BBA Dissertation

Pre- and Post-Admission Perceptual Differences about SZABIST:A Case Study 2012
of Undergraduate Students
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................4
1.1 Pictoral Representation of Results.........................................................................................5
2. Introduction..................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Research Variables................................................................................................................6
2.2 Research Methodology..........................................................................................................7
2.3 Sample Size and Sample Technique......................................................................................7
2.4 Scope of the Study.................................................................................................................8
2.5 Research Objectives...............................................................................................................9
2.6 Research Questions................................................................................................................9
3. Literature Review......................................................................................................................10
3.1 Purchase Process..................................................................................................................10
3.1.1 Need Recognition.........................................................................................................10
3.1.2 Information Search.......................................................................................................10
3.1.3 Evaluations Of Alternatives..........................................................................................11
3.1.4 Purchase Decision.........................................................................................................11
3.1.5 Product Consumption And Post Purchase Evaluation:.................................................11
3.2 Pre-purchase Behavior.........................................................................................................12
3.2.1 Norms:..........................................................................................................................12
3.2.2 Purchase Decision.........................................................................................................13
3.2.3 Hedonic and Utilitarian Products..................................................................................14
3.2.4 Requirement of Soft Skills and the Need to go to Private Institutions.........................14
3.2.5 Cognitive Image:..........................................................................................................16
3.3 Evaluation Of Alternatives..................................................................................................16
3.3.1 Factors influencing student decisions of selecting higher education institutions:........19
3.4 Post Purchase Behavior and Evaluation..............................................................................20
3.4.1 Decision Confirmation..................................................................................................22
3.4.2 Experience Evaluation..................................................................................................22
3.4.3 Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction.........................................................................24
3.4.4 Consumer expectations and future expectations...........................................................25
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3.4.5 Exit, Voice, Loyalty......................................................................................................26
3.5 Cognitive Dissonance..........................................................................................................27
3.5.1 Reducing Cognitive dissonance....................................................................................29
3.5.2 Reasons for Cognitive Dissonance...............................................................................30
4. Theoretical Framework..............................................................................................................35
5. Data Analysis.............................................................................................................................38
5.1 Sample Size.........................................................................................................................38
5.1.1 Gender:.........................................................................................................................38
5.1.2 Programs:......................................................................................................................38
5.1.3 Semesters:.....................................................................................................................39
5.2 Satisfaction:.........................................................................................................................40
5.2.1 Gender-based satisfaction:............................................................................................40
5.2.2 Program-based satisfaction...........................................................................................41
5.2.3 Semester-based Satisfaction.........................................................................................42
5.3 Importance of variables:......................................................................................................43
5.4 Expectations vs. Perceptions:..............................................................................................43
5.4.1 Analysis........................................................................................................................43
5.4.2 Implications:.................................................................................................................45
5.5 Reasons for dissatisfaction..................................................................................................46
5.5.1 Program-based reasons for dissatisfaction:..................................................................46
5.6 Choice of SZABIST............................................................................................................47
5.7 Choice of Program...............................................................................................................48
5.8 Measures taken to encounter the dissatisfaction level.........................................................49
5.8.1 Measures that can be taken by SZABIST.....................................................................50
6. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................51
7. Recommendations......................................................................................................................53
8. Limitations of Study..................................................................................................................55
9. Areas of Further Study...............................................................................................................56
10. References................................................................................................................................57
11. Annexure..................................................................................................................................68
11.1 Questionnaire.....................................................................................................................68
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11.2 Plagiarism Report..............................................................................................................73
1. Executive Summary
Cognitive Dissonance is a concept that goes hand in hand with sales, be they of tangible products
or services. In marketing, it is the regret that a consumer feels after he/she has purchased a
service. It occurs if the customer has expected more out of the service and the gained satisfaction
has been comparatively low. A marketer’s job, in this regard, is to reduce this cognitive
dissonance to minimum. The lower they manage to keep consumers’ cognitive dissonance with
their service, the higher the chances of satisfaction, increased word-of-mouth and repeat
purchase on the part of the customer.
The following study deals with the pre and post admission perceptual differences among the
students of SZABIST. This study caters to finding out the level and reasons of regret or
dissatisfaction among the students of SZABIST so that the administration has a better idea of
their shortcomings as seen by the students and can work on those aspects to reduce
dissatisfaction and provide better quality education, as well as a better learning for the students.
In order to determine the above, questionnaires were floated among students of undergraduate
programs at SZABIST to gain an insight from the students regarding what their expectations
with various elements of SZABIST are, if those expectations have been met and if not, then what
do the students think should be done to counter their dissatisfaction. The results that were found
indicated that most of the students’ perceptions of the service level of SZABIST is not met by
their expectations. However, 52% of the sample size believes that they are satisfied with the
service level. The dissatisfied students blame either the administrations or the facilities in large
part for their dissatisfaction. Figure 1.1 illustrates the importance of various variables as well as
the perceptions that students hold for each.
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1.1 Pictoral Representation of Results
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Importance
1
-
-
Fig 1.1
Rating
1-2
3
4-5
Faculty
Curriculum
Financial structure
Facilities
Management
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2. Introduction
Cognitive Dissonance is defined as the feeling of discomfort that an individual faces when torn
between two conflicting cognitions, it could be an idea, a belief or even an emotion. When a
consumer makes a purchase, they may face cognitive dissonance after making that purchase, i.e.
they may feel like they made the wrong decision and this holds especially true when the product
or service does not meet the expectation of the consumer.
Such a dissonance leads to dissatisfaction among consumers after the purchase, in order to get rid
of this dissatisfactory feeling the consumer may indulge in behavior, like generating negative
word-of-mouth, which would be highly undesirable for, and could tarnish the reputation of, the
product or service providers.
Selecting an institute for higher studies is probably one of the most important decisions of an
individual’s life, so naturally, if they feel like they have made the wrong decision, the discomfort
caused by that decision is also going to be extremely high. Also considering the fact that a
university is a service where the customer is highly involved with the service process, the
administration needs to be very careful because even the slightest psychological discomfort can
lead to dissatisfaction among the students.
Same holds true for SZABIST, where the students constantly try to maintain that they have made
the right decision in selecting SZABIST for their higher education, the administration also needs
to tackle even the slightest discomfort head-on in order to make sure that the students are
satisfied with their decision, so that they do not switch over to other universities or generate
negative word of mouth about SZABIST.
2.1 Research Variables
Following are variables that we have identified which can lead to satisfaction/dissatisfaction
among students;
 Faculty
 Curriculum
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 Administration
 Financial structure
 Extracurricular
 Career Opportunities
 Learning environment
 College reputation
 Decision influenced by close acquaintances
2.2 Research Methodology
An easy to understand questionnaire was designed, which was given to the students, either in
hard copies on-campus, distributed online through Google Docs or conducted in the university
lab, where a slot of 4 hours was booked to conduct this survey. This survey was conducted with a
total of 834 students; random sampling method was used in order to collect the data. The data
was then analyzed using the IBM SPSS software.
2.3 Sample Size and Sample Technique
The sample of this study consisted of students currently enrolled in SZABIST; there were a total
of 834 respondents using convenience sampling technique.
Following is a table showing the breakup of respondents according to gender and program;
Program Total
BBA BABS LLB BSMS BSCS BSSS
Gender Male 243 42 36 54 42 12 429
Female 159 9 38 93 49 57 405
Total 402 51 74 147 91 69 834
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Table 2.1
Table 2.2 is the breakup of the students according to the program against the semester;
Semester Total
1st 3rd 5th 7th
BBA 57 45 138 162 402
BABS 42 3 6 0 51
LLB 24 27 23 0 74
BSMS 36 15 45 51 147
BSCS 13 12 21 45 91
Program BSSS 9 18 15 27 69
Total 179 120 246 287 834
Table 2.2
We left out Mechatronics and Bio-Sciences from our study because these programs are
comparatively new at SZABIST and therefore not as properly established as the other programs,
so the answers from the students of these programs would not have been valid for our study as
compared to the students from other programs which are pretty well established into the
SZABIST system.
2.4 Scope of the Study
Since the base of our study is SZABIST, we only used the students at SZABIST to conduct our
study and therefore this study is only limited to the use of SZABIST administration, who can use
the results of our study to identify areas where they can improve the service delivery of the
institution in order to ensure that the students are satisfied and are therefore less likely to switch
over to other universities, indulge in negative word of mouth or other acts to counter the
dissatisfaction with the institute.
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However, even though this study is only based on SZABIST, the basic model of this research can
be applied to other universities, where it can be used to identify whether the students are
dissatisfied or not and what are the measures that can be taken to counter that dissatisfaction.
2.5 Research Objectives
The main objective of this study was to identify the perception of students before and after
joining SZABIST so that we can find out the difference between the two perceptions and then
ultimately identify whether the students are dissatisfied or not.
2.6 Research Questions
 Are the students satisfied after joining SZABIST?

