Service Quality Imperative for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

Abstract

In higher education, quality is often looked at from an education perspective. This chapter will take another stance by analyzing and discussing service quality within tertiary education from a marketing perspective. The literature review put forward by various theorists argues that service marketing has evolved over time, as more research has been conducted on service quality and how it impacts on the customer/clients. Since tertiary education forms part of service marketing, this chapter aims to identify the quality variables attached to this service sector and illustrate how each quality variable affects the students and staff within the university environment. Service quality, if developed and implemented accordingly within a higher education institution, can become an important element that a university can use as a competitive advantage. This in turn can yield long-term benefits to the organisation.