Higher Education Quality and Student Satisfaction Nexus : Evidence from Zambia

This paper contributes to the service quality literature by applying the service performance (SERVPERF) model in an under-researched Zambian universities context. Therefore, it examines the influence of each service quality dimension on overall service satisfaction and behavioural intentions in terms of loyalty and positive word of mouth. Based on a quantitative correlational design, primary data were collected from 656 senior final year undergraduate students at one public university. The findings indicate that service quality performance dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance) are each significantly positively related to overall customer satisfaction which in turn affects behavioural intentions. For scholars, administrations and policy makers, the study shows that the service performance model is a valid and useful framework for assessing and monitoring how students form their service quality perceptions and behavioural intentions. This paper is the first to extend the service performance model of service quality into the under researched developing country context of higher education in Zambia