The Effect of Educational Service Quality on Students' Loyalty through Satisfaction Mediation

Due to the decrease in student population, the importance of student loyalty in higher education is increasing. On the other hand, student's satisfaction can lead to loyalty as a competitive advantage. Educational Service Quality is also considered an important and effective challenge in this area. Thus this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of educational service quality on students' loyalty by satisfaction mediation.This was a descriptive survey study.

The statistical population consisted of all undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D. students of Imam Khomeini International University. The stratified random sampling was done. Students' Loyalty, Satisfaction and Educational Service Quality questionnaires were used to collect data, to confirm the tool's reliability. The alpha coefficients respectively were 0.91, 0.87 and 0.81, indicating the tools' desired reliability. Finally, 342 questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The effect of educational service quality on satisfaction was positive and significant. The effect of satisfaction on loyalty was positive and significant.This study showed that the direct effect of educational service quality on students' loyalty was negative and not significant. But it affects the loyalty indirectly and through satisfaction. This finding emphasizes the importance of satisfaction as an influential variable in student loyalty and enhancement.