University public transportation logistics service quality and student satisfaction: empirical evidence from Thailand

Sann, Raksmey; Siripipattaworn, Saharat Article University public transportation logistics service quality and student satisfaction: empirical evidence from Thailand Cogent Business & Management Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Sann, Raksmey; Siripipattaworn, Saharat (2024) : University public transportation logistics service quality and student satisfaction: empirical evidence from Thailand, Cogent Business & Management, ISSN 2331-1975, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, Vol. 11, Iss. 1, pp. 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2331628 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/326171 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Cogent Business & Management ISSN: 2331-1975 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/oabm20 University public transportation logistics service quality and student satisfaction: empirical evidence from Thailand Raksmey Sann & Saharat Siripipattaworn To cite this article: Raksmey Sann & Saharat Siripipattaworn (2024) University public transportation logistics service quality and student satisfaction: empirical evidence from Thailand, Cogent Business & Management, 11:1, 2331628, DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2024.2331628 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2331628 © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 01 Apr 2024. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 3682 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 2 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=oabm20 ManageMent | ReseaRch aRticle Cogent Business & ManageMent 2024, VoL. 11, no. 1, 2331628 University public transportation logistics service quality and student satisfaction: empirical evidence from Thailand Raksmey sanna and saharat siripipattawornb aDepartment of tourism innovation Management, Faculty of Business administration and accountancy, Khon Kaen university, Khon Kaen, thailand; bindependent Researcher, Bangkok, thailand ABSTRACT although students around campuses mostly rely on university public transportation (i.e. shuttle buses), studies on how university public transportation logistics service quality impacts student satisfaction are limited. hence, this study investigates the university public transportation logistics service quality attributes that affect student satisfaction. Data obtained from 202 valid questionnaires completed by students who frequently use shuttle services were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling with the assistance of the statistical package for social sciences V. 27 and smart partial least squares 4.0. the results show that the university public transportation logistics service quality attributes of empathy, reliability, and timeliness significantly influenced student satisfaction. specifically, reliability is most important when it comes to university public transportation logistics service quality, considering that transportation services should be safe and efficient. this suggests that the university public transportation logistics service quality is important for student satisfaction and should not be ignored. to the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt at understanding the effects of university public transportation logistics service quality attributes on student satisfaction with university public transportation in thailand. 1. Introduction the quality of logistics services is vital in determining customer satisfaction and indicating a company’s position in a competitive market (lisińska-Kuśnierz & gajewska, 2014). the main task of a logistics company is to plan distribution routes, connect areas to one another (Uvet, 2020), and measure shipping efficiency. Different types of courier service providers can arrange transportation through different modes of travel, such as land, sea, and air. travel is essential for facilitating the transport of goods or people between destinations (ho et al., 2012a). By providing transportation services, logistics companies can become key players in the safe delivery of goods to customers. a high level of competition necessitates that companies understand how to use their resources, thus enabling them to place efficiency at the heart of the service, win against competition, and enhance customer satisfaction (Berry et al., 1994). Moreover, logistics service quality can indicate the efficiency of a company’s entire work process in delivering goods and providing information to the customer. this is because the quality of logistics services depends on customers’ utilization of time and space. how these logistics service processes affect customers depends on how they benefit from the service purchased (gil saura et al., 2008). indeed, a company must ensure that its logistics service can provide customer satisfaction and monitor, supervise, and improve service quality (Kilibarda etal., 2012). the concept of logistics service quality (lsQ) is compound, dispersed, intangible, and principally appropriate to customers’ demands and experiences, as well as the specific area of the service. From the consumer perspective, it is often associated with customer satisfaction (Kadlubek & grabara, 2015). © 2024 the author(s). Published by informa uK Limited, trading as taylor & Francis group CONTACT Raksmey sann [email protected] Department of tourism innovation Management, Faculty of Business administration and accountancy, Khon Kaen university, Khon Kaen 40002, thailand. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2331628 this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. the terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 30 november 2023 Revised 13 January 2024 accepted 12 March 2024 KEYWORDS logistics service quality; university public transportation; student satisfaction; empathy; perceived value; timeliness; reliability REVIEWING EDITOR ansar abbas, airlangga University Faculty of economic and Business, indonesia JEL CLASSIFICATIONS M100; M160; l83; Z320 2 R. sann anD s. siRiPiPattaWORn Khon Kaen University (KKU) comprises 27,689 students and is spread over a large area of 8,800,000 square meters, owing to students’ need to travel to perform many activities on campus daily, causing traffic problems, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. consequently, KKU introduced public transportation (e.g. KKU shuttle buses), ferrying personnel and students within the university, free of charge, to reduce the use of personal cars, thereby