 If no, then what are the reasons that they are dissatisfied?
 What measures have been taken by them to counter the discomfort?
 What measures should be taken by SZABIST to counter their discomfort?
 What were the students expectations before joining SZABIST and their perception after
joining SZABIST on factors such as faculty, curriculum, management, facilities, financial
Aid, extra-curriculars, career opportunities etc.?
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3. Literature Review
This literature review consists of 5 sections. The first section is the purchase process of services.
This includes all the steps that customers go through to select and purchase a particular service.
It also includes the different criteria of evaluation that students take into account while getting an
admission in a university. The second section is pre-purchase behavior, including the different
factors people depend upon to make their purchases, as well as the different steps they take to
seek information to support their purchase decisions. The third section talks about the evaluation
of alternatives and what factors students consider while evaluating different universities and
choosing which to join. The fourth section revolves around the Post Purchase behavior and
evaluation. This section summarizes the attitudes of consumers once they have purchased and
consumed the products consequently leading to satisfaction, dissatisfaction or indifference. The
last section contains details on cognitive dissonance as a post purchase behavior, the several
factors leading to it and the different ways to overcome it.
3.1 Purchase Process
After a customer recognizes a need and strives to fulfill it, s/he goes through several steps to
make the best possible decision. These steps are as:
3.1.1 Need Recognition
The first step in pre-purchase stage is when the customer realizes the need and decides to
purchase a product. This stage puts additional importance on the customer needs and
expectations.
3.1.2 Information Search
If the decision is complex, the customer goes into an intensive information search. If it is first
time purchase, the possible risk is comparatively higher as compared to if the service has already
been experienced.
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3.1.3 Evaluations Of Alternatives
Once the customer decides to purchase a particular service, then they contact the personnel
providing it. This turns to be more difficult than if just a product were being purchases because
various service characteristics like intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, perishability, etc.
It is also comparatively challenging if the service in question is a high contact service. The
service environment and all the tangible characteristics associated with it help to shape the
customer expectations and perceptions. Service personnel also play an important role in
determining those. Customers evaluate their decisions by comparing their expectations with the
perceived performance by the personnel.
3.1.4 Purchase Decision
The post purchase stage includes the comparison of the expectation and the service quality
resulting in a satisfied or a dissatisfied state of mind. This stage is discussed later on in the
literature review in the second section.
3.1.5 Product Consumption And Post Purchase Evaluation:
Service quality is defined as the ability to meet and exceed customer expectations (Fernie et al.,
2004). If the level of service is greater than the expectation, the company is perceived to be
offering a higher level of service quality and vice versa. Service quality refers to managing the
quality of the service whereas customer expectation refers to the experience of the quality of the
service delivery.
 Perceived Value: The perceived value of a service is the comparison between a

consumer’s expectations and the value that they actually received; or it can be also called
as the balance between the costs and the benefits. Moreover as far as the study of
perceived value In research and development is concerned, perceived value is the most
essential factor in recording consumer satisfaction as it best explains the post purchase
behavioral intentions of a consumer. Not only that, but perceived value may also be of
great help in getting an edge over the competitor.
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Value as a concept has an economic dimension which is related to price and the other is the
psychological dimension which includes the emotional/cognitive elements. These two elements
play a vital role in the purchase decision.
 Service Quality: The service quality reflects the customer’s perception of all the
dimensions of that service. These dimensions include: Reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, empathy, tangibles. Satisfaction. The service quality has a technical and a
functional dimension which are associated respectively with what the consumers get and
how the service is being received. In SZABIST the service quality may include the
complete package of the add-ons, tangibles, administration responsiveness, faculty and
other such variables. Hence the quality and rating of the complete package would become
the service quality of SZABIST.
3.2 Pre-purchase Behavior
3.2.1 Norms:
The purchase behavior of a society can be easily traced down to the norms of that society. Norms
are the standards conforming to a particular group that recommend or outlaw behavior that are
acknowledged through social interaction. Perceived norms when related with rational and
pragmatic motives consist of descriptive and injunctive norms. The Descriptive norms are the
perceptions of how individuals are expected to behave whereas injunctive norms are where
individuals are expected to adapt to certain behavior.
Descriptive norms provide information regarding the norm’s strength when group members do
not comply to or fail to obey the rules and injunction norms gives penalty if the group members
do not conform according to the rules. It portrays how much prevalent a particular person’s
behavior is in context to the other members thus individuals behavior is normative and they shall
follow their norms and beliefs. An injunctive norm comprehends the individual’s complexity and
difficulty in conforming to behavior. Tension builds up when the realization of benefits occur
and thus not engaging in the behavior might deprive the individual from the benefits provided,
whereas the other scenario is the realization of threats like losing acquaintances.
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Considering the Pakistani society, a huge chunk of the population now considers spending on
education a luxury besides the very minority which still considers expensive and good education
a need rather than a luxury. The norm nowadays is to go for a cheap graduation and then start
working for a high paying job. Hence it has been a very common practice to study in public
institutions considering that a majority cannot even afford a cheap education, let alone studying
in expensive private institutes. Even the ones who can afford now resort to private graduate
degrees through public institutes and then employment through the various procedures.
(Kevin,et,all; 2003)
3.2.2 Purchase Decision
As discussed, the purchase decision is mostly dependent upon the norms in the society. Hence
this process also includes the consumers seeking for information depending on their
demographic characteristics. The External information seeking stage is when consumers search
for information in their respective environment (Sprang, et, all 1996).
The information in the external environment comprises of information through market dominant
sources and the customer dominant sources. The Market dominant sources are the ones wherein
communication is controlled by the marketers whereas in consumer dominant sources
information is received through word of mouth and other third parties (publicity and so),
(Kesic,2003)which are uncontrollable by the marketer. Word of mouth is the trustworthy element
whereas market sources acknowledge the customers with purchase decisions thus, anticipating
customers depend the most on market dominant sources. (Vlasic ,et, all; 2011)
Often market sources bombard all sorts of information about all possible options available. In
such a condition the consumer would most probably be under a situation of high pressure and
anxiety and then resort to help from consumer controlled sources in order to gain a consumer
insight on the product/service available. (Hawn, 1998). The consumer dominant sources as they
are considered to be more reliable and always provide information regarding the usage and the
satisfaction in terms of the customer itself instead of what the market has to say about the
product (Keinan, 1987).
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3.2.3 Hedonic and Utilitarian Products
There are two product types, Hedonic (Luxury) goods stimulate the enthusiasm sensation thus
making an influence on senses (Halbrook, 1982) whereas utilitarian (Necessities) are purchased
for their practical use and accomplishes a pragmatic aim (Myers, et,all, 1998).
Under time constraints consumers exploit fewer sources and seek less information. Under time
pressure hedonic group consumers are aware of where to seek from particular sources but if time
increased they shall spend more time on the same sources. Whereas when utilitarian products are
concerned people under time constraints or increased time would spend the same amount of time
as this is where time constraints cannot be looked upon.
3.2.4 Requirement of Soft Skills and the Need to go to Private Institutions
In recent decades, soft skills such as presentation skills, speaking skills, writing, vocal
communication skills, negotiation skill etc. play a huge role in the employment process as these
skills besides the actual skills are recognized to be very important. Hence parents influence their
children to get into private institutes so that they can learn all this. This is the only part that
differentiates the public institutes from the private institutes and the only reason that the
affording students would prefer to go to the private institutes.
In todays’ world although academic and technical sophistication is quite essential for students
but lecturers importance to soft skills need to be enhanced which go along with hard skills one of
the basic pragmatic requirement in a job also resulting in an improved sense of individuality.
Although this should be noticed that in different professional fields if soft skills are a necessity
for one case it shall not be for another, thus it varies along the fields.
Many executives and workers whine against graduates poor soft skill abilities in their job
performances that lead to inefficient productivity. Students entering the practical world are faced
with pauper communication skills, no innovativeness abilities, less sense of individuality, unable
to relate to the business and project related problems and queries, lack of cultural awareness,
slack times and no sense of responsibility so on and so forth. Thus resulting in a inefficient fresh
employee.
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Soft skills blend in accordance with personal abilities, interpersonal skills and additional skills.
One of the utmost core soft skills lacking within organizations is communication skills, The lack
of communication in a skillful manner leads to poor presentation skills and hindering discussion
abilities. Social and effective communication skills can play a vibrant role in the progress of
imminent career. Other important soft skills to be considered include critical and structured
thinking, problem solving abilities, analytical skills to solve problems and lastly innovativeness
which requires problem to be solved in a much fashioned and creative way.
A professional willing to succeed in his/her life is ready to take back his existing traits and focus
on the soft skills training to get acknowledged according to his job requirements and
consequently a step to self-identity and development. Self-training also plays an ample role.
Although, if the person is not convinced of the training aspects, this shall not result in any
improvements which could otherwise be valuable.
Soft skills play a dynamic role in a person’s life especially for the graduates. Graduates in this
competitive world need to cater with the job market and growing competitions. Graduates who
are efficient in the initial job cycles are preferred over less productive and requiring training
employees. Graduates although with good educational backgrounds are often rejected in
interviews for pauper communication skills is also a prevalent issue faced .Although with
exposure and time soft skills are enhanced of fresh employees.
Graduates should get enrolled in improving their soft skills by formal and self training where
both can enhance the level of soft skills of a person. Educators and mentors should make the
students apprehend and acknowledge the importance of soft skills and the inadequacies not
catering to these skills, Thus students should enhance their soft skills by reading books, attending
classes and seminars, being a part of societies. The college curriculum should collaborate soft
skills learning with the course books, more focused on improving their soft skills by keeping
communication, management and other sots skills incorporated within the class lectures. Another
ingenious way is to collaborate the hard skills leanings with soft skills with on a regular basis
discussions, presentations and problem solving methods pragmatically.
Soft skills is an needed element in the development and learning phase of the students, they
need to be trained and taught accordingly, if so students entering the professional world shall
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face less complexities and will be able to cater with the problematic and business queries
rationally.
Therefore by the end of the day, the student possessing soft skills is preferred a lot more than the
ones that do not possess these set of skills. Not only are they preferred at the time of employment
but they are also preferred when it comes to further appraisals and promotions. (Schulz; 2008)
3.2.5 Cognitive Image:
Cognitive Image should not be confused with the perceived value. While perceived value is a
summation of the total satisfaction that the product/service will provide the consumer; the
cognitive image is a holistic view of the images/impressions or ideas and beliefs that the
consumer has associated with the usage of the service. This also includes all the biases, pre-
conceptions and all the emotional thoughts regarding this service.
Hence, in our case the cognitive image is going to be the set of beliefs or opinions; basically the
mental image formed by prospective students regarding SZABIST. The perceived image of the
faculty, lectures, facilities, interaction with their fellow students, compliance and friendliness of
administration etc., are all a part of this image. This can also include the student’s understanding
of where he might stand after he has completed his course of studies and where he might be
working after that. Hence the complete package attached to SZABIST including the total
satisfaction and the utility gained from acquiring this service, is going to be the cognitive image
of SZABIST. (Jankingthong and Gonejanart; 2012).
3.3 Evaluation Of Alternatives
According to Jankingthong and Gonejanart’s (2012) works on tourism and tourism satisfaction,
we have come to know that the consumer satisfaction for a service actually depends upon their
actual experience at the moment and their expectations from the service itself.
It also implies that consumer satisfaction is very important to further market services. Hence, the
marketing of the service is only successful when the consumers approve of it and not only that
but a positive word of mouth may also be achieved when consumers are happy with the
experience and actually like the service.
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Students at college level should maintain an optimal and best fit with the two important variables
of Challenge and support. A proportional level existing between the both provides an efficient
learning environment for students. Nevit Stanford (1968) claimed long ago that challenge and
support both together play a vital role in Student progress and learning stages, thus making it
essential for mentors to create a learning environment encompassing both the variables at a
proportional level. Although if both the variables are not worked together rationally it had
devastating effects on students over challenged with work shall move away from tough tasks,
whereas students over supported shall not work efficiently as per his/her progress level.
Cognitive dissonance among students opens a path for the development and progress of students
enhancing their creativity and giving an opportunity tackling with new leanings and beliefs. The
cognitive disequilibrium is a tool for personal potential growth and enhancement thus students
should be exposed to the challenging, tricky tasks and stimulating anxiety with work overload.
As per Erik Erikson (1986), the crisis methodology to explain the disequilibrium behavior
portrays students who are challenged, collaborate with the new understandings thus a step for
development and to acquire sophistication and individuality. Lawrence Kohlberg believed that
there has been a need for conflicts that acts as a stimulator to acknowledge and understand moral
reasoning development, whereas Willilam Perry proclaimed students with optimistic intellectual
developments are ready to face composite learning, thus both providing an open world for
stimulation and sophistication.
Colleges today try to keep track of both the essential notions for students and try structuring both
into the learning process and surroundings of the students. Implementing challenging and
cognitive tasks plus support services enhances a sense of individuality and skill improvement. A
sense of nurturing and comfort provided with push for motivation to complete difficult tasks can
unify together for incorporating an optimal balance within the students life.
More universities focus and enhance the student support programs to protect and keep students
safe. Student support services like advising, psychiatrist, personal and mental health counseling
cater to the complex needs and wants of students. Increased focus on support services enhance
high student satisfaction level resulting in appealing existing students with a higher retention rate
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also to improve the reputation. Thus the management follows plan to augment support programs
and improvement in amenities.
Students expect universities and colleges to meet their requirements. They want enhancement in
their practical knowledge and require better facilities thus seek for attention, support and want
their issues solved with ease. Thus college structures and educators should make sure that the
diversified students work in a risk taking and perplexing environment where they are mentored
with support and comfort thus leading to a more efficient learning environment with potential
progress and in-depth understanding along with self basis enhancement within students for their
growth, confidence, creativity and courage.
New information and old chauvinisms are always in a tussle when it comes to students who need
to cater and acknowledge fresh information being communicated to them but their prior set
beliefs and conceptions result in a combat to lay success on their established conventions.
Students facing such substantial and unacknowledged learning and development prospects result
in cognitive dissonance and thus try to ignore the fact of learning new elements that can be
beneficial for them in the sense of stimulating new relationships within the diversified
understanding and the impacts of the erudition atmosphere.
Students’ attitudes and perceptions are quite overwhelming when communicated with new ideas
thus trying to construct cognitive balance which may result in their acknowledgment of the new
beliefs and understanding. They may move against the innovative ideas protecting their core
acknowledgments. Hence the lecturers should create an atmosphere where students may be find
straddling with the circumstances at a point to suffer the zenith of cognitive dissonance but that’s
where the lecturer part plays in. The lecturer needs to reckon and stimulate an environment build
up with such hindrances making them accept the new information initially considered upsetting
but latter acceptable. Students at one point in time realize the lack of knowledge within them
although contradicting to their perception but can be eliminated with rational facets.
The psychological stimuli of understanding the dramatic and composite situations can result in a
creative cognitive acceptance of new and unformed principles.
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Thus through the studies and findings we can safely conclude that the students while evaluating
the choices they have to select a higher education institute consider these parameters, which
obviously lead to generation of positive feelings:
 Satisfied previous customers (alumni in this case)

