A conceptualisation of perceived brand orientation and service quality in higher education sector

The increasingly competitive environment being experienced in the services sector has resulted in service providers placing more emphasis on improving service quality. Service quality refers to the extent to which the level of service being delivered matches customer expectations (Herstein and Gamliel, 2006). Within the higher education sector, service quality is regarded as a means to create a competitive advantage that would assist higher education institutions to differentiate themselves from others (Kassim and Zain, 2010). Past studies have provided empirical evidence to support the positive impact of service quality on student satisfaction (Athiyaman, 1997; Petruzzellis et al., 2006), loyalty (Rojas-Mendez et al., 2009), and post-enrolment communication behavior (Bruce and Edgington, 2008; Carter, 2009). Despite the extensive number of studies on the role of brand within the service sector, the existing service literature on brand orientation is still at its infancy. Brand orientation is defined as 'an approach in which the processes of the organization revolve around the creation, development, and protection of brand identity in an ongoing interaction with target customers with the aim of achieving lasting competitive advantages in the form of brands' (Urde, 1999, p.117). Until recently, the topic of brand orientation still remains underresearched (O'Cass and Ngo, 2009) and no empirical studies have been done to examine brand orientation from student perspective. This study aims to make a contribution towards the conceptualization of brand orientation within the service sector, and to examine its impact on perceived service quality within the higher education context. In particular, this study examines the concept of brand orientation from students' perspective ('perceived brand orientation') which is consistent with recent approaches in this area (Mulyanegara, 2011a; Mulyanegara, 2011b)