Abstract:

In the current globalization era, increased competition has forced Universities to explore the solutions of attracting and retaining more international students in the universities. Thus, the concept of student loyalty emerged in the context of higher education. From marketing perspective, international student loyalty for Indian higher education institutions is a source of competitive advantage. India hosts much smaller numbers of international students in comparison to other countries. Indian Higher education institutions must grasp the opportunities of attracting and retaining international students. Present study reports the development and validation of international student loyalty scale. Student loyalty scale (SLS)-is a 10 item measure of International students loyalty for Indian universities. It was developed and its preliminary validation evidence is presented. The instrument is developed and validated by collecting data from International students studying in five Indian Universities from two states and one union territory. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three dimensional structure (i.e., cognitive, affective and conative) of the tool. Manegerial implications of the tool have been discussed.

Keywords:

Student loyalty, scale development, international student, higher education.