Impact of Higher Education Service Quality on Students’ Satisfaction the Moderating Role of Demographic Attributes

Abstract

Present attitudes of the students are more proximity with service quality determinants which are offered by the universities, and that they open door to create favourable perception about high level of satisfaction in competitive environments. Moreover, student satisfaction may differ under different demographic background of the students. The main objective of this research study is to identify the moderating effect of demographic attributes on the relationship between higher education service quality and students’ satisfaction with special reference to students who are studying in higher education institutes in Southern province of Sri Lanka. The quantitative research approach was used for the study and data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 250 randomly selected full-time students who were studying in state and private universities in Southern province. Collected data were analysed through ANOVA test, correlation and multiple regression techniques through IBM SPSS 23. The results of the regression analysis reveal that, there is a significant positive impact of service quality of universities on students’ satisfaction. Furthermore, four demographic attributes, namely age level, occupation level, income level and gender level were used as the construct of the study to measure the moderating effect of demographic attributes on the relationship between higher education service quality and students’ satisfaction. The three attributes of age level, occupation level and income level have increased the relationship between higher education service quality and students’ satisfaction.