 Counseling and guidance programs
 Balance between the challenging and supportive institutional activities
 Creation of a conducive learning environment by the faculty
 Motivating and accepting environment
 Imparting of practical knowledge to the students
3.3.1 Factors influencing student decisions of selecting higher education institutions:
The high competition among the higher education institute has led to many researches on the
factors that influence students’ decision making when going for selecting a higher education
institute. The independent factors identified in this study are location, academic program, college
reputation, education facilities, cost, and the availability of financial aid, employment
opportunities, the advertising, higher education Institutes, representatives and campus visit.
In order to compete in the highly competitive market, the HEIs require new marketing strategies;
therefore studies have been made in order to find factors which give the institutions a
competitive edge over the others. Joseph and Joseph (2000) identified the course and career
information, and physical aspects such as facilities, as the more important factors that must be
kept in mind when creating marketing strategies. LeBlance and Nguyen (1999) identified the
price and quality as the most important factors while Ford et al (1999) identified academic
reputation, cost/time issues and program issues as the major determinants.
Ming, J. (2012) identified that a conceptual framework can be made to identify the college
choice decision of students which depends on fixed characteristics such as location, academic
programs, college reputation, educational facilities, cost, the availability of financial aid and
employment opportunities. Besides that other factors include the college’s efforts to
communicate with the potential students, this includes Advertising, HEI’s representatives and
campus visit.
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Other factors that influences student decisions is whether the institution offer soft skills as well
as hard skills as part of their curriculum for the development and learning (Schulz, 2008) as well
as an optimum balance between challenging and support activities being provided by the faculty
(Dalton, 2008).
Lovieth and Sevier (1998, 1992) ranked counselors, parents, alumni from a specific institute,
current school faculty members and academic guides as the most important people in influencing
college choice decision. Internet is used a lot to look up for relevant information but printed
college manuals are more effective.
The four main areas used by African American students, a minority race in the US are academic
concerns, social concerns, personal concerns and financial concerns. The higher education
institute that they decide to get enrolled in and thus evaluate them will involve factors that
revolve around these. This can be a basis for regulating similar studies of college decision
choices and assessing them later.
3.4 Post Purchase Behavior and Evaluation
The concept of “service experience” has been described as the core of the service offering and
service design which regards the service experience as the basis of all business (Lusch and
Vargo, 2006). The empirical findings suggest that consumers’ trust has a positive influence on
consumers’ satisfaction. In turn, consumer satisfaction affects consumers’ post-expectation and
their future behavioral intention such as repurchase intention. However, this trust between the
seller and the customer can be broken very easily by committing a trust defect (Hart and
Johnson, 1999).
Even when the purchase is done, the purchase process isn’t over. In the cases that the customers
are happy with the purchase, they make repeat purchases. In the cases that the customers are
disappointed, they might return or exchange the product. Customers make daily purchase
decisions and want them to be satisfactory. In the post purchase behavior once the customer
realizes that the product is not up to h/her expectations, there is a feeling of remorse. Although
remorse is a result of a psychological stimuli but is considered a tool to rectify a individuals
behavior. It may impact on the individuals’ future purchasing decisions
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Regret in simple terms of marketing and business can be defined as realizing the difference
between what is and what could have been. When a person makes a purchase of either a product
or a service, he/she may feel regret regarding the opportunity costs, i.e. considering that there
were better options which could have been chosen. In this regard the consumer may either
continue with the same status quo and continue using the particular service or may switch to a
different one depending on the level of regret. It also highly depends upon the other options
available and the level of emotional/cognitive dissonance felt towards the service.
The impact of regret a person experiences in the post purchase behavior is measured using the
expectation disconfirmation model which compares an individual’s expectation for a product and
its performance. The results may vary with the alternatives available (Tsiros, et al., 2000). A
relationship exists between the satisfaction level and regret. With time an individual’s
satisfaction level may lead to regret acknowledging the alternatives benefits and or grasping
unknown information later regarding the product or alternative.
Regret influences an individual’s behavior which may result in different actions .The research
show the relationship with regret and particular factors. If an individual is unsatisfied with a
product h/she shall prefer the favorable alternative in their next purchase decision thus
influencing the repurchasing decision (Zelenberg, 2002). The relationship link of customer
complaint is with the variance of satisfaction but not with regret (Delacroix, 2003), whereas the
regret experience has a relationship with word of mouth (Zeelenberg, 2004). Inertia has an
impact on regret resulting in an inactive behavior and being passive after they regret a decision.
Regretted decision may also result in the return of the product and or individuals may rather
abandon their decisions.
Individuals have a psychological immune system that when they see a threat, it stimulates
defense adaptations (Wheatley, et al., 1998). Protection adaptations are described as autocratic
that render their former or current life in acceptance to their wants and requirements. Individuals
predict themselves with optimistic outcomes rather than not expected ones (Greenwalk, 1980).
They avoid changing their conformed beliefs and more often agree to more unrealistic believes
(Lepper et al., 1979). Students when do not aim to acknowledge or understand a particular field,
lack the prospect for improvement (Crocker,et, all, 1998). Individuals are over confident with
20
their existing knowledge and skills plus very positive while anticipating their future triumph and
capabilities (Ross, et al. 2005).
The post purchase evaluation consists of the following steps:
3.4.1 Decision Confirmation
After a purchase decision is made, the consumers need to validate the wisdom of their choice,
while at the same time avoiding any negative disconfirmation. There is a chance that cognitive
dissonance can occur at this point of time.
3.4.2 Experience Evaluation
In today’s markets the increase in the number of alternative products had resulted in customers
being tangled in their purchase decisions (Shanker, et al., 2008) though customers considering
their few resources tend to select sensibly to increase their satisfaction level so the best option for
them to select the best alternative is to indulge more of the customers involvement in the
purchase decision (Zeelenberg, 2007).
After the purchase decision, they compare and feel that the alternative were better (Shanker, et,
all, 2007) it results in their remorse (Lehman,et,all, 2007)and thus dissonance. Post purchase
dissatisfaction and remorse results in high dissatisfaction (Mittal, et al., 2000)which may later
lead to shifting to alternatives and unexpected grapevine (Garcia, et al., 2011)
Consumer expectations depend on several factors. Some of these are the strength and importance
of each person’s needs and the information that was collected while making the decision. After
the purchase is completed and the customer discovers any new information, he stores it in his
memory, modifies his attitudes for any new upcoming purchases. (Cant et al., 2002)
Expectations can be classified into 3 broad categories:
 Expectations about performance of the product

