Parves Sultan

Antecedents and Consequences of Service Quality in a Higher Education Context: A Qualitative Research Approach.

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to report on the perception of students in regard to critical antecedents, dimensions and consequences of service quality with an aim to develop a theoretical model in the context of a university in Australia.Design/methodology/approach – This research used focus group discussions with 19 students who had been studying in undergraduate and postgraduate level programs at an Australian university.Findings – The findings show that the critical antecedents to perceived service quality are information and past experience. There are three aspects of perceived service quality, namely, academic, administrative and facilities. Student satisfaction and student trust are found to have direct and positive relationships with perceived service quality as consequences; and brand performance and behavioural intention are found to have indirect relationships with perceived service quality mediated through satisfaction and trust.Originality/value – This paper found three separate theme...

Service quality in a higher education context: an integrated model

Purpose – The aim of this study is to develop and empirically test an integrated model incorporating the antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context.Design/methodology/approach – This research employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The data from three focus groups, conducted at the Central Queensland University (CQU), Rockhampton, Australia, generated key themes and their interrelationships. The theoretical model was then tested using structural equation modelling technique on a sample of 528 university students.Findings – The findings show that information (marketing communications) is more statistically significant than past experience as the antecedents of service quality. The consequences of service quality are composed of trust, satisfaction, and image. Overall, the results suggest a good validity of the theoretical model and the key paths in the model are found statistically significant, except past experience affecting service quality.Original...

Service quality in higher education : a review and research agenda

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical research issues in terms of service quality in higher education.Design/methodology/approach – The paper critically examines a number of leading studies in satisfaction, service quality, and higher education.Findings – The paper finds five critical research agenda in the field of service quality in higher education sector.Research limitations/implications – The paper shows the research gaps of service quality in higher education through a review of literature. Future research should empirically address those gaps.Practical implications – The growth of service quality literature started with commercial enterprises. Later, it is expanded in the management and marketing of higher education sector. Measuring and modeling service quality in higher education is new. The paper shows the nature and future directions of service quality research in higher education.Originality/value – The research issues developed for this paper are relevant to anteceden...

Performance‐based service quality model: an empirical study on Japanese universities

Purpose – This paper aims to develop and empirically test the performance‐based higher education service quality model.Design/methodology/approach – The study develops 67‐item instrument for measuring performance‐based service quality with a particular focus on the higher education sector. Scale reliability is confirmed using the Cronbachs alpha. The principle component analysis followed by a Varimax method is used to extract the factor loadings.Findings – The results are satisfactory in terms of factor analysis, reliability and validity tests. Based on the overall loaded items, the eight dimensions are named. They are dependability, effectiveness, capability, efficiency, competencies, assurance, unusual situation management, and semester and syllabus.Research limitations/implications – Although the empirical results are significant, a comparative study can identify relative strengths of this model.Practical implications – This study underlines some critical dimensions and related attributes on which the...

An integrated-process model of service quality, institutional brand and behavioural intentions: The case of a University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrated-process model/an index model by incorporating the antecedents and consequences of service quality in a higher education context. Design/methodology/approach – This research employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The data from three focus groups, conducted at an Australian University, generated key themes and their interrelationships. The theoretical model was then tested using the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique on a sample of 528 University students. Findings – The findings show that information (or marketing communications) and past experience are the antecedents of perceived service quality (PSQ). PSQ is a second order construct and has three dimensions: academic, administrative and facilities. The consequences of PSQ include trust, satisfaction, university-brand (UniBrand) performance and behavioural intentions. Overall, the results suggest a good validity of the model, and the nine path coeffi...

Banking service quality in the Middle Eastern countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review some of the key studies that are published in the last three decades on banking service quality with particular attention to the Middle Eastern countries, and provide some future research directions. Design/methodology/approach – Literature review. Findings – The review generated 11 research questions related to Islamic and conventional banking services in the Middle Eastern countries. Research limitations/implications – This paper reviews leading, current studies on conventional and Islamic banking in the Middle East, and provides future research directions for scholars and practitioners alike. Future research should address each of the research questions as identified in this paper with empirical data/evidence. Practical implications – This paper reviews leading, current studies on conventional and Islamic banking in the Middle East and provides future directions of research for scholars and practitioners alike. Future research should address each of the ...

