University social responsibility as antecedent of students’ satisfaction

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine which factors influence higher education students’ satisfaction during education services consumption using a University Social Responsibility (USR) model as reference. Firstly, it is analysed the university impacts regarding USR from students’ point of view and their influence in the overall index of USR. Secondly, it is investigated the relationship between overall perception of USR and student satisfaction. In doing that, the reported study examined these relations and tested a proposed model based on the answers of 400 students from University of León, in Spain, that provided the input for data analysis with structural equations with modelling with PLS. Results support, on one hand, students differentiate between USR facets, but only one affects the overall perception of USR, internal management. On the other hand, overall perception of USR is a determining factor of students’ satisfaction. Our findings demonstrate the need to develop an appropriate marketing strategy to understand students’ expectations, attract and retain students, prevent students’ drop out and improve students’ satisfaction through an USR model aligned with the university structure, processes, procedures, mission and vision.