Cross-cultural Research in Alumni Loyalty: An Empirical Study among Master Students from German and Russian Universities

As a consequence of globalization and steadily declining financial state support, the strategic importance of alumni loyalty (AL) has remained topical in a competitive education market. Due to the vital role of AL, researchers created numerous econometric models to reveal primary drivers of AL. However, these models mainly focused on AL in English-speaking societies. Since consumer behavior can significantly depend on the cultural norm, research into Western alumni may not necessarily predict the behavior of alumni from Eastern countries. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether the bond between the intention to AL (IAL) and its antecedents is sensitive to the cultural environment. Three of Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions were integrated into the integrative model of intention to alumni loyalty. The authors test this model using a structural equation modeling approach, multi-group as well as important performance analyses. A sample of 159 German and 229 Russian students reveals that predisposition to charity exerts a greater impact and integration exerts less influence on IAL enhancement in individualistic cultures than in collectivistic societies. In high power distance cultures, corporative quality (esp. university reputation) is an essential IAL driver. In contrast, interactive quality (esp. correctness of knowledge evaluation) is a critical factor in low power distance cultures. Benefits of the alumni association play a valuable role on IAL enhancement in both masculine and feminine societies. The findings can serve as a framework for developing a culturally stable universal alumni loyalty model that can be generalized from one cultural setting to another.