The Role of Brand Communications in Consumer Purchases of Organic Foods: A Research Framework

Despite a high level of awareness about organic foods in the marketplace, consumer purchases remain relatively low. This article develops a research framework for translation of relatively high consumer awareness of organic foods to increased consumer purchases. Literature review reveals that both a lack of knowledge in how foods qualify as organic and consumers’ mistrust in the way organizations apply the word organic prevents consumers from engaging in organic food purchases. Furthermore, being organic is no longer enough as organic products have become commoditized in the marketplace. With such an increasing commoditization of organic products, there is a growing pressure for organics to more effectively differentiate themselves. Accordingly, there is a dual branding opportunity for upgrading the current state of consumer awareness into both a higher volume of purchases and expanding the consumer base. This article proposes a research framework utilizing brand communications that could play a central role in triggering higher levels of consumer awareness, translating into increased volumes of organic purchases. This research framework considers consumer benefits an antecedent to brand communications and organic knowledge and consumer trust the mediators in influencing consumer organic purchases.

How brand-oriented strategy affects the financial performance of B2B SMEs

This study aims to examine the relationship between brand orientation and financial performance in business-to-business (B2B) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It examines the impact of brand-oriented strategy on financial performance through four branding constructs, namely, internal branding, brand communication, brand awareness and brand credibility.,A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from 250 Finnish B2B SMEs. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the validity of the constructs, whereas structural equation modeling was used to test proposed hypotheses of the study.,The results suggest that brand orientation improves the effectiveness of brand communication and internal branding in building brand awareness and credibility. Brand awareness emphasizes an external route through brand communication, whereas brand credibility emphasizes an internal route through internal branding. Brand awareness has a positive impact on brand credibility, and brand credibility has a positive impact on financial performance, highlighting the importance of both brand performance components for financial performance.,This study addresses the research gap in the B2B branding literature regarding the role of branding in enhancing financial performance. The results suggest that brand-oriented strategy can contribute to financial performance through brand awareness and brand credibility in the context of B2B SMEs.

Demographic differences in Jordanian bank service quality perceptions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess differences in banking service quality (BSQ) perceptions across demographic subgroups of Islamic and conventional Jordanian banking consumers. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected using surveys. The survey contains items for three different measures of overall BSQ perceptions. The researchers mailed surveys to a random sample of 2,000 banking customers in Jordan. Responses to questionnaire items measuring respondents’ BSQ perceptions were analysed using one-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s honest significant difference post hoc tests to assess subgroup differences in six demographic variables: gender, age, occupation, income, education, and religion. Findings BSQ perceptions are significantly different in four of the six demographic variables. Age and education do not impact on BSQ perceptions. Research limitations/implications The findings indicate demographic effects on Jordanian banking consumers’ perceived BSQ. Study limitations include demographic subgroup underrepresentation and survey structure. Future research should obtain a more representative sample for better generalisability. Practical implications The findings suggest that Jordanian banks should structure their services to best accommodate their customers’ demographics. In addition, banks can use the findings to guide the development of demographic-driven marketing to target and attract customers efficiently. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate demographic differences in the perceived service quality of Jordan’s Islamic and conventional banking customers. The findings can contribute to future research on BSQ, and guide Jordan’s banking management towards more effective marketing and service provision.

Segmenting the Australian organic food consumer market

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to segment the Australian organic food consumer market. Design/methodology/approach A nationwide online survey was conducted for collecting data about the Australian organic food consumer market. Various statistical techniques were used for analyzing the data and identifying market segments. Findings The key market segmentation variables that significantly characterize the Australian organic food consumer market include age, income, education, metro/city-vs-rural/region, purchase frequency, weekly expenditure, consumption period, retail outlets, perceived values, self-image, and perceptions about organic foods. Originality/value Australia, like many other countries, is an emerging market for the organically produced and marketed food products. The current review unfolds the fact that there are limited studies in market segmentation, and no study in the Australian context, in particular. The current paper contributes to the organic food market segmentation literature and provides several implications for market segmentation strategy.