Moderators affecting relationship between student satisfaction and student retention in self-financed Tertiary education sector: A conceptual research model

Abstract

Strategies for retaining existing students are becoming increasingly important for self-financed tertiary education institutions as profitability increases as the average length of relationships with students increases. There is a stiff competition among these institutions for attracting and retaining students because there is a major determinant of competitiveness and therefore, they have been taking steps to improve student services. Yet, the number of students in tertiary education institutions is declining as they are unable to retain their students. Interestingly, research on ways to retain students in self-financed tertiary education sector in Hong Kong has been sparse. Satisfaction of students with their respective institutions has been a key measure of the ability of an educational institution to retain students. Nevertheless, competition has become so stiff that the institutions need to look for strategies that go beyond the basic satisfaction and help develop a sense of loyalty among students. In this context, barriers to switching institution, i.e. moving from one institution to another, is also an important driver of student retention, which has an impact of its own, as well as concurrently with satisfaction level. The magnitude and effectiveness of switching barriers moderate the correlation between student satisfaction and student retention. A new conceptual model that links the moderating effect of switching barriers on the correlation between student satisfaction and student retention is proposed.