Internationalizing Higher Education: The Effect of Country-of-Origin on the Evaluation of Service Quality

As the higher education industry in Asia is prospering, attracting students internationally is becoming more competitive for countries in the region, particularly in Malaysia. The establishment of foreign universities in Malaysia has contributed to healthy competition in the higher education sector as these foreign universities provide potential students with more choices for degrees according to the university country-of-origin (COO). Inevitably, service quality offered by a university is among the most important determinants on a student’s behavioral intention. Hence, this paper aims to explore the relationship between a university country-of-origin, university service quality and its effect on university students’ behavioral intention (word-of-mouth and eventually intention for further study). Data is analyzed using an independent sample t-test and bivariate analysis. Contrary to previous research, results show that there are no significant differences between service quality, word-of-mouth and intention for further study and the university COO. Justification and implications of the study are discussed.