 Expectations about all the monetary, non-monetary costs associated with the product
 Expectations of other derived costs and benefits from the product
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3.4.2.1 Attributes of the product: Expectations of attributes generally arise from a past
experience with the same or similar products, which depend upon the salient features of the item,
the importance attached to those features and finally the development of expectations about
them. A more acknowledged person, who is aware of the different types of alternatives and
substitutes, will have very specific expectations with particular brands. Inexperienced users, on
the other hand, may have very weak expectations with how they anticipate the brand to perform.
This can lead to an unsatisfactory experience on account of an inappropriate choice made by the
inexperienced user. Personality and situational factors may affect the expectations and
satisfaction level with respect to the product features.
3.4.2.2 Cost of the product: Usually, cost is seen as an indicator of the quality. So if the cost is
high, higher quality is expected. Likewise, if the cost is lower, the quality may be expected to be
low as well. If the customers find the actual quality of the product to differ from the perceived
quality, they may become dissatisfied. However, it is also possible that the consumers may
believe that cost is a valid indicator of quality and then adjust their expectations to fit with the
cost. Other costs which may be incurred are the time and effort spent shopping or looking up
information. The longer these take, the higher the perceived importance of the product gets.
3.4.2.3 Indirect Benefits and Costs: There is a certain psychological cost/benefit associated
with purchases and the opinion that others hold of the purchase sometimes has a greater impact
than the opinion that the customers themselves hold.
A research conducted in Saudi Arab showed that there is a positive relationship between Un-
planned buying and Post purchase remorse. A stimulated link can be found in low income
customers where there absurdity exists in impulse buying as their resources are inadequate. Plus
Males are more effected by the post purchase guilt in unplanned buying, as they take the decision
more pragmatically in comparison to females and are dissatisfied if find less or no benefits then
expected. The other result found was that bank card payments had an optimistic link in
comparison to sales personnel as the credit card limit is high.
While evaluating any product or service, one has to keep in mind that there are several factors
other than the expectation of the product and the product performance that leave the consumers
either satisfied or dissatisfied. For instance, individual and situational factors play a huge role in
22
that area. Individual factors include different motivations for using that product, different
experiences in the past and different circumstances while the product is being used. Some
dimensions to take into account are whether the customer has had some prior experience with the
same or similar product, how involved the customer is in the purchase process and the propensity
of the customer to be critical of decisions. However, it should be kept in mind that some of the
customers remain uninvolved in the evaluation process unless something triggers them to start
paying attention and evaluating their experience. These customers fall into the category of
indifferent customers and are neither satisfied, nor dissatisfied.
3.4.3 Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction
Post-purchase affective states arising from product or service performance are based on
perceptions of whether pre-purchase expectations are confirmed or disconfirmed (Oliver, 1977).
The perceived value of a service is the comparison between a consumer’s expectations and the
value that they actually received; or it can be also called as the balance between the costs and the
benefits. As far as the study of perceived value in research and development is concerned,
perceived value is the most essential factor in recording consumer satisfaction as it best explains
the post purchase behavioral intentions of a consumer. Not only that, but perceived value may
also be of great help in getting an edge over the competitor.
When consumers make any purchases, their pre-purchase expectations are confirmed, negatively
disconfirmed or positively disconfirmed. If the expectations and performance are the same, the
customers are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, in a neutral state of non-satisfaction and their
expectations are confirmed. If the expectations exceed the perceived performance of the product
or service, the customers face dissatisfaction and their expectations are negatively disconfirmed.
On the other hand, if the performance exceeds the expectations, the customers are satisfied or
delighted and their expectations are positively disconfirmed. (Santos, J., Boote, J., 2003). A
similar view of consumer satisfaction is also defined as the confirmation or disconfirmation of
previous expectations regarding the service itself. When the service provided meets the
consumer expectations or provides greater utility than the expected satisfaction, it results into
consumer delight. Whereas when the service falls up to mark or lower than expected it may
cause dissatisfaction.
23
When consumers make any purchases, they expect that there will be certain outcomes from that
purchase (Lamb et al., 2004: 77). If the expectations and performance are the same, the
customers are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, in an indifferent state of non-satisfaction and their
expectations are confirmed. If the expectations exceed the perceived performance of the product
or service, the customers face dissatisfaction and their expectations are negatively disconfirmed.
On the other hand, if the performance exceeds the expectations, the customers are satisfied or
delighted and their expectations are positively disconfirmed.
Consumer satisfaction is the variable that affects future purchases, brand loyalty and further C-C
advertising through word of mouth. Consumer satisfaction depends upon what a consumer
expected from the product/service and in return what was received after the purchase was made.
It doesn’t only depend upon the utility received from the service itself but also the utility that the
consumer expects from the competitors of the service. These comparisons can yield either
positive or negative emotions towards a particular service. Hence when the consumer compares
the service with another service whose outcome would have been better; the consumer may feel
regret and might feel less content. Whereas when compared to outcomes that have lesser utility,
the consumer is expected to feel delight. The later condition is less likely to happen as people
will mostly only compare their current situation to a better scenario where they would have
gained more satisfaction. (Cooke, et al., 2001)
Customer satisfaction depends not only on product performance, but also on many other aspects
involved in the consumption experience, important in all stages preceding and following
purchase.
3.4.4 Consumer expectations and future expectations
Value as a concept has an economic dimension which is related to price and the other is the
psychological dimension which includes the emotional/cognitive elements. These two elements
play a vital role in the purchase decision.
When we speak of selecting a university for higher education, the perceived value may not only
be a bachelor’s degree, yet it may also include all the perks that come along with the degree. If a
24
person considers to be working at a particular job scale and on a particular salary as soon as their
bachelor’s degree is completed; that may add to the perceived value of the University.
As we speak of it, the perceived value being the difference between the costs and the benefits,
we may also say that a university that has a higher fee scale will definitely trigger greater
perceived value. Also the people enrolled in a more expensive program or a program that has a
bigger tenure of completion will cause greater perceived value. According to Kahneman and
Miller (1986), under this condition switching to a different service may in most cases lead to a
higher level of regret and loss. It is experimented for and observed that this higher level of regret
is mainly because maintaining with the status quo is considered a normal practice; hence doing
something other than normal, i.e. switching may cause either delight, but in most cases, it will
only lead to more regret. Hence while studying in a university (using the service), students may
feel regret yet may not opt to switch. This is because they know that switching might only lead to
even more regret.
According to Bloch (1995), appearance and what is viewed has a heavy impact on satisfaction. A
person can get attached to products or services which look better or have greater value. Hence in
order to have a special meaning (Brand Personality), it must serve to the consumer more than
merely its basic purpose. The additional benefits that the service is accompanied with give
consumer the feeling that the service is more valuable than its competitors, which will hence
result into a customer-product bond.
3.4.5 Exit, Voice, Loyalty
When customers are satisfied or delighted, they may indulge in a complimenting behavior
whereby increasing positive word of mouth or resolving to use the product more on an individual
basis, etc. As the level of positive disconfirmation increases, the intensity of the compliment
increases. When customers are dissatisfied with the product, they may indulge in a complaining
behavior, which can be done in several ways, such as exit, negative word of mouth, voice and
third party action (Boote, 1998). As the level of negative disconfirmation increases, the intensity
of the complaint increases. In most cases, complaining behavior is more common than
complimenting behavior (Robinson and Berl, 1979).
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Many retailers and service providers lose a substantial number of customers each year because of
post-purchase dissatisfaction (Grainer 2003, Bougie, Pieters, and Zeelenberg 2003). It has been
clearly noted that service providers can increase their profitability if they retain a larger
proportion of their dis-satisfied customers (Tax, Brown, and Chandrashekaran 1998). Not only is
it easier to retain customers in comparison to looking for new patrons, it is also seen that
complaints that are satisfied go on to become more loyal customers for the company. (Hart,
Heskett, and Sasser 1990)
When a customer faces dissatisfaction, (s)he must decide whether to complain or not. Customers,
who don’t voice their complaints, would then try to limit their future purchase from the
company. They might even engage in some negative word of mouth (Stephens and Gwinner
1998). The people who do complain, end up being pleased with the recovery process and tend to
increase positive word of mouth and repatronize the seller. On the other hand, those who aren’t
pleased may increase negative word of mouth by advising friends and family against it.
3.5 Cognitive Dissonance
Festinger (1957), in his book A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, proposed that people have a
tendency to maintain uniformity among their cognitive elements, like attitudes, beliefs, and
values and so on. In case the uniformity is disrupted, people start to experience psychological
discomfort, resulting in dissonance or post purchase regret (Hasty, Reardon, 1997). It has been
seen that regret is the most pronounced negative emotion (Shimanoff, 1984). When people
experience this dissonance, they take all measures in their capacity to overcome or restrain it, by
either changing their attitudes and beliefs to fit their behavior or by changing their behaviors to
fit their attitudes and beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance is not an acquired trait. It is present in people almost innately. Egan, L., et
al (2007) aimed to answer the question of whether people develop the ability to measure the
dissonance in their cognitions earlier on in life or if it is an innate thing. After experimentation,
they reached the conclusion that both children and monkeys tend to decrease their preference of
two equally attractive alternatives after they had originally chosen against it, resulting in the
belief that cognitive dissonance materializes instinctively.
26
Most of the time, the correctness of the choice isn’t as obvious as one would hope because of the
opportunity costs and the attractiveness of the alternatives foregone (Strydom et al., 2000). Not
only that, but after the purchase has been made, the importance of the attractive features of the
alternatives and that of the unattractive features of the purchased product tend to grow in the
consumer’s mind, making them regret their decisions even more (Czinkota et al., 2000).
Research by Sweeney, Hausknecht and Soutar (2000) developed a study that whether all
customers face dissonance or is it different segments of customers facing dissonance. There are
three types of dissonance faced by customers, the first being emotional dimension, second the
wisdom of purchase and lastly the concern over the deal
Emotional dimension occurs when after the decision made the individuals psychological stimuli
leads to anxiety and dissatisfaction (Sweeney 2000) thus resulting in distress made regarding the
purchase (Festenger (1957) and Mowen(1995). Elliot and Devine (1994)) also had stated that
psychological discomfort and anxiety arise from cognitive dissonance
The wisdom of purchase states that after a purchase an individual realizes that there was no need
of the product or the other best alternative was foregone in comparison to the product being
bought. An insecurity to the wisdom exists after making a decision whether the other product
foregone was better in comparison to the product bought (Kassarjian and Cohen(1965) The
complexity of the decision that whether the alternative not taken had been more optimistic with
its attributes thus results in cognitive dissonance (Menasco and Hawkins, 1978).
Concern over the deal shows that after the purchase the individual comprehends that he/she went
against their belief’ by being manipulated by the staff to undergo the purchase. It raises the
dissonance by a change in consumer’s attitude by the sales personnel influence thus forcing them
to agree to a purchase not consistent with the conformed beliefs (Cummings and Venkatesan,
1976).The sales personnel play a vital role in the dissonance stimulation by influencing the
customers against their beliefs (Bell,1967)
People experience cognitive dissonance as aversive (Elliot & Devine, 1994), and are motivated
to resolve the inconsistency between their discrepant cognitions. Consumers like to believe that
they have made wise decisions after they make any important decisions. This is because most of
27
these decisions are irrevocable (Weitz et al., 2001). High involvement products tend to have
more dissonant effects. Psychologists have long been interested in the nature of cognitive
dissonance, as this phenomenon has implications for many areas of psychology, including
attitudes and prejudice, moral cognition, decision making, happiness, and therapy.
3.5.1 Reducing Cognitive dissonance
Since consumers don’t like to have dissonant feelings, they take a number of measures to correct
this, including trying to convince themselves that it was the right decision to take, giving logical
reasoning and turning to others for reassurance (Strydom et al., 2000). They might seek new
information that supports their original belief that it was the right decision to take and avoid any
information that might be to the contrary.
If a product or service failure does occur, research suggests that firms should offer an apology
(Webster and Sundaram, 1998), provide reimbursements (Smith and Bolton, 1998), or fix the
service failure (Harris et al., 2006) to remedy the dissatisfactory experience caused.
3.5.1.1 Counter Factual Thinking
While the recovery literature examines a variety of recovery initiatives (e.g., apology,
compensation, and timeliness), a research conducted by Wang, K., et al. (2011) examines an
alternative recovery initiative, engaging consumers in post-purchase counterfactual thinking
(CFT), a mental simulation process of thinking about past decisions and all the other alternative
results that could have happened. For instance, if the TV breaks down and has to be repaired, one
may engage in upward CFT (If I had only gotten a TV with a longer warranty, I wouldn’t be
here.) or downward CFT (At least I didn’t buy the one with a longer warranty but a smaller
screen because I like the huge screen.) If the customers engage in downward CFT, they are
countering their dissonance, which would result in a positive evaluation of the product. Firms
can perform customer surveys as a tactical tool to make the customers realize that they could
have gotten the shorter end of the stick. Markman et al. (1993) found that the direction of
counterfactuals also influences dissatisfaction. A negative outcome evokes not only relatively
more upward counterfactuals but also greater feelings of dissatisfaction.
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It has been studied that most students tend to put off the selection process of their university or
