Students’ switching intentions for graduate education services: examining the influence of service quality, price, and attractiveness of alternative

ABSTRACT

Although service customers’ switching intention has gained scholars’ attention, research focusing on higher education institutions (HEIs), which examines other antecedents beyond service quality, seems to be missing in the literature. The present study integrates relevant theories and concepts from both marketing and higher education literature to explore the influence of service quality, price, and attractiveness of alternative on students’ switching intention. Based on the Nigeria-centric ICEQ service quality model for HEIs, a quantitative study involving final year students of a university in Nigeria was conducted. Data analysis was based on the SmartPLS structural equation modeling. Findings indicate that attractiveness of alternative and price have overtaken service quality in predicting switching intention among prospective graduate students. In the ICEQ model, only the quality of institutional infrastructure could influence switching intention positively and significantly. The study proposes a model that can guide HEIs in developing countries to craft effective marketing strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Service quality
• ICEQ
• price
• attractiveness of alternative
• switching intention
• higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the author, upon reasonable request.