DETERMINANTS OF THE CUSTOMER'S PERCEPTION OF INNOVATIVENESS: AN INVESTIGATION IN EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

The purpose of this study is to identify informational elements used in customers' perceptions of a service organisation's innovativeness, specifically in the context of higher education. With data collected from 445 university students, the results show that the information is related to service offering and contact personnel. Essentially, it is possible to say that core service (curriculum) goes along with main staff responsible for providing core service (faculty members). These two inseparable elements exert a predominant effect on customers' perception of innovativeness. For a higher education institution, it is obvious that the key role of the training provided should be highlighted in the institution's strategy to influence or modify the decisions of various groups. Support staff responsible for providing peripheral services should not be neglected in this strategy because of their inherent role in the process of core service delivery. The limitations and research implications of the reported study are also discussed.