Internal Marketing Activities in Higher Education

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to develop valid measurements to investigate the concept of 'Internal Marketing' (IM) in higher education institutions (HE). The study confirms that IM in HE can be measured using SIX multi-item components of: Employee Development, Internal Market Research, Internal Communications, Performance Incentives, Management Support and Vision about Excellent Service. The effect of IM on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and student satisfaction was also tested using Smart PLS. However, the findings indicate that although IM has a significant effect on job satisfaction and organizational commitment, its effect is not substantial, which means that there are other drivers of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Therefore, future research is encouraged to identify those drivers. Moreover, the effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on student satisfaction is not substantial, which means that although these two variables are necessary, they are not sufficient conditions to ensure student satisfaction.