STUDENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

The higher education (HE) landscape has been undergoing significant changes over the last decade. The trends of globalization and marketization of HE has had a profound impact on the dynamic relationship between students and higher education institutions (HEI) as service providers. Research efforts have been focused on understanding the role of students as customers, drivers of quality and satisfaction, and the emotional aspects of student customer experience (SCX). Despite an ongoing debate on whether students are customers and to what extent the business paradigm can be applied to HE, focusing on students’ higher education experience makes perfect sense, since students provide revenue and create a need for all the supporting services. This paper reviews the literature on SCX in the HE context. The paper aims to reduce the fragmentation of the field by spotting gaps and finding fruitful areas for future research. Using a bibliometric method based on articles indexed in the Web of Science database, it aims to identify the current state of knowledge in the field. The research contributes to both marketing and education theory by offering venues for new research. For policymakers in HE, it may serve as an up-to-date information source when looking for theoretically proven evidence for decision-making.