs in the instrument. Results confirmed that all path coefficients reflecting the relationship between constructs are statistically significant. Students’ loyalty is significantly influenced by trust, emotional commitment and satisfaction. Path analysis suggests that service quality impacts loyalty through satisfaction, trust and emotional commitment. In this study, it is seen clearly that customers’ satisfaction plays the role of mediator in the effects of service quality on student loyalty. The path analysis also confirmed that trust and emotional commitment have direct effects on loyalty. Hence, acquiring students’ satisfaction through quality services, building trust and emotional commitment are import aspects in securing students’ loyalty. (Abstract by authors