Modelling the impact of online learning quality on students' satisfaction, trust and loyalty

• Published in: International journal of educational management Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 281 - 299
• Main Authors: Khan, Eijaz Ahmed, Cram, Andrew, Wang, Xiaoxia, Tran, Khanh, Cavaleri, Michelle, Rahman, Md Jahidur
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 22.03.2023; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Cognition & reasoning; College Students; Distance learning; Educational Environment; Educational Quality; Educational Resources; Electronic Learning; Higher education; Hypotheses; Hypothesis testing; Interdisciplinary Approach; International Education; Mediation Theory; Online Courses; Online instruction; Professional Education; Quality of education; Reputations; School environment; Strategic management; Structural equation modeling; Student attitudes; Student Satisfaction; Students; Teaching Methods; Trust (Psychology); Australia; Online learning quality; Structural equation modelling; Loyalty; Cognition–affective–conation model; Trust; Satisfaction
• ISSN: 0951-354X; 1758-6518
• DOI: 10.1108/IJEM-02-2022-0066

PurposeCritically, to improve and manage online learning quality (OLQUAL), higher education providers need to regularly measure OLQUAL. Hence, a reliable measure of OLQUAL in higher education from the students' perspective is indispensable. Further, as a pioneer in examining OLQUAL outcomes in the online education context, we assert that satisfaction, trust and loyalty is a global assessment that follows the evaluation of OLQUAL. A model that delineates the perceived OLQUAL and its relationship with satisfaction, trust and loyalty are currently absent. Grounded on the cognition–affective–conation framework – this study presents the indicators of perceived OLQUAL and its influence on students' satisfaction and trust which further influences their loyalty.Design/methodology/approachTo measure the OLQUAL instrument and proposed relationships – data were collected from 232 online undergraduate and postgraduate students. The results of confirmatory factor analysis measure five dimensions of perceived OLQUAL – comprising system quality, administrative quality, educational quality, transformative quality and social quality. Further, the proposed relationships were tested using structural equation modelling.FindingsThis study has successfully measured a second-order OLQUAL model on five primary quality dimensions (i.e. systems, administrative, educational, transformative and social). The findings confirm that students' satisfaction alone does not play a mediating role; rather, satisfaction and trust play a sequential mediating role between OLQUAL and loyalty.Originality/valueOur new model provides a new tool for institutions and researchers to evaluate the quality of online education programs, as well as identify their strategy in developing and providing high-quality online learning to students.