Abstract
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a popular tool for assessing for-profit organizations’ customer loyalty and future growth to assess customer loyalty and future growth in for-profit organizations. However, its application in higher education has been limited, especially in examining its relationship with the alumni’s desire to give back to the university. To address this gap, we investigate the relationship between NPS and desire of online MBA students’ to give back to their alma mater. We also investigate the factors influencing online MBA students’ college experience and satisfaction, examine how those factors impact their propensity to recommend the academic institution to their friends. Our analysis is based on survey data from 306 online MBA students at a mid-sized state university in the U.S. Upon calculating the NPS, 15 detractors, 58 passives, and 162 promoters were identified and categorized. Results show that classes and financial aid staff were the most influential factors in the likelihood of recommendation. Statistical analysis shows that the promoters, compared to detractors, were 2 to 14 times more likely to give back to their alma mater. Recommendations were provided to assist university administrators.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Due to the nature of the research, due to [ethical/legal/commercial] supporting data is not available.
References
Arbaugh, J.B. 2000. Virtual classroom characteristics and student satisfaction with internet-based MBA Courses. Journal of Management Education 24 (1): 32–54.
Arbaugh, J.B. 2001. How instructor immediacy behaviors affect student satisfaction and learning in web-based courses. Business Communication Quarterly 64 (4): 42–54.
Barrington, K. 2020. Community colleges are changing strategies to improve enrollment. Community College Review, July 7, 2020, https://www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/community-colleges-are-changing-strategies-to-increase-enrollment.
Baehre, E., M. O’Dwyer, L. O’Malley, and N. Lee. 2022. The use of Net Promoter Score (NPS) to predict sales growth: Insights from an empirical investigation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 50: 50–84.
Boylston, M.T., and C. Jackson. 2008. Adult student satisfaction in an accelerated RN-to-BSN program: A follow-up study. Journal of Professional Nursing 24 (5): 285–295.
Bruce, G.D. 2007. Exploring the likelihood and reality of MBA Alumni Financial Donations, GMAC Research Reports, RR-07–12
Conley, B., and Massa, R. 2022, February 28. The Great Interruption. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved August 9, 2022, from https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/views/2022/02/28/enrollment-changes-colleges-are-feeling-are-much-more-covid-19
Cruz, J.O., Moreno, E.E., and Silupu, W.C. 2019, November. Effect of the implementation of University Accreditation on the satisfaction of engineering students using the Net Promoter Score. In 2019 IEEE Sciences and Humanities International Research Conference (SHIRCON) (pp. 1–4). IEEE.
DeShields, O.W., A. Kara, and E. Kaynak. 2005. Determinants of business student satisfaction and retention in higher education: Applying Herzberg’s two-factor theory. International Journal of Educational Management 19 (2): 128–139.
Doyle, W., and W. Zumeta. 2014. State-level responses to the access and completion challenge in the new era of austerity. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 655 (1): 79–98.
Endres, M., S. Choudhury, C. Freye, and C.A. Hurtubis. 2009. The multifaceted nature of online MBA student satisfaction and impact on behavioral intentions. Journal of Education for Business 84 (5): 304–312.
Fain, P. 2019. College enrollment declines continue. Inside Higher Ed., May 29. Document is available at https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/05/30/college-enrollment-declines-continue, Accessed November 20, 2023.
Green, H.J., M. Hood, and D.L. Neumann. 2015. Predictors of student satisfaction with university psychology courses: A review. Psychology Learning & Teaching 14 (2): 131–146.
Guild, E. 2018. Examining factors that influence alumni giving from traditional and online MBA alumni at Colorado State University (Doctoral dissertation, Colorado State University).
Helgesen, Ø., and E. Nesset. 2007. Images, satisfaction, and antecedents: Drivers of Student Loyalty? A case study of a Norwegian University College. Corporate Reputation Review 10 (1): 38–59.
Jaramillo, S., G. Deitz, J.D. Hansen, and E. Babakus. 2023. Taking the measure of net promoter score: An assessment of construct and predictive validity. International Journal of Market Research 1: 14707853231213274.
June, A.W., and O'Leary, B. 2021, November 30. Where graduate enrollments are booming. Where Graduate Enrollments Are Booming. Retrieved August 24, 2022, from https://www.chronicle.com/article/where-graduate-enrollments-are-booming
Kara, A., and D. Zeren. 2022. The relationship between the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and students’ college experiences at a state university. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2021.2018088.
