Strategies for retaining existing students are becoming increasingly important for selffinanced\ntertiary education institutions as profitability increases as the average length of\nrelationships with students increases. There is a stiff competition among these institutions\nfor attracting and retaining students because there is a major determinant of competitiveness\nand therefore, they have been taking steps to improve student services. Yet, the number of\nstudents in tertiary education institutions is declining as they are unable to retain their\nstudents. Interestingly, research on ways to retain students in self-financed tertiary education\nsector in Hong Kong has been sparse. Satisfaction of students with their respective\ninstitutions has been a key measure of the ability of an educational institution to retain\nstudents. Nevertheless, competition has become so stiff that the institutions need to look for\nstrategies that go beyond the basic satisfaction and help develop a sense of loyalty among\nstudents. In this context, barriers to switching institution, i.e. moving from one institution to\nanother, is also an important driver of student retention, which has an impact of its own, as\nwell as concurrently with satisfaction level. The magnitude and effectiveness of switching\nbarriers moderate the correlation between student satisfaction and student retention. A new\nconceptual model that links the moderating effect of switching barriers on the correlation\nbetween student satisfaction and student retention is proposed.
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