STUDENT CUSTOMER ORIENTATION: A COMPARISON BETWEEN A SELECTION OF SOUTH AFRICAN AND INDONESIAN STUDENTS

Higher education, like any other business, should embrace a customer-oriented approach within the marketing concept as perquisite for sustainability. This include implementing the marketing concept which may have raised concerns about academic values and integrity. Thus, it is believed that a thorough understanding of guidance on how a customer-oriented concept should be implemented in higher education is crucial. The study addresses the need to study various higher education industry constructs and attempt to identify in which construct(s) the practice of customer-oriented should be applied. A total of 518 students from Southern Africa and Indonesia representing the management faculties in higher education institution (HEI) were selected. The data was processed with SPSS and tested for relationships between each construct as well as to identify which construct influence student satisfaction most. The study contributes in justifying the constructs in which students expect to be served as customers and be approached and identify which constructs they trust the HEI to conduct according to best practices. The study also highlights the construct which effects students' satisfaction. In addition, it also provides insights on how demographics, namely gender and countries contribute to a different emphases of the students' educational experiences. Lastly, the findings give practical implications and insights to HEI management on how to approach the institution from a marketing perspective.