FACTORS AFFECTING THE LOYALTY OF STUDENTS - A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES OF KARACHI

Abstract

Purpose - From past studies it has been noted that customer loyalty has been studied widely, however when it comes to the loyalty of students there hasn’t been much prior research, therefore the primary aim of this research is to explore the factors that affect the loyalty of students in the universities of Pakistan. This research will state the factors that might affect the loyalty ofstudents and how much of an impact these factors might have. It will be useful for educational institutes when they are making policies, it will help teachers to better understand what students expect from them and it will also help students with what to look for in a university. The research conducted has answered questions raised within itself and has answered questions that might aid higher education institutes to work towards the welfare oftheir students, gain their loyalty and also retain it. Methodology and Design - This is a quantitative research based on the data of private universities in Karachi. The data collection for this research, has been done through questionnaires. The sample size was 380 and the data was collected from four prominent private universities in Karachi, namely Bahria University Karachi Campus, Institute of Business Management (IoBM), Iqra University and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of and Technology (SZABIST). In accordance with the nature of this research, was used. Out of 380 Science descriptive statistics and regression & correlation (inferential statistics) only 280 respondents replied, out of which the percentage of the male respondents is (51.8 %) and female respondents (48.2 %). Findings - According to the research’s findings, female students incline more towards brand name when choosing a university and also give importance to the location of the university as compared to their male counterparts. In contrast, the male students in comparison to the female students, seem to focus more on two significant traits of a university and those interest was shown towards are: the faculty (instructors) and market value. Not much regard or facilities by both the genders. In addition, it is evident from the results that offered and extra-curricular activities) are not that the university’s traits such as (fee structure, programmes much important traits Additionally, the high correlation with the loyalty ofstudents and also have a huge impact on it. On the other in the perspective of both the female and male correspondents, results further depict that service attitude and academic facilities have a hand, the environment ofthe campus has a weak correlation with the loyalty ofstudents, but somewhat impacts the loyalty of students. As for the other variables, Head of Department and programme coordinators they both have a notably low correlation with the loyalty of students and both variables do not impact it at the same time. Limitations — This study is of cross-sectional nature, because of which management oftime became a cause of concern. Because of shortage of time and also because of not having to too many contacts, the research had to be limited to only 4 of Karachi’s private universities which are Bahria University, Iqra University, SZABIST and IoBM. Lastly, financial resources also limited the efforts being put while doing this research. Recommendations - Training programmes for the academic and management staff of universities should be conducted to instill a service mindset within them, which will access resultantly lead to the increment of loyalty of students. Workshops and seminars should be held in order to build a rapport between HOD(s), programme coordinators and students, as in order to create a better they don’t have much interaction. Campuses need to be renovated academic environment for students and build any facilities that the campus might lack. Student should be given information regarding scholarships and availing them and also fee structures need to be revised. Lastly, new programmes need to be made in collaboration with organisations from the corporate sector.