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UPSI Digital Repository (UDRep)
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| Abstract : Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris |
| Malaysia has been recognized as a higher education destination for international students. Recently, an issue of ensuring a positive service experience among international students in Malaysian public universities has gained enormous attention. The international students are viewed as the primary customers of higher education. It is important for universities to attract and retain the international students' experience to compete in the global market and enhance university ranking. Consequently, universities need to improve the international students' experience with service delivery rendered, including teaching and learning, research, and administrative. Previous research affirms that the customer experience involves three phases of human interaction, cognitive, affective and behavioral, when evaluating services. The cognitive-affective-behavioral model is often used to explain the concept of customer experience. Nevertheless, this model still does not specify the relevant variables that represent each phase of the customer experience as well as their interrelationships. Therefore, the general objective of this research is to develop a comprehensive model of customer experience by integrating the theories and knowledge across multiple research areas, including management, consumer behavior, marketing, and higher education. Drawing on the theoretical perspectives, the developed model illustrates that each phase of customer experience is represented by relevant variables. The cognitive phase is represented by three variables, namely service personal values (SPV), service value (SV) and service quality (SQ). The affective phase is represented by emotional satisfaction (E-SAC), and behavioral phase is represented by favorable behavioral intentions (FBI). The review of related literature has revealed that the concept of Spy and E-SAC are rarely investigated in the service context. Furthermore, the crucial role of E-SAC as a mediating variable that could enhance the relationship between the cognitive and behavioral phase has also been neglected. Although an attempt has been made to test the relationships among customer experience variables, the previous studies have rarely examined the relationships among the variables simultaneously in one model. Therefore, these limitations have generated specific interest in simultaneously testing the relationships among customer experience variables, including SPY, SV, SQ, E-SAC, and FBI, with E-SAC playing a mediating role in enhancing relationship between the customer' cognitive variables and FBI. This research was conducted at Malaysian Research Universities, including Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia. The sample included postgraduate international students (PIS). The data were gathered through online survey. The online questionnaire was randomly sent to PIS emails following the proportionate stratified sampling technique. Overall, 381 usable responses were received and used in the data analysis. The structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 18.0 was performed to test the relationships among the customer experience variables. The findings revealed that the PIS' cognitive variables, including SPV, SV and SQ, lead to E-SAC, which, in turn affect their FBI. Furthermore, this research also demonstrated the mediating role of E-SAC in the relationships between the customers' cognitive levels (SPV, SV and SQ) and FBI. The research findings provide theoretical and practical implications. This research will able to enlarge the body of knowledge in service management by developing an integrative model of customer experience with the relevant variables that cover three crucial phases of the customer interactions, including cognitive, affective and behavioral. In addition, this research indentified the concept of SPY and E-SAC that have been rarely investigated in the service context. For practical implication, the introduced variables of customer experience are able to provide a guideline for the universities to manage the service delivery from the international students' point of views. |
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