alleviating traffic congestion, accidents, and pollution within the university (chatathicoon & tanwanichkul, 2021). to assess student or customer satisfaction, students’ experiences must be measured against their expectations. although subjective, the feeling of using the services offered is considered to be an effective and reliable basis of assessment, as well as one that ensures an accurate picture of the perceived service (lisińska-Kuśnierz & gajewska, 2014). Previous studies have discussed different attributes related to public transportation logistics service quality. de Oña (2022) noted that the relationships between punctuality, frequency, information, and intermodality are among the five most important service quality attributes (Madrid and lisbon). Balouei Jamkhaneh etal. (2022) focused on the impact of logistics 4.0 (logistics technologies) on service quality attributes. gupta et al. (2023) added that ‘operational quality,’ ‘resource quality,’ ‘information quality,’ ‘personnel contact quality,’ and ‘customization and innovation quality’ are directly related to user satisfaction. however, there is little research on how students view the university public transportation logistics service quality (UPt-lsQ) in universities and how these companies operating in universities resolve or develop a solution for receiving feedback from students using the service. hence, we intend to determine how students view or express their experience of the campus UPt-lsQ called the ‘shuttle Bus,’ as these services greatly affect students’ daily lives. hence, this study aims to investigate the attributes of shuttle buses (UPt-lsQ) that affect student satisfaction. specifically, this study aimed to answer the following question: From a student’s standpoint, which factors impact UPt-lsQ? to answer the aforementioned questions, questionnaires were distributed to students who frequently use campus shuttle buses. Data were analyzed by partial least square structural equation modeling (Pls-seM) with the assistance of the statistical package for social sciences V. 27 (sPss 27) and smart partial least squares 4.0 (smart-Pls 4.0). through structural equation modeling (seM), we found that three factors (empathy, reliability, and timeliness) significantly impact student satisfaction with the UtP-lsQ. We hope the present results will help university administrators improve their UtP-lsQ scores. 2. Literature review logistics service quality (lsQ) is an instrument used to determine how effectively a service provider adds value to customers by increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty (huma etal., 2019). Kadłubek and Jereb (2015) further added that logistic customer service is ‘the abilities or skills to meet the customer’s requirements and expectations, chiefly in terms of the time and place of deliveries, while using all available forms of logistic activity, including transport, storage, and the management of inventories, information and packages’ p. 08. logistics services can enhance customer relationships (huma et al., 2019). Owing to the various changes in market behavior regarding service quality variables, lsQ has become one of the most significant determinants of customer satisfaction (ho etal., 2012a). numerous types of transportation constantly change their regulations to provide the highest possible level of service quality (Boquet, 2013). according to goldbach et al. (2022), qualitative psychological factors, travel time, and costs significantly affect a logistics service’s ability to deliver high-quality public transportation services. 2.1. Overview of Khon Kaen university KKU is a large university with an area of 5,500 rai or 8,800,000 square meters, necessitating travel between different locations on campus for various school activities. in 2018, the university had 11,106 cOgent BUsiness & ManageMent 3 staff members, 27,687 graduate and postgraduate students, and 3,632 primary and secondary students. some students do not have motorcycles or private cars and rely on public transportation (i.e. shuttle buses) to travel to different institutions or departments and study (chatathicoon & tanwanichkul, 2021). Recently, traffic congestion has become a cause of concern when traveling on campus owing to the large number of students. surprisingly, some students are unwilling to use public transportation. hence, this study attempts to understand the factors that impact student satisfaction and motivate students to use university shuttle buses. additionally, the UPt-lsQ factors of shuttle buses, which affect student satisfaction at KKU, should be considered. We hope that our findings will offer better ideas for improving the efficiency of shuttle bus services. 2.2. Empathy empathy is the caring and individualized attention that a firm provides to its customers (gulc, 2017). empathy is related to the quality of personal communication and information provided to customers by the firm (saura etal., 2008). Furthermore, empathy is not related to other factors, meaning that customer sentiment is not included in service evaluations (Franceschini & Rafele, 2000). thus, customer service can be differentiated from empathy because how empathy affects the evaluation of lsQ is unknown; however, it certainly affects customer satisfaction. a recent study also confirmed that empathy positively impacts student satisfaction within sports education programs (saori etal., 2023). hence, we hypothesize the following: h1 empathy positively impacts student satisfaction. 2.3. Perceived value although many previous studies have highlighted different factors in the perception of service value, customer values, and attitudes, they essentially mean the same. Recognized value is the collective processing of customers who benefit from a product or service based on a comparison between costs and gains in terms of time, money, effort, and benefits to the company. Passengers not only consider the satisfaction or dissatisfaction they experience but also the value of the quality of service they receive (thongkruer & Wanarat, 2021). From a quality perspective, value is the difference between the money paid for a product and its quality. this means that when we pay less for a high-quality product, its perceived value is higher (Kuo etal., 2009). hence, perceived value refers to the total utility that consumers receive from consuming a product or service at the price they pay. in terms of lsQ, students can use the shuttle bus service for free without paying, resulting in increased student satisfaction. therefore, we hypothesize the following: h2 Perceived value positively impacts student satisfaction. 