Factors that influence customer preferences towards a private university in Sungai Petani, Kedah / Azyyati Anuar, Mohd Rizaimy Shaharudin and Siti Nabihan Baharuddin

This study attempts to focus on the factors influencing customer preferences
towards a private university in Sungai Petani, Kedah. Nowadays, demand for
higher education in Malaysia is growing in tandem with the government’s
emphasis on human capital development. Without private higher education,
hundreds of thousands of students would have difficulties of gaining the
knowledge as places in public universities are limited. The research aims to
identify factors such as image and reputation, quality of education and overall
cost of education that influence customer’s choice and preference in choosing
future higher educational institute. A sample of 200 students from secondary
schools participated in this study. Data collected from the questionnaires were
analyzed by using regression analysis to determine the relationship between
dependent and independent variables. Results from the study shows that the
quality of education and overall cost of education significantly influenced the
customer preferences. Future research should also focus on the factors
studied or even other factors that influence customer preferences by enlarging
the scope to include all private universities and colleges in Malaysia. Additional
variables such as administration, facilities, lecturers or programme
offered of private or public universities can be further examined to increase
the accuracies and effectiveness of the findings.