college for as long as they can and procrastinate in taking all the steps necessary to get into a
university. This is one of the leading causes of dissatisfaction for university students. (Wilson,
1997) Mass media has played a huge role in causing cognitive dissonance among students
regarding their universities. College life is often shown as “fun, parties and friendships”, one
movie after another. Once students actually join a university, then only do they realize that its
more than just one big party and the reason they joined was to get an education. This causes
emotional dissonance in the students’ minds as well (Jeroen and Timmers, 2002).
A purchase decision and involvement is a customer oriented not a product related concept
(Traylor and Joseph(1984).A individuals purchase depends on three factors of vitality, time
constraint and affluence which results in a purchase(Beatty and Kahlee(1988)) If an individual
has a comprehensively high involvement in a purchase decision considering time he shall face
less cognitive dissonance (Smith and Bristor,2006)in comparison to individuals taking a
important decision on behalf of the consultation of others. A particular persons’ dissonance
seems to be higher when it’s a purchase for an affluent personal product for him/herself thus his
delightfulness may vary after the post purchase results. Cognitive dissonance occurs when
there’s a gap between his/her expectations and outcomes thus resulting in dissatisfaction and for
that the person to lower down the level of his dissonance tries to bring an optimum balance
between the two cognitions
3.5.2 Reasons for Cognitive Dissonance
Dissonance occurs in three ways when there is a rational imbalance, no consistency between his
two behaviors and when a conform held belief is denied. Once a decision is made when the
individual had an option to rectify his behavior but the commitment has been made which may
also result in dissonance. After a decision is made the individual forgoes the alternative products
positive attributes but if his decision based product doesn’t perform according to his expectations
which may result in their remorse and emotional discomfort.
A person thus shall try reducing his dissonance by bringing rationalization, try to bring an
optimal balance between two of his behaviors by pursuing information and to shift his
dissonance attitude by portraying the optimistic elements of the purchase .Time constraint plays
29
a vital role in an individual’s dissonance making them indulge in an unexpected decision (Rook
and Fisher,995) thus impulse buying decision but if a person takes ample time in making a
decision it shall result in less dissonance.
The variation of dissonance varies within individuals, but the level of dissonance is proportional
to the purchase decision being vital, deliberate and unchangeable (Cummings and Vankatesons,
1976).
When individuals face no optimum balance between their behaviors, they tend to reduce their
dissonance (Festinger, 1957).So they can reduce it by changing their behavior to achieve
consistent relationship, pursue information irrespective of their conformed beliefs and reduce the
weightage of their notions. Although the level of dissonance may vary depending on
demographics like age, gender and so on.
This study shows the cognitive dissonance behaviors of students within the age group of 19 to 25
in a university to acknowledge the importance of CD’s within the segment. The study takes into
account fourteen factors, five of them portray if the individual is facing dissonance or not. The
first factor emphasizing on regret undergone by purchasing the product (Festinger, 1956), second
the inferiority feeling if the product gives a subordinate emotion, thirdly if the subordinates had
been a better option with enhanced attributes (Egan et all.2007), fourthly if the consumer decides
not to purchase the product again in the future (Cummings and Vanekateson, 1976) and lastly not
suggesting the product to his acquaintances (Hunt, 1991). In all the above stated situations the
customers face dissonance regarding the product.
The other factors which seem important in making the product such as alternative brands
recognized, the more the alternatives the more the level of dissonance (Straits,1964), the more
the customers feel tangled in making the decision when more the number of stores results in
unsatisfied customers (Hawkins 1972), dissonance is high for products which are purchased
occasionally (Kaish,1967),If the product purchase decision is important again the dissonance
rises (Oshikawa,1972) , If there exists a high confidence in purchasing a product the dissonance
reduces (Bell,1967), If there’s a sales personnel influence on a product purchase when the
individual is not willing to buy the product and the products costs is high both cases lead to
dissonance(Bell,1967 and Oshikawa,1972). Whereas if the acquaintances recommends the
30
product, less dissonance exists and lastly the customer’s decision influenced by the promotion,
later resulting in high dissonance if not up to their expectations as per the promotion.
In this case 60% of the customers faced cognitive dissonance where the factors of inferiority,
better alter natives and not advising the product to their acquaintances were high, thus the level
of dissatisfaction stimulated resulting in marketers comprehending the significance of cognitive
dissonance and the level of dissatisfaction attached to it.
Consumer complaint behavior for products and services is a dynamic study which provides a
significant feedback to monitor customer satisfaction. Whereas non-satisfied buyers do not
provide a feedback while results in not buying of the product, negative grape vine thus making
acquaintances not purchase the product resulting in high marketing costs. If not acknowledged
about the dissatisfaction reasons it is utterly impossible to change the processes involved.
The attribution model plays an important role in the customer post purchase dissatisfaction level
and modifying their complaint behavior. Circumstances and factors impact the customer
dissatisfaction level. If a person believes that he/her choice of a bad product or service is because
they lack the capability to satisfactorily make a decision in a marketplace is a internal and stable
distribution. A person dissatisfied because of the time constraint in shopping is an internal and
unstable distribution .If the person thinks the manufacturing company is making a bad product
it’s a stable and external distribution whereas a poor product falls in the external and unstable
distribution. Both the internal and external attributes effects a person’s reaction to a particular
scenario .The confidence of oneself leads to triumph and remorse to embarrassment (Feather,
1967) but if a person is responsible for another’s triumph or guilt he tends to reward or rather
punish h/her (Weiner, et, all, 1970). For an un-content customer his/her action should be optimal
with the psychological attribution distance.
The research undertaken questioned the customer’s dis-satisfactory buying experience,its causes
and their response i.e. the course of action by them after the experience. The results showed that
attributions play an important role in a person’s dissatisfaction level and customers tend to
complain if it’s an external attribution (with no complaints for the self or internal one).Other
factors influencing shall be the product/services features, the particular persons attributes
including his demographic and personal traits, significance of the purchase decision, a prior
31
unsatisfied buying experience, social influences and acknowledgment of consumer rights and
protection agencies
Quality has important links to satisfaction levels (Anderson et al., 1994),the intention to purchase
again (Berry et all., 1985) and to recommend it to others (Christopher et al., 1990). The service
delivery perceptions vary with time. When our expectations rise for a particular service, our
perception in respect to its quality may seem declining. (Ziethamal,et all.,1993). Individuals shall
pursue information if they reach their former expectations. (Hoch and Ha ,1986) thus customers
make prejudice perceptions regarding service quality considering their earlier expectations.
Customers with time modify their service quality perceptions and shall be willing to reduce
dissonance by lowering down the distance between prior expectations and post purchase
notions.The study was conducted in a University at Australia comparing the students perception
in the orientation process and after one month time thus measuring the change in perceptions
within the one month time period.
The results indicated that the service quality perception changes with time and its inversely
related to the experience of cognitive dissonance thus individuals tend to level down their
cognitive dissonance by trying to reduce it. It shows students unfamiliarity with the service
making thus forming ambiguous expectations whereas if experienced they knew the anticipated
service delivery.
Individuals especially after making composite decisions face a prodigious level of cognitive
dissonance. When two notions do not work proportionally (rather contradict each other) and
rational discrepancy’s existence result in cognitive dissonance as believed by Leon Fistinger
(1957). Individuals tend to eliminate or decrease the level of dissonance thus the notions might
be changed, or new notions added in both the cases resulting in more consonance and reducing
the elements that shall lead to dissonance. Behavior and opinions shall work together on an
optimal level for reducing dissonance whereas leveling down the importance of the notions
produces the same result
Cognitive dissonance can be confronted with the psychological stimuli undergoing pressure or
rather fall in the paradigm when a particular belief is unmet as per the individuals’ requirements.
32
As by Burris, Harmon Johmn’s and Tarpley’s (1997) cognitive dissonance experiment concluded
that participants reduced their dissonance when they acknowledged their conforming beliefs
more rigidly.
Rosenfeild,Kennedy and Gicalone (1996) theory of Post Purchase decision, resulted with
individuals utmost confidence and trust in their decision leads to less dissonance. The experiment
they conducted portrayed that the post decision group were quite different from the no-decision
and pre decision group (both were quite similar) representing that afore choices appear alluring
resulting in less dissonance
Arthur Cohen (1960) described the relationship of attitude change and dissonance. He believed
giving more weightage to attractive alternatives and confidence prior making the decision leads
to less cognitive dissonance. Moral dilemmas can also produce varying levels of dissonance
while catering with a difficult decision situation
Graham’s experiments results were quite expected as per the theories where cognitive dissonance
can be reduced if the notions or elements acting as its variable play a critical role by working
together or rather forgoing the importance of the elements, although according to his result
change in opinions or attitudes does not level down the dissonance whereas the moral dilemmas
factor each provided with different scenarios caters to a different level of cognitive dissonance.
The post purchase cognitive dissonance and dissatisfaction, in extreme cases, leads to regret
which is characterized by a dropped level of motivation. Regret is managed by people
experiencing the same through various self-regulatory processes that they indulge in to deal with
unpleasant internal feelings. This they do to cater to their initial personal standards or plans
(Carver and Scheier, 1998).
33
4. Theoretical Framework
Fig. 4.1. Theoretical framework (Singh, 2003)
Individuals generally have certain prior expectations about a product or service being provided
by an organization, and as such, are hopeful of getting an equal level of performance by the
product or service, in order to be satisfied or delighted. As individuals, before entering the
buying stage, have prior expectations regarding the product or service, high expectations make
them fall into the buying process. Once the product or service is consumed,they, then decide
whether the performance had been as anticipated. At that moment in time,they evaluate any
inconsistency between their expectations of how the product or service should perform and the
actual performance of the product or service.
Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are the appraisal of an emotion, so once an individual feels that
his/her prior optimistic expectations have not been met by the actual performance of the
34
product/service and that the experience had been unpleasant, they fall into emotional
dissatisfaction. Such circumstances lead them to quit using the product/service by not re-
purchasing, voice opinions against it or provoke negative word of mouth to their close
acquaintances, they can also complain to the firm or other groups.
If they believe that the actual performance was somewhat similar to their expectations, they will
repurchase the product/service in the future, although being satisfied and content with the
purchase still can exhibit a future switching action by abandoning the product/service. But, if the
performance of the product/service is abundantly pleasant and it exceeds the prior set
expectations, they fall into delight and are emotionally satisfied with the product/service. These
individuals become hard core loyal customers unwilling to switch to any other product/service.
Individuals, before joining SZABIST have prior set expectations and then the later actual
performance makes them fall into the satisfaction or dissatisfaction category. So coming to the
university perspective of evaluating the inconsistency between prior set beliefs and later actual
performance are dependent upon some significant variables related to SZABIST. Theoretical
Framework is the relationship of variables; in our study the above stated seven variables have
explicit importance in deciding that if students are dis-satisfied or satisfied after joining
SZABIST. These variables are the major reasons emphasizing on the emotional dissatisfaction
faced by students.
Starting with SZABIST Faculty considered the foremost variable and evaluating on the basis if
the faculty are professionally qualified and sophisticated as per the course of study, do they
pursue the knowledge of the subject as per required, have explicit presentation skills and are
available within the counseling timings. The SZABIST Curriculum in respect to whether its
related to the subject or course of study, its acknowledging students on a more practical approach
for their future professional life, if it is helpful in providing an optimal balance between
challenging tasks and supportive nurturing, if it is only working on teaching hard skills or rather
helping in developing soft skills. The Management or Administration of SZABIST are studied
with respect to whether they are helpful in counseling troubled students, rescheduling class
schedules and are catering to students problems. Is SZABIST providing merit and financial
based scholarships to students and dealing with the increments in fees structure. SZABIST and
35
EDC (Educational Development Centre) are working on developing students’ career
opportunities and providing them with an optimistic and bright career. SZABIST is providing
extra curricula activities as per the students’ requirements. Lastly, if the decision to study in
SZABIST was enforced by their parents has a major impact on their dissatisfaction level.
The students’ expectations regarding the variables before joining SZABIST and after their
admission, the actual performance of the variables have tremendous impacts on their evaluation
of emotions. If they felt the prior expectations and actual performance had discrepancies and the
performance was below their expectations, they are emotionally dissatisfied with SZABIST. The
seven variables play a key role in deciding whether the former expectations are not met with the
actual performances, resulting in an emotionally dissatisfaction phase whereas the last variable
enforced by parents has amplitude effects on the overall dissatisfaction level. Students to
encounter their dissatisfaction level might takes some unwanted measures like provoking
negative word of mouth, they can switch program or maybe switch universities that depends on
their dissatisfaction level, they might even take no action and remain indifferent to their
dissatisfaction.
36
5. Data Analysis
There were a total of 834 respondents through convenience based sampling technique. Following
are the major trends and implications found out in the study.
5.1 Sample Size
5.1.1 Gender:
Gender
Male
Female
49%
51%
Fig. 5.1
While this was not intentional, the answers were almost equally divided between male and
female respondents.
5.1.2 Programs:
Most of the respondents who participated in the survey were from BBA, whereas the second
most respondents were from Media Sciences. This can be attributed to the fact that a. the survey
was conducted based and convenience; and b. the proportion of BBA and Media Sciences is
considerably higher compared to other programs, especially BABS.
37
Program
8%
9%
BBA
BABS
LLB
BSMS
48%
BSCS
18%
BSSS
10%
6% Fig. 5.2
5.1.3 Semesters:
Semeter-wise distribution of programs

