University Reputation, Brand Attachment and Brand Personality as Antecedents of Student Loyalty: A Study in Higher Educa
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
University Reputation, Brand Attachment and Brand Personality as Antecedents of Student Loyalty: A Study in Higher Education Context Vikrant Kaushal1 · Nurmahmud Ali1
© Reputation Institute and Springer Nature Limited 2019
Abstract The current study develops and tests a model taking into consideration constructs including university reputation, university brand attachment and university brand personality, and investigates how these university brand components translate into student loyalty in the context of higher education. While analysing causal relationships, the study also considers the effects of moderating variables like age, gender, seniority and scholarship assistance, and also the mediating effects of satisfaction between university reputation and university brand personality on student loyalty. In the empirical analysis, it was found that university reputation had both direct and indirect effects through satisfaction on student-loyalty behaviour. Students’ age, seniority and provision of financial assistance in the form of scholarships were found to be affecting satisfaction–loyalty relationships to various degrees. The study utilised a sample of higher education students enroled in various programmes in a large private Indian university. Findings and relevant implications in theory and practice are also discussed. Keywords University reputation · Brand attachment and brand personality · Satisfaction · Student loyalty
Introduction The higher education market has pervaded beyond English speaking countries (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka 2006) to emerging economies. This has further led to the increasing competition and bolstered interest of institutions to differentiate themselves from other academic contenders (Dennis et al. 2016). Analogously, arguments have proliferated concerning with the need of managing existing enrolments rather than grappling for newer admissions for stronger position in the market (DeShields Jr et al. 2005; Zemke 2000). Increased competition has rendered branding as an inseparable aspect of university management (Sung and Yang 2008; Curtis et al. 2009). In a similar vein, Bunzel (2007) pointed out that “a university is no longer just an institution of higher * Vikrant Kaushal [email protected] Nurmahmud Ali [email protected] 1
School of Hotel Management and Tourism, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Punjab 144 411, India
learning but also a business” (p. 152). Higher education is established as a global phenomenon, which renders research in its marketing indispensable (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka 2006). University brands have arguably been represented as the totality of stakeholders’ perceptions and feelings about the institution (Rauschnabel et al. 2016; Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka 2006). While the literature pertaining to university branding has evolved significantly, which naturally comprises varied brand compositions in higher education (Hemsley-Brown and Oplatka 2006), this research investigates a novel model for Indian high
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