Essay About Customers Of Their University And Students Characteristics

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This will be a critical point for the firm, because the main message has not to be forgotten,
as the women target is the main one of Avon Cosmetics. It has to be cleverly positioned in
a way that the two different messages do not mix with each other creating confusions
among the exciting profitable market.
Because the UK market under analysis has reached its maturity stage (reference) in its life
cycle(reference), the suitable strategy to implement it will be focused on offering a
sustainable brand differentiation, in terms of:
* benefit that is superior from the competitors: lower price
*Abstract
Purpose – In this study, the aim is to empirically examine the relationship between students
perceptions of themselves as customers of their university and their educational attitudes and
behaviors. It also seeks to investigate the extent to which students characteristics predict their
involvement with education.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors obtained data by surveying 1,025 students from a
medium-sized university in the southern United States.
Findings – Consistent with exchange theory, students who perceived themselves as customers were
more likely to feel entitled and to view complaining as beneficial. Satisfaction with their university, but
not their perceptions of themselves as university customers, predicted educational involvement. Not
surprisingly, students who were more involved in their education tended to be older, have higher grade
point averages, and attend class more often. However, these students also felt more entitled to
outcomes, although they did not differ in their perceptions of whether or not they were customers of
the university.
Practical implications – Students who view themselves as customers are likely to hold attitudes
and to engage in behaviors that are not conducive to success. However, if the aim is to increase student
involvement, how the students role is defined is less important than efforts to build student
satisfaction with the university.
Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to examine empirically the prevalence and effects
of student-as-customer perceptions. In addition, this study serves as a basis for better understanding
the drivers of student involvement.
Keywords Students, Attitudes, Individual perception, Universities, United States of America,
Customer satisfaction
Paper type Research paper
University administrators count increased competition for students as one of the most
important drivers of organizational change at their institutions (Kemelgor et al., 2000).
Rankings, such as those found in the U.S. News and World Report in the USA or league
tables in the UK, inform students of which universities best fit their needs. Student
satisfaction may contribute to these rankings. For example, the National Student
Survey (NSS) in the UK elicits student opinions and overall satisfaction ratings as a
way to help prospective students compare institutions (Williams and
Cappuccini-Ansfield, 2007). Since the 1990s, an increasing number of colleges have
created programs in order to compete for well-qualified students (George, 2007).
Specifically, many universities have chosen to implement corporate-style,
“customer”-oriented programs to increase enrollment (Ferreri, 2008). To the extent
that universities see their students as paying customers, they are accountable for
eliciting student opinions and for sharing improvements that have been made a s a
result