100%
90%
80%
70% 7th semester
60% 5th semester
3rd semester
50% 1st semester
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
BBA BABS LLB BSMS BSCS BSSS Fig 5.3
The respondents aren’t varying much over the semesters of different programs. BABS and LLB
do not have a 7th semester or a 4th year, which is the reason that they aren’t present in the sample.
From the total number of BABS students who participated in the survey, a majority is seen in the
38
1st semester students, because students tend to switch their programs to BBA later on by their
second or third year.
5.2 Satisfaction:
More students are satisfied as compared to the ones who are dis-satisfied, as seen in figure 5.4.
However, a 48.2% that is almost a half of the respondents are dis-satisfied, which is a substantial
number of students who are dissatisfied with SZABIST.
Level of satisfaction
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
48%
52%
Fig 5.4
5.2.1 Gender-based satisfaction:
Even though levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction are generally equal among both male and
female students, it can be seen in Figure 5.5, that female students tend to be slightly more
dissatisfied than their counterparts. In fact, the number of female students who were satisfied was
the same as the number of male students who were dissatisfied, in absolute numbers.
39
Gender-based Satisfaction Levels

100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Male Female Fig 5.5
5.2.2 Program-based satisfaction
Program-based Satisfaction Levels

100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
BBA BABS LLB BSMS BSCS BSSS Fig 5.6
A major difference in the satisfaction levels across programs can be seen in Figure 5.6. Almost 3
quarters of the LLB students are satisfied with the current overall operations at SZABIST. On the
contrary, almost an exact same percentage of BSMS students are dissatisfied with SZABIST.
40
This implies that in major part the satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels are varying due to a
program-related factor, such as the faculty, the curriculum or maybe the number of scholarships
provided to that particular program, in this case, BSMS.
5.2.3 Semester-based Satisfaction
From the Figure 5.7, it can be observed that as the students enter the university, their satisfaction
levels are pretty high, but as their educational period goes on, their satisfaction levels decrease
quite a bit, by as much as 25%. There can be several reasons for this kind of behavior. When the
students enter the university, it is a novel experience for them, as the environment and the people
are all new. As more time passes, they tend to get used to their environment, and get more
dissatisfied with the SZABIST. Another reason could be that as a student spends more time at
SZABIST, the probability of them coming across a situation where their expectations were not
met with, increases.
Semester-based Satisfaction Levels

100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1st Semester 3rd Semester 5th semester 7th Semester Fig 5.7
41
5.3 Importance of variables:
Several factors influence the appeal of a university to its potential applicants. From the
responses, the importance of those factors according to the students at SZABIST is given below:
1. Faculty
2. Curriculum
3. Management and administration
4. Facilities
5. Financial Aid provided by the university
In this case, 1 is taken to mean the most important factor, whereas 5 is taken to mean the least
important. The numbers have been assigned on the basis of averages of the results.
5.4 Expectations vs. Perceptions:
Not a single student’s expectations, as they were before joining SZABIST, were met with their
perceived performance after their admissions. This is clearly seen by the fact that none of the
students had exactly the same expectations and performance perception. Following are the
results, found by the survey for different variables:
5.4.1 Analysis
 Faculty:
o Knowledge: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance of the
knowledge of faculty is 0.436671 (8.7%).
o Qualification: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance of
the qualification of faculty is 0.395657 (7.9%).
o Counseling: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance of the
counseling provided by faculty is 0.540410 (10.8%).
o Presentation Skills: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance
of the presentation skills of the faculty is 0.53438 (10.68%).
42
 Curriculum:
o Related: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance of how
related the course material is to the subject is 0.41737 (8.34%).
o Practicality: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance of the
practicality of the course material is 0.66828 (13.3%).
o Challenging and support activities: The difference in the expectations and
perceived performance of a balance in challenging and support activities done in
the course is 0.42943 (8.58%).
o Soft and Hard Skills: The difference in the expectations and perceived
performance of the soft and hard skills taught in the course is 0.44994 (8.99%).
 Management:
o Class Scheduling: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance
of convenience to students when classes are scheduled is 0.78408 (15.68%).
o Counseling: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance in
counseling provided by management to students is 0.83112 (16.62%).
o Student Problems: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance
of the managements’ attempt to solve students’ problems is 1.02051 (20.41%)
o EDC: The difference in the expectations and perceived performance of the career
opportunities presented by the EDC is 0.83474 (16.69%).
 Facilities
o Canteen: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the canteen is
1.00362 (20.07%).
o Library: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the library is
0.8456 (16.91%).
o Washrooms: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the washrooms
is 0.92039 (18.4%).
o Recreational Programs: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the
recreational programs at SZABIST is 1.14355 (22.87%).
43
o Computer Laboratories: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the
computer labs at SZABIST is 0.75995 (15.19%).
o Parking: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the ease of finding
a parking spot is 1.06755 (21.35%).
 Financial Structure:
o Increments in fees: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the
increments in fees is 0.62123 (12.42%).
o Scholarships: The difference in the expectations and perceptions of the
scholarships provided by SZABIST, both need and merit based is 0.75633
(15.13%).
5.4.2 Implications:
The lower the difference in the expectations and perceived performance by students, the better it
is for SZABIST. If any of the differences go towards negative, then that implies that the students
are delighted by the institute, however, that is not the case with SZABIST. It can be seen from
the above statistics that the facilities at SZABIST such as the canteen or the washrooms are a
disappointment to the students; however, since facilities are not considered as such important
when making the choice to join a particular university, it won’t cause the students to take any
major steps to counter that disappointment, and it won’t be the reason that future potential
students don’t join SZABIST.
Another major part where discrepancies are noticed is the management of SZABIST.
Management is the third most important factor to be considered when making this choice and
majority the sample respondents believe that the management has not acted like they had
previously expected it to, especially while catering to student problems.
44
5.5 Reasons for dissatisfaction
Reason for dissatisfaction

