A best-practice model of university-students relationship development: An empirical study

© 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. A university-student relationship has been viewed as a key to the success and continuity of private universities. Although keeping students loyal is a critical objective of relationship marketing, there is a limited theoretical and practical knowledge on which antecedents could be used to achieve this aim. The essence of this research is the development of a more comprehensive model of universitystudent relationship that could reflect a best practice, on the basis of a review of the literature, and the empirical investigation of this model by using a mixed method of qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (surveys) approach. By sampling students in one private Jordanian university, results reveal that relationship strength and students\u27 satisfaction can impact students\u27 loyalty towards their universities. In addition, three relational bonds (financial, social and structural) can influence students\u27 satisfaction. Finally, the study indicates academic and in-practice implications within the education sector, and suggests some future research guidelines