Kara, A., A. Mintu-Wimsatt, and J.E. Spillan. 2021. An application of the net promoter score in higher education. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education 1: 1–24.
Keiningham, T., L. Aksoy, B. Cooil, T.W. Andreassen, and L. Williams. 2008. A holistic examination of net promoter. Journal of Database Marketing and Customer Strategy Management 1: 79–90.
Koksal, I. 2020. The rise of online learning. Forbes, May 2, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilkerkoksal/2020/05/02/the-rise-of-online-learning/#2a006a972f3c
Marcus, J. 2019. Most Americans 'don't realize state funding for higher ed fell by billions. The Hechinger Report, February 26. The document is available at (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/most-americans-dont-realize-state-funding-for-higher-ed-fell-by-billions). Accessed February 16, 2022.
Lee, J.-W. 2010. Online support service quality, online learning acceptance, and student satisfaction. The Internet and Higher Education 13 (4): 277–283.
McGorry, S.Y. 2003. Measuring quality in online programs. The Internet and Higher Education 6 (2): 159–177.
Marks, R.B., S.D. Sibley, and J.B. Arbaugh. 2005. A structural equation model of predictors for effective online learning. Journal of Management Education 29 (4): 531–563.
Monks, J. 2003. Patterns of giving to one’s alma mater among young graduates from selective institutions. Economics of Education Review 22: 121–130.
Moody, J. 2020. 10 Colleges Where the Most Alumni Donate, U.S. News and World Report, December 8. The document is available at (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/universities-where-the-most-alumni-donate#:~:text=The%20average%20alumni%20giving%20rate,rates%20of%2044%25%20and%20higher).
National Student Clearinghouse. 2022. Current term enrollment estimates. Available at https://nscresearchcenter.org/current-term-enrollment-estimates/, Accessed August 2022.
Neary, J.P. 2017. Graduate school alumni giving: An identity salience model of non-profit relationship making success approach (doctoral dissertation). http://scholarcommons.se.edu/etal/4548.
Parahoo, S.K., M.I. Santally, Y. Rajabalee, and H.L. Harvey. 2015. Designing a predictive model of student satisfaction in online learning. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education 26 (1): 1–19.
Piercy, N. 2000. Why it is fundamentally stupid for a business school to try to improve its RAE score. European Journal of Marketing 34 (1/2): 27–35.
Pollack, B.L., and A. Alexandrov. 2013. Nomological validity of the net promoter index question. Journal of Services Marketing 27 (2): 118–129.
Reichheld, F.F. 2003. The one number you need to grow. Harvard Business Review 81 (12): 46–55.
Rao, D. 2018. How Net Promoter Score relates to organizational growth. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts 1: 973–981.
Roberts, J., and R. Styron Jr. 2010. Student satisfaction and persistence: Factors vital to student retention. Research in Higher Education Journal 6 (3): 1–18.
Rovai, A.P. 2003. A practical framework for evaluating online distance education programs. The Internet and Higher Education 6 (2): 109–124.
Schmatz, R., Wolf, G., and Landmann, M. 2015. Students as customers, The Net Promoter Score as a measure of satisfaction and loyalty in higher education. Paper presented in track 2 at the fair 37th annual forum in Krems, Austria (pp. 1–11).
St. Amour, M. 2020. Report: Enrollment continues to trend downward. Inside Higher Ed, Oct. 15, 2020. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/15/worrying-enrollment-trends-continue-clearinghouse-report-shows.
Starkey, K., A. Hatchuel, and S. Tempest. 2004. Rethinking the business school. Journal of Management Studies 41 (8): 1521–1531.
Stevenson, T. 2013. Online student persistence: What matters is outside the classroom. Journal of Applied Learning Technology 3 (1): 21–25.
Stryker, S., and R.T. Serpe. 1994. Identity salience and psychological centrality: Equivalent, overlapping, or complementary concepts? Social Psychology Quarterly 57 (1): 16–35.
Thompson, T.L., and C.J. MacDonald. 2005. Community building, emergent design and expecting the unexpected: Creating a quality learning experience. The Internet and Higher Education 8 (3): 233–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2005.06.004.
Welding, L. 2023. U.S. College Enrollment Decline: Facts and Figures. Best Colleges, Available at https://tinyurl.com/47szfsd8. Accessed December 7, 2023.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kara, A., Spillan, J.E. & Bell, C. Efficacy of the Net Promoter Score in predicting online MBA students' intentions to give back to their alma mater. J Market Anal (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-023-00280-0
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-023-00280-0