¹Aalesund University College, Institute of International Marketing (IIM), Ålesund, Norway

Abstract

Even if images and allied constructs, especially identity and reputation, have received considerable attention in recent years, research efforts have mainly focused on those allied constructs and not on their interplay with related constructs. This study examines two models to explore the relationships among service quality, facilities, student satisfaction, image of the university college, and image of the study program, with student loyalty as the ultimate dependent variable. The students perceive the image of the university college and the image of the study program as two distinct concepts. The study's preferred model only indirectly relates the image of the study program to student loyalty (via the image of the university college) while student satisfaction and the image of the university college are directly related to student loyalty. Student satisfaction has the highest degree of association with student loyalty, representing a total effect about three times the effect of the image of the university college. Service quality only loads on student satisfaction, while the variable representing facilities loads on student satisfaction, the image of the university college and the image of the study program. The predictor variables included can explain a considerable amount of the variance of student loyalty.