Antecedents of Perceived Service Quality of Online Education During a Pandemic: Configuration Analysis Based on Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Background During COVID-19 lockdown worldwide, classroom education continues remotely through online. The question remains, comparing with the face-to-face education, does online education has a similar satisfaction level among the students? There are only a few studies that examine the perceived service quality of online education. Objective The study aims to analyze the factors of perceived service quality of online education during a pandemic. Research Design A structured questionnaire elicits information from 147 students from different study backgrounds of various universities worldwide. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used for data analysis and model design. Research constructs evaluation for reliability and internal consistency are subsequently performed. A snowball random sampling method is applied for data collection. Results Findings from the fsQCA analysis identify four core factors that underpin student satisfaction through positive perceived service quality of online education. Alternative paths are determined based on gender, students’ current education status, and their loyalty toward online education. We also introduce two topologies of perceived quality regarding online education and student satisfaction. Originality Because of the primary nature of the data, this is firsthand experience gathered from different universities around the world who have willingly or unwillingly experienced online learning during the pandemic. The fsQCA technique for examining perceived service quality of online education. Conclusions The findings contain a number of contributions, illustrating different topologies of the student from different backgrounds and their intention, satisfaction and loyalty towards e-learning, and identifying causal factors that influence willingness to recommend online education.