Relationship marketing dynamics and customer loyalty in higher education sector

In response to the challenges facing higher educational institutions, including declining public funding, globalization and stiff competition, this study aims to fill Literature gaps by proposing and validating a customer loyalty model based on relationship marketing for the higher education sector. Drawing upon social exchange and social learning theories, this study examines the moderating effect of long term orientation on the link between relationship marketing dynamics and customer loyalty. A total of 416 graduates and undergraduate students of federal universities in Nigeria participated in the study. The results of the partial least squares (PLS) path analysis supported the hypothesized direct and indirect effects of relationship marketing
dynamics on customer loyalty. Specifically, relationship marketing dynamics of bonding, communication, and personalization were found to have significant positive relationship with customer satisfaction and trust. The results of the analysis also suggest that customer satisfaction and trust mediate the link between bonding, communication, personalization and customer loyalty. Furthermore, long term
orientation moderates the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Specifically, there is more significant positive relationship between customer
satisfaction and customer loyalty for individual customers high in long term
orientation than for individual customers low in long term orientation. However, no moderating effect of long term orientation was found on the path between trust and customer loyalty. Taken together, the findings of the study lend empirical support to the view that relationship marketing in general, and service personalization in particular, can promote customer loyalty, especially among individual customers high in long term orientation. Hence, knowledge of individual customer long term
orientation can assist university administrators in managing their students profile effectively. Theoretical, managerial, and methodological implications are discussed
and a conclusion is drawn.