Stratification of Students’ Satisfaction Requirements Using the Kano Model

Abstract

Satisfying students, especially in the service institutions, is a bit complicated due to the diverse and dynamic nature of students when it comes to service provision compared to products. This study thus aimed at stratifying students’ satisfaction requirements at higher learning institutions using the Kano model. Qualitative data were collected from a primary source through interviews and questionnaires. A qualitative approach assisted in collecting forty-six requirements from college students. The Kano model analysed the forty-six requirements. One-dimensional requirements were twenty-three, must-be (14), attractive (4), indifferent (3) and reverse (2). For a college to satisfy students, it has to focus on the fourteen must-be attributes as they are the basic requirements for satisfaction. Subsequently, a college needs to increase students’ satisfaction rate by focusing on one-dimensional attributes by increasing their performance. Nevertheless, to delight students, attractive attributes requirements should be fulfilled whilst paying less attention to indifferent attributes and getting rid of reverse attributes. Regarding the results on the satisfaction and dissatisfaction coefficients, those with maximum coefficients of satisfaction should be considered first during the improvement processes, followed by those with less coefficient of satisfaction. This would impact students’ satisfaction rate positively and eventually would attract the number of students in the respective colleges through word of-mouth from the current students.