The antecedents of university loyalty: a study of postgraduate students in Malaysia

Purpose: This study investigates the antecedents of student loyalty towards universities. This study offers new insights into postgraduate loyalty in the context of the Malaysian higher education industry. Design/methodology/approach: Partial least squares structural equation modelling is used to analyse data obtained from a survey of 231 postgraduate students in Malaysia. Findings: The findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between price value and both student satisfaction and student loyalty. There are also strong relationships between learning environment and student satisfaction and between student satisfaction and student loyalty. While university prestige showed a significant relationship with student satisfaction, it is not related to student loyalty. Another important finding is that price value has a strong and direct relationship with both student satisfaction and student loyalty. Originality/value: This study presents an updated empirical model of student loyalty. Contrary to previous studies, the results indicate that service quality is not related to student satisfaction. However, it is found to influence student loyalty towards the University. The results also indicate the important mediating effect of student satisfaction. This is the first study to look specifically at student satisfaction and loyalty of postgraduate students in Malaysia.