Service quality in education: a student perspective
| Pages | 15-21 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889710156549 |
| Date | 01 March 1997 |
| Published date | 01 March 1997 |
| Author | Mathew Joseph,Beatriz Joseph |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Introduction and background
Educational reforms have been taking place in
a number of countries since the early 1970s
(Ginsberg, 1991; Lawson, 1992). Different
reasons have been given to explain education-
al changes, but according to Gordon (1992)
the main themes or explanations used by
various nations involved in this process are the
issues of accountability, efficiency, manageri-
alism, and the arrival of monetarist economic
policies which advocate the commodification
of education.
The reform of the education sector in New
Zealand has been driven by the Treasury and
the State Services Commission, both of which
supported the concept that education should
be viewed as a commodity that can be traded
in the marketplace. Both believed that for
educational institutions to achieve efficiency
they must compete for finance and customers
(Kelsey, 1993).
As part of the new policy, the Government
introduced the concept of equivalent full-time
student (EFTS) funding, which ties funding
to the number of students an institution
attracts. This encourages institutions to com-
pete to maintain market share. The govern-
ment has also allowed tertiary institutions to
set their own fees to encourage further com-
petition and efficiency.
In order to compete effectively in the mar-
ketplace, an educational institution needs to
differentiate itself from competitors. The use
of marketing in this context could be very
beneficial to educational institutions, but one
of the major problems that educational insti-
tutions face when attempting to introduce
marketing is the negative attitude that some
educators and members of the public have
towards marketing. For example, Krachen-
berg (1972) stated that some people believe
that marketing is only good for pushing
worthless products, and manipulating people.
Kotler and Fox (1985) further add that edu-
cators have raised a number of concerns
regarding the use of marketing for education.
Among the concerns are that the purpose of
educational institutions is to impart knowl-
edge and skills, whereas the main purpose of
marketing is to make a profit which makes
marketing incompatible with the educational
mission. What appears to make marketing
unacceptable to some people is the belief that
it is used by people with self-seeking motives.
15
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 5 · Number 1 · 1997 · pp. 15–21
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0968-4883
Service quality in
education: a student
perspective
Mathew Joseph and
Beatriz Joseph
The authors
Mathew Joseph is Lecturer in the Department of
Marketing and International Management, School of
Management Studies, University of Waikato, Hamilton,
New Zealand.
Beatriz Joseph is Lecturer in Marketing at Waikato
Polytechnic, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Abstract
Examines New Zealand business students’ perceptions of
service quality in education. Describes a study in which the
respondents identified seven determinants of service
quality. Unlike prior studies, uses an importance/perfor-
mance-based approach to evaluate service quality in
education. Identifies some perceptual problems, such as
the least important factors being the best performers.
Presents the implications for education administrators and
makes some suggestions for future research.
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