The Impact of Social Interactions During Onboarding Programs on Students' Fee-paying Behavior

Abstract

Drawing on the need-to-belong theory together with prominent concepts from service marketing, this article investigates the impact of human interactions during onboarding programs on student satisfaction as well as the latter’s influence on students’ prosocial behavior and brand preference. It then examined the impact of prosocial behavior and brand preference on student fee-paying behavior. Such research is warranted as there is a critical need to offer academics and practitioners insights into effective student recruitment practices in the highly competitive higher education environment. 367 responses were captured from participants in an onboarding program. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Financial records were used to confirm students’ admission. The results confirmed the effectiveness of social interactions, especially with fellow students, on student satisfaction and found that student satisfaction drives students’ prosocial behavior and brand preference. The latter constructs were found to be predictors of fee payment