Consumer Satisfaction as a Process: A Qualitative, Retrospective Longitudinal Study of Overseas Students in Australia

This study focuses on the export of higher education as a marketing challenge, with overseas students representing the customers, and universities the providers of a professional service. In doing so, we examine (dis)satisfaction as an evaluation process at four points in time (prior to and following the act of purchase), rather than as a static dependent variable. The theoretical basis for this study is the Disconfirmation of Expectations model, which posits that perceived gaps between pre-purchase expectations and product (service) performance lead to differential levels of post-purchase satisfaction. The study involved in-depth interviews with undergraduate and graduate overseas students at the University of Wollongong, in Australia. Some of the major findings were: (1) students have well defined expectations along four major dimensions: “learning well-being,” “social well-being,” “economic well-being,” and “personal well-being”; (2) there was evidence that the three key variables (expectations, perceived performance and satisfaction) shift over time. These shifts were not uniform and varied depending on the dimension; (3) the major determinant of satisfaction appears to be the “learning well-being” dimension.