Believe a friend or the University? Students' satisfaction with service personnel and Word-of-Mouth in Tanzanian Higher Education

The increasing competition among higher education institutions underscores the need to understand how service
personnel influence student satisfaction and, consequently, word consequently, word of mouth. To fill this
knowledge gap, this study seeks to comprehend the link between university service quality and student referrals,
with the long-term goal of improving student engagement and satisfaction. It determines how University students’
satisfaction mediates the nexus between service personnel and word of mouth. This research study adopted a
cross-sectional research design. Both stratified and simple random sampling methods were employed to reach a
total of 201 respondents. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, and Covariance-Based Structural
Equation Modelling (CB-SEM) was used to analyse the relationships in Amos 26. This study finds that the
provision of quality service in universities relies on two characteristic features: service personnel and consumers’
usage experiences, as expressed through the word of Specifically, the findings reveal that University students’
satisfaction serves as a direct mediator of the relationship between university service personnel and word of
mouth. This study offers policy implications and insights into service encounters and word of mouth based on
university students’ service experiences. Universities should set policies and strategies to help them understand
students' expectations and build strong relationships with them. Building strong, beneficial relationships with
students and understanding their expectations are crucial for universities to fulfil their commitments and foster
satisfaction through effective interactions with service personnel. The contribution of this research study to the
body of knowledge lies in its efforts to advance the policies and literature on effective marketing strategies in
university education. It makes another innovative contribution to the body of knowledge by linking the expectation
disconfirmation theory to the nexus among university service personnel, customer satisfaction, and word-of-mouth
in the higher education industry.