ABSTRACT

As a consequence of globalization and steadily declining financial state support, the strategic importance of alumni loyalty (AL) has remained topical in a competitive education market. Due to the vital role of AL, researchers created numerous econometric models to reveal primary drivers of AL. However, these models mainly focused on AL in English-speaking societies. Since consumer behavior can significantly depend on the cultural norm, research into Western alumni may not necessarily predict the behavior of alumni from Eastern countries. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether the bond between the intention to AL (IAL) and its antecedents is sensitive to the cultural environment. Three of Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions were integrated into the integrative model of intention to alumni loyalty. The authors test this model using a structural equation modeling approach, multi-group as well as important performance analyses. A sample of 159 German and 229 Russian students reveals that predisposition to charity exerts a greater impact and integration exerts less influence on IAL enhancement in individualistic cultures than in collectivistic societies. In high power distance cultures, corporative quality (esp. university reputation) is an essential IAL driver. In contrast, interactive quality (esp. correctness of knowledge evaluation) is a critical factor in low power distance cultures. Benefits of the alumni association play a valuable role on IAL enhancement in both masculine and feminine societies. The findings can serve as a framework for developing a culturally stable universal alumni loyalty model that can be generalized from one cultural setting to another.

摘要

由于全球化和国家财政支持稳步下降，校友忠诚度 (AL) 的战略重要性在竞争激烈的教育市场中一直是热门话题。由于 AL 的重要作用，研究人员创建了许多计量经济学模型来揭示 AL 的主要驱动因素。然而，这些模型主要关注英语社会中的 AL。由于消费者行为在很大程度上取决于文化规范，因此对西方校友的研究不一定能预测东方国家校友的行为。因此，本研究旨在调查对 AL (IAL) 的意图与其前因之间的联系是否对文化环境敏感。Hofstede (2001) 的三个维度被整合到校友忠诚度意图的综合模型中。作者使用结构方程建模方法、多组以及重要的性能分析来测试该模型。159 名德国学生和 229 名俄罗斯学生的样本表明，与集体主义社会相比，在个人主义文化中，慈善倾向对 IAL 的影响更大，而整合对 IAL 增强的影响更小。在高权力距离文化中，企业素质（尤其是大学声誉）是 IAL 的重要驱动因素。相比之下，互动质量（尤其是知识评估的正确性）是低权力距离文化的关键因素。校友会的好处在男性和女性社会的 IAL 增强方面发挥着宝贵的作用。