A Best-Practice Model of University-Students Relationship Development: An Empirical Study

1. Introduction

Developing relationships between students and their universities is not an easy concept to formulate. The reason for this complexity arises as relationship marketing consists of range of activities that can mean different things to different students and universities (Peltier & Westfall, 2000). Indeed, in recent years, private universities have been challenged to create marketing programs that strengthen their relationship with students. According to Gummesson (1996), relationship marketing comprises of three key elements: relationships, networks, and interaction. Although many scholars identified the university-students relationship dimensions, there is a little understanding regarding the factors that influence this relationship, and what contributes to its development, especially for young and private universities. The subsequent sections review the relating literature and describe the dimensions of this relationship (relational bonds, satisfaction, loyalty and relationship strengths) and how they are related to each other.