70
60
Faculty
50 Administration
Extracurricular Activities
40 Curriculum
Career Opportunities
30 Financial Structure
Enforced
20
10
0
Reasons of Dissatisfaction (in percentages) Fig 5.8
Even though the results for the expectation vs. perception analysis showed that students should
be dissatisfied as a whole, majority of the undergraduate students at SZABIST (51%) believed
that they were satisfied. Of the major reasons of dissatisfaction of the remaining, faculty and
administration were named as the highest contributor to dissatisfaction. More than 60% of the
dissatisfied students believed that faculty and administration were to be blamed. At the same
time, it can be consistently seen that the extra-curricular or the recreational facilities at SZABIST
have been a source of dissatisfaction for the students, as well.
5.5.1 Program-based reasons for dissatisfaction:
From the Figure 5.9, it can be clearly seen that the reasons for dissatisfaction varies over the
different programs. For example, it’s evident that hardly any of the Social Sciences students are
satisfied with their teachers. Another interesting fact is that social sciences students aren’t much
satisfied with the administration, either. One of the possible explanations might be that the
administration doesn’t help the students with their issues with the teachers. It can also be
observed that they have generally higher levels of dissatisfaction as compared to other programs
at SZABIST. Media Sciences is the least satisfied with administration of SZABIST and the most
satisfied with the career opportunities that are put before them.
45
Program-based Reasons for Dissatisfaction

100
90
80
70 Faculty
60 Curriculum
Administration
50
Financial Structure
40 Career Opportunities
30 Extracurricular Activities
Enforced
20
10
0
BBA BABS LLB BSMS BSCS BSSS
Fig 5.9
5.6 Choice of SZABIST
The students who had joined SZABIST by their own choice, in total are likely to be more
satisfied in comparison to the ones not satisfied. The respondents who were influenced by close
acquaintances or had SZABIST as the last acceptable alternative were comparatively more
dissatisfied, as they make up for a greater part of those who were dissatisfied, as seen in Figure
5.10. The results show that of the 405 people who joined SZABIST of their own accord as a
personal choice, 234 were satisfied with their choice. Of the people who were influenced by
close acquaintances such as their parents or cousins, majority are dissatisfied. Likewise, the
people who joined SZABIST as a last resort because they couldn’t get admissions elsewhere
were victims of dissatisfaction too, as 129 out of those 225 said they weren’t satisfied with it, as
observed in Figure 5.10.
46
Choice of SZABIST
100%
90%
80%
70% Other
60% Last acceptable alternative
Influenced by close acquaintances
50% Own Choice
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Satisfied Dissatisfied Fig 5.10
5.7 Choice of Program
Choice Of Program
100%
90%
80%
70%
Other
60% Influenced by close acquaintances
50% Own Choice
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Satisfied Dissatisfied Fig 5.11
The reason for a particular choice of program reveals that, surprisingly, it doesn’t quite matter
who or what led a student to choose their particular program. People who chose their own
programs were proportionately almost equally satisfied and dissatisfied. Same was the case with
those who were influenced by others to join those programs or due to some other reason, thus
47
concluding that for students their choice of university has more weightage and importance in this
regard as compared to their choice of program.
5.8 Measures taken to encounter the dissatisfaction level
Measures taken by dissatisfied students

11%
12% No action
Spread negative word of mouth
41%
Switch Programs
Switch Universities
3%
Other
33%
Fig 5.12
Majority of the students who are dissatisfied by the current level of performance they are
receiving from SZABIST haven’t taken any action or have been bad mouthing the university.
While this may not sound like such a terrible thing, one has to keep in mind that where
educational institutes are concerned, word of mouth is a great marketing tool, which is self-
generated. Analysis up till yet has also shown that many of the students at SZABIST only joined
because they were influenced by their acquaintances. If students themselves start spreading
negative word of mouth, it won’t be long that a time comes when current students generate no
leads at all. This will gradually hurt SZABIST more than any other action that students can take
to counter their dissatisfaction.
Other approaches that students take mostly consist of talking to the management, teachers or the
Student Council of SZABIST about their issues. However, this leads to increase in their
dissatisfaction, as the management and teachers tend to be less than helpful in solving these
problems, as already discussed.
48
5.8.1 Measures that can be taken by SZABIST
More than 70% of the dissatisfied students agree that SZABIST should improve the facilities that
its providing to the students, including but not restricted to a better canteen, more recreational
activities and a better parking area. Students, in great numbers, also agree that SZABIST should
provide career guidance to students to help them better understand what career options they have
ahead of them. Most of the students also agreed upon a number of other options that they believe
will help them improve their satisfaction with SZABIST, as shown in Figure 5.13.
Measures
80
Provide Career guidance to students
70
Provide Counseling to students
60
Update the curriculum
50
Improve Teacher Evaluation
methods
40
Conduct development programs for
30 teachers
20 Provide more scholarships
10 Provide improved facilities
0
Measures that SZABIST should take Fig 5.13
49
6. Conclusion
As we know that selection of a Higher Education Institution is a Capital decision and is not very
easy to change. Hence the chances of being dissatisfied are very high and the probable options
for the courses of action are very less and are mostly not opted for.
The aim of this research was to record the reasons of dissatisfaction among the students of
SZABIST regarding SZABIST university. Using questionnaires to conduct the survey, certain
raw data was obtained and was recorded into SPSS to make sense out of it. Using this data
certain statistics were calculated. On a broad perspective it can be said that:
 Most people who came to SZABIST, did so by their own will and were satisfied about
coming to SZABIST.
 Most people who were dissatisfied took no action to counter their dissatisfaction and the
largest minority was of those who spread a negative word of mouth.
 Most people were only dissatisfied because of the very less on-campus facilities.
 The course of action that these students claimed that should be taken was to improve the on-
campus facilities. Most students said that if the campus was comparatively bigger and there
were a better parking and recreational activities etc., they would have been more satisfied.
o Secondly they wanted SZABIST to introduce teacher development programs
whereas a comparatively less population wanted to have more scholarships or
financial aid.
o Hence we may conclude that the students of SZABIST want better educational
and on-campus facilities, yet the fees is not an issue to most of the population.
o At the same time it can also be noticed that; besides being the most and least
voted for course of action, there is not much a margin between the people who
want facilities and the people who want scholarships; and hence the fees structure
is also a major part of influencer when it comes to student satisfaction.
 On an overall it was also recorded that Media Sciences students were the least satisfied. Two
largest reasons for their dissatisfaction can be tracked down to:
50
o Unavailability of resources such as cameras, equipment, lesser shooting locations,
etc.
o Grudges for the faculty’s strict study hard curriculum. As the students who enroll
in the Media sciences are of the expectation that there will only be practical and
creative working involved. The tedious studying is not what they expected before.
 At the same time, the students of LAW are the most satisfied.
 The trend of dissatisfaction also seems to increase gradually with time. 1 st semester students
were most satisfied whereas those of the final semesters are the least satisfied.
51
7. Recommendations
Since the choice of a higher education institute brands undergraduate students for life, they tend
to expect a lot to groom to as much level as possible. SZABIST as a HEC recognized degree
granting higher education institute should take steps that have been already discussed in the
analysis of the data collected from the respondents. Concrete steps to be taken by the institute, as
proposed by the students of SZABIST in the same regard under each head can be:
Faculty:
Since faculty is the most important variable influencing students’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction
level (as demonstrated by the data analysis) a lot of things can be done here to match students’
expectations with the current level of service. Following can be useful:
 Professional development workshops and seminars should be organized for the teachers
to enhance their adroitness in teaching
 Teachers should be sent for further training and collaborative workshops can be done to
impart inter organizational learning and collaboration among teachers
Administration and Management:
The 3rd most important factor rated by the students is administration (section 5) and a significant
percentage of the respondents were found dissatisfied on this factor. A more regulated class
schedule, cooperative and friendly staff and better administration, academic and personal
counseling can be incorporated to bring about a mass scale improvement here.
Facilities:
Even though rated as the 2nd least important factor by the students, the facilities should be
improved manifold as suggested by the data analysis (figure 5.13). Facilities on all relatable
factors like cafeteria, computer labs, library ambience and resources, learning material, study
areas, common rooms, sports, sanitation and all that lead to a better university experience should
be improved to a higher level.
52
A lot of other major and minor improvements can be brought within the system to further
ameliorate the university experience and hence reduce cognitive dissonance among students.
53
8. Limitations of Study
While conducting this research we faced a lot of issues and limitations made their way in. These
have been highlighted below:
 The scope of the study was only limited to SZABIST and that too restricted to its
undergraduate population.
 Research conduction and analysis was done in a very short span of time due to strict
adherence to the timelines. Planned public as well as unforeseen holidays delayed the
collection and analysis processes more.
 The resources that we had were very limited for instance the availability of students,
systems and internet connections.
 Due to the length of the questionnaire and general attitude of people towards responding
to researches, we could not get the desired number of questionnaires filled from each
program targeted and also overall in number. Reacting to that we had to change our
sampling method from quota based to convenience.
 The employment and focus of research around subjective terms like satisfaction,
dissatisfaction, cognitive dissonance etc. makes it hard to standardize meanings and
connotations elicited from them. Efforts were made though, to clarify each and every
term at its best.
54
9. Areas of Further Study
While this particular research is aimed at the students of SZABIST, to refine the university and
produce more satisfied graduates, it can further be implemented in different universities to gauge
whether students have any particular expectations about their universities that are similar over
different universities. This might lead to implications such as that a particular number of students
tend to feel dissatisfied, regardless their place of education.
This study was conducted on 6 of the undergraduate programs, due to limited time as well as
resources. A further research could broaden its horizon and take into account not only other
undergraduate programs, but also the post-graduate MBA and EMBA programs. This will result
in a better and clearer understanding of the factors that lead students to generate negative word of
mouth or, in extreme cases, the factors leading to switching their programs or even, their
university.
Another possible are of research would be to target high schools and question the students in
those schools about their expectations of higher education institutes, in general and their
expectations from SZABIST, in particular. While the current study surveyed the expectation
level of the students of SZABIST, one has to keep in mind that expectations vary over different
points in time and to gauge pre-admission expectations, it would most behoove the next study to
actually question students who are in their pre-admission phase.
It was noted that most students who had problems with administration was because they had
previously complained, without getting any results, the administration of SZABIST could look
into the reasons behind such behavior, in order to better resolve these issues.
If further study on the current population of SZABIST has to be conducted, age could be an
additional factor to consider. This study does not focus on the implications of age on the
satisfaction levels of different students. It might be interesting to note if it does, in fact, have an
effect on the satisfaction levels.
55
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11. Annexure
11.1 Questionnaire
SZABIST Student Survey

