Objective - Worldwide, higher education is critical for the social economic development of the society. However African countries such as South Africa, fail to produce quality graduates capable of facing the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution. Considering the increasingly competitive and dynamic environment, African countries can no longer ignore the needs and factors required to enhance student performance. The aim of this research is to examine the influence of student motivation, satisfaction and loyalty on the student performance of higher education in South Africa.

Methodology/Technique - A quantitative approach was adopted in which a questionnaire was used to collect data from 400 students and 335 was usable yielding a valid response rate of 84%. The data was analyzed with the aid of 2 software programs namely, statistical package for social science (SPSS 25.0) and analysis of moment structures (AMOS 25.0). In addition, confirmatory factors analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used to test the relationship between constructs and development of the hypotheses.

Finding and Novelty - The current findings reveal that students who are motivated, satisfied and loyal to their institution are more likely to perform better than those who are not. The results also reveal that there is a significant relationship between student satisfaction and student performance. It was also shown that the higher the level of satisfaction, loyalty and motivation, the better the performance. Therefore, it is recommended that universities or institutions develop an environment that promote satisfaction, loyalty and motivation of their students.

Type of Paper - Empirical

Keywords: Student Motivation; Student Satisfaction; Student Loyalty; Student Performance

JEL Classification: 121, 128.

URI: http://gatrenterprise.com/GATRJournals/GJBSSR/vol9.1_5.html

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35609/gjbssr.2021.9.1(5)

Pages 41 – 49