This research is being conducted for our final semester thesis to measure the pre and post
admission differences in perceptions of the students of SZABIST. The results shall be kept strictly
confidential. You can select more than one option, wherever application.
Gender Program Semester

o Male o BBA o 1ST
o Female o BABS o 3RD
o LLB o 5TH
o BSMS o 7Th
o BSCS
o BSSS
What made you choose SZABIST as the institution for your studies?
o My choice
o Influence by close acquaintances
o Last acceptable alternative
o Other, please specify ________________________________________
What made you choose your program?

o My choice
o Influence by close acquaintances
Rank the importance of the following factors in a university (1 is least important and 5 is
most important):
Faculty __
Curriculum __
Management __
Campus Facilities __
Financial Aid __
67
Rate SZABISTon the following factors (1 is poor and 5 is excellent):

Faculty
Knowledge of the Subject 1 2 3 4 5

Qualification 1 2 3 4 5
Counseling Timings 1 2 3 4 5
Presentation Skills 1 2 3 4 5
Curriculum
Related to the subject 1 2 3 4 5

Practicality 1 2 3 4 5
Challenging vs. Support 1 2 3 4 5
Soft and hard skills 1 2 3 4 5
Management
Class Schedule
1 2 3 4 5
Counseling 1 2 3 4 5
Catering to students’ problems 1 2 3 4 5
EDC (Career Opportunities) 1 2 3 4 5
Facilities
Canteen 1 2 3 4 5
Library 1 2 3 4 5
Washroom 1 2 3 4 5
Recreational activities 1 2 3 4 5
Computer labs 1 2 3 4 5
Parking Area 1 2 3 4 5
68
Financial Aid
Increment in Fees Structure 1 2 3 4 5

Scholarships 1 2 3 4 5
Rate your expectations about the following factors of SZABIST before your
admission(1 is poor and 5 is excellent):
Faculty
Knowledge of the Subject 1 2 3 4 5

Qualification 1 2 3 4 5
Counseling Timings 1 2 3 4 5
Presentation Skills 1 2 3 4 5
Curriculum
Related to the subject 1 2 3 4 5

Practicality 1 2 3 4 5
Challenging vs. Support 1 2 3 4 5
Soft and hard skills 1 2 3 4 5
Management
Class Schedule
1 2 3 4 5
Counseling 1 2 3 4 5
Catering to students’ problems 1 2 3 4 5
EDC (Career Opportunities) 1 2 3 4 5
69
Facilities
Canteen 1 2 3 4 5
Library 1 2 3 4 5
Washroom 1 2 3 4 5
Recreational activities 1 2 3 4 5
Computer labs 1 2 3 4 5
Parking Area 1 2 3 4 5
Financial Aid
Increment in Fees Structure 1 2 3 4 5

Scholarships 1 2 3 4 5
Are you satisfied after joining SZABIST?

o Yes
o No
If you answered No to the last question, what are the reasons that you are dissatisfied?
o Faculty
o Curriculum
o Admin
o Financial structure
o Career opportunities
o Extra-curricular
o Enforced by parents
What measures have you taken or hope to take to counter the discomfort level?
o No action
o Negative word of mouth
o Switch programs
o Switch university
70
What do you think SZABIST should do to help students?

o Implementing career guidance programs
o Student counseling
o Updating the curriculum
o Implementing better teacher evaluation method
o Facilitating professional development programs for teachers
o Introducing more scholarships
o Providing improved facilities
o Other, please specify________________________________________
Thank you for your response
71
11.2 Plagiarism Report
72
11.3 Graphs
11.3.1 Program and Semester based satisfaction levels
BBA
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1st Semester 3rd Semester 5th Semester 7th Semester
BABS
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1st Semester 3rd Semester 5th Semester
73
LLB
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
BSMS
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
74
BSCS
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
BSSS
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Dissatisfied
Satisfied
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
75
11.3.2 Program and semester based reasons for dissatisfaction
BBA
120
100
Faculty
Curriculum
80 Administration
Financial Structure
60 Career
Extracurriculur
Enforced
40
20
0
BABS
60
50
Faculty
Curriculum
40 Administration
Financial Structure
30 Career
Extracurriculur
Enforced
20
10
0
1st Semester
76
LLB
120
100
Faculty
Curriculum
80 Administration
Financial Structure
60 Career
Extracurriculur
Enforced
40
20
0
BSMS
120
100
Faculty
Curriculum
80 Administration
Financial Structure
60 Career
Extracurriculur
Enforced
40
20
0
77
BSCS
120
100
Faculty
Curriculum
80 Administration
Financial Structure
60 Career
Extracurriculur
Enforced
40
20
0
BSSS
120
100
Faculty
Curriculum
80 Administration
Financial Structure
60 Career
Extracurriculur
Enforced
40
20
0
78
11.3.3 Program and semester based satisfaction level of students with respect to means of
admission
Satisfaction level of BBA students with respect

to admission in SZABIST
120
100
My Choice
80 Influenced by close acquaintances
Last Acceptable Alternative
60
40
20
0
Satisfaction level of BABS students with respect

120
100
My Choice
60
40
20
0
79
Satisfaction level of LLB students with respect

120
100
My Choice
60
40
20
0
Satisfaction level of BSMS students with

respect to admission in SZABIST
70
60
50 My Choice
Influenced by close acquaintances
40 Last Acceptable Alternative
30
20
10
0
80
Satisfaction level of BSCS students with respect

120
100
My Choice
60
40
20
0
Satisfaction level of BSSS students with respect

120
100
My Choice
60
40
20
0
*Note: Some of the blank spaces in the graphs above may be attributed to the fact that none of
the students in that particular program and semester joined via that means, for instance, there
were no students in 1st semester of LLB who joined SZABIST as a last acceptable alternative.
Another possible reason for the blank bar graphs might be that none of the students who joined
that program were satisfied. For instance, none of the students in 5 th semester of BSSS who came
by their own choice were satisfied, which is why the graph depicts a 0 satisfaction level there.
11.3.4 Program wise division of actions taken by students

81
Actions taken by BBA students
17%
3% No action
Negative word of mouth
43%
Switch Program
Switch University
37%
Actions taken by BABS students
14%
No action
Switch Program
Switch University
29% 57%
82
Actions taken by LLB students
24%
36% No action
Switch Program
Switch University
24%
16%
Actions taken by BSMS students

7%
No action
Switch Program
36% Switch University
57%
83
Actions taken by BSCS students
15%
No action
10% 41% Negative word of mouth
Switch Program
Switch University
34%
Actions taken by BSSS students
13%
33%
No action
Switch Program
Switch University
53%
84

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Pre- and Post-Admission Perceptual Differences about SZABIST:A Case Study 2012

1.1 Pictoral Representation of Results

2.1 Research Variables

2.2 Research Methodology

2.3 Sample Size and Sample Technique

2.4 Scope of the Study

2.5 Research Objectives

2.6 Research Questions

 Are the students satisfied after joining SZABIST?

3.1 Purchase Process

3.1.1 Need Recognition

3.1.2 Information Search

3.1.4 Purchase Decision

3.1.5 Product Consumption And Post Purchase Evaluation:

 Perceived Value: The perceived value of a service is the comparison between a

3.2 Pre-purchase Behavior

3.2.2 Purchase Decision

3.2.4 Requirement of Soft Skills and the Need to go to Private Institutions

3.2.5 Cognitive Image:

3.3 Evaluation Of Alternatives

 Satisfied previous customers (alumni in this case)

3.3.1 Factors influencing student decisions of selecting higher education institutions:

3.4 Post Purchase Behavior and Evaluation

The post purchase evaluation consists of the following steps:

3.4.1 Decision Confirmation

3.4.2 Experience Evaluation

Expectations can be classified into 3 broad categories:

 Expectations about performance of the product

3.4.3 Consumer Satisfaction/Dissatisfaction

3.4.4 Consumer expectations and future expectations

3.4.5 Exit, Voice, Loyalty

3.5 Cognitive Dissonance

3.5.1 Reducing Cognitive dissonance

3.5.1.1 Counter Factual Thinking

3.5.2 Reasons for Cognitive Dissonance

Fig. 4.1. Theoretical framework (Singh, 2003)

5.1 Sample Size

Semeter-wise distribution of programs

5.2.1 Gender-based satisfaction:

Gender-based Satisfaction Levels

5.2.2 Program-based satisfaction

Program-based Satisfaction Levels

5.2.3 Semester-based Satisfaction

Semester-based Satisfaction Levels

5.4 Expectations vs. Perceptions:

Reason for dissatisfaction

5.5.1 Program-based reasons for dissatisfaction:

Program-based Reasons for Dissatisfaction

5.6 Choice of SZABIST

5.7 Choice of Program

5.8 Measures taken to encounter the dissatisfaction level

Measures taken by dissatisfied students

20 Provide more scholarships

10 Provide improved facilities

Administration and Management:

9. Areas of Further Study

Aronson, E. 1969, „The theory of cognitive dissonance: A current perspective‟, Advances in