2.4. Reliability service reliability refers to an individual’s ability to serve quickly. thus, it is considered reliable and safe (Restuputri et al., 2021). Reliability also influences the logistics company’s commitment to care. service reliability combines modern technology with high efficiency and can be effectively used by logistics companies to provide lsQ. this allows these companies to better assess the quality of their logistics services and manage their future expenditures, making management more efficient in improving service quality (Berry et al., 1994). therefore, reliability is an important factor for customers. a reliable lsQ positively affects customer satisfaction. Recently, abu-Rumman and Qawasmeh (2022) noted a positive relationship between reliability and student satisfaction. thus, we hypothesize the following: h3 Reliability positively impacts student satisfaction. 4 R. sann anD s. siRiPiPattaWORn 2.5. Timeliness timeliness refers to providing on schedule, whether delivering an order or conducting an activity for a service user (huma et al., 2019). timeliness is essential for reducing the downtime in service processes. in addition, customer satisfaction can be enhanced through flexible hours based on customer requirements (ho etal., 2012b). Moreover, emphasis on the importance of punctuality is also a key evaluator of order fulfillment quality and significantly impacts customer satisfaction in online shopping and logistics (Murfield et al., 2017). customers are particularly concerned about timeliness because they must work and partake in daily activities. Moreover, it can affect the timeliness of transportation service workflows. a recent study by saputri and Mulyani (2022) confirmed the significant influence of speed, timeliness, and ease of access on students’ satisfaction in implementing academic information systems. hence, we hypothesize the following: h4 timeliness positively impacts student satisfaction. 2.6. Satisfaction satisfaction is a business term that describes the evaluation of a product or service provided by a company, ensuring that customers obtain what they hope for (Roslan etal., 2015). Dissonance is a feeling of remorse over the purchase of a product/service, especially if the results do not meet expectations and customers regret their decision to buy or use the product or service. satisfaction can be easily identified through surveys, satisfaction scores, complaints, and repeat purchases, enabling the company to determine whether the customer is happy or biased and disappointed by the results, considering what was obtained, including purchasing decisions and demands related to the product (huma et al., 2019). therefore, satisfaction is the main factor in evaluating the lsQ (lisińska-Kuśnierz & gajewska, 2014). the greater the difficulty in assessing service quality, the greater the difficulty in measuring satisfaction. customer satisfaction is a measure of service efficiency. thus, if customers continue to use the service, it indicates that they have received the desired service, which has met their expectations. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework of this study. 3. Research methodology 3.1. Data collection and questionnaire the sample comprised KKU students who used a university shuttle bus at least once a month. an online survey was posted on the official Facebook page of KKU since thai students spend most of their free time on social media platforms. a 5-point likert rating scale was adopted, ranging from 1 (very disappointed) to 5 (very satisfied) (Joshi et al., 2015). the variables determining service user satisfaction include reusability, dependability, cleanliness, bus modernization, comfort during service, uptime, value, spending, bus stops, and routes (chatathicoon & tanwanichkul, 2021). Data were collected from september 1, 2022, to september 30, 2022, using the snowball sampling technique. each question indicated the quality of the shuttle bus service. Before conducting the survey, a pilot test was conducted with approximately 30 respondents. additionally, to ensure the validity of the questionnaires, peers, and coworkers were interviewed to ensure that the questions were accurate, simple, and clear for everyone to understand. Following the suggestions and recommendations, the questionnaire was revised and improved before its final implementation. cronbach’s alpha was calculated to ensure questionnaire reliability. all variables obtained a cronbach’s alpha value higher than 0.6, which is considered acceptable (Bujang etal., 2018), except for the perceived value because of the non-readability of the question. subsequently, the authors revised the questions based on the respondents’ suggestions that the questions should be simpler, more readable, and easier to understand. the final dataset was collected. after the first 50 samples, we retested the reliability using cronbach’s alpha, and the values of all variables were higher than 0.6, confirming the reliability of the questionnaire. cOgent BUsiness & ManageMent 5 the samples were included in the final dataset. to select respondents who had experience with university shuttle buses, the first part of the questionnaire included questions about shuttle bus experience. those whose replies included ‘No’ were excluded from the study. additionally, the reverse-item technique was implemented to prevent respondents from answering carelessly (i.e. perceived value 2 [PV2]). Finally, university students who had experience with university public transportation were selected as the study sample size as li etal. (2022) stated that a university student sample is suitable for investigating the relationship between university service quality and student satisfaction. therefore, it was appropriate for our study. after the initial screening of the erroneous samples, 48 samples were excluded. the final data comprised the responses from 202 experienced shuttle bus users. the final questionnaire was divided into three parts. the first was to gather general information and user experience, the second was a survey of students’ satisfaction with the shuttle bus service, and the third was recommendations or suggestions (optional). Data is avialable for free online at Doi: 10.17632/4ryppc5jbr.1. 3.2. Measurement Five variables, each measured at the same level, were used in this study. each variable represents an essential factor in determining student satisfaction with the shuttle bus services and service history. the four questions on empathy were adapted from akdere et al. (2020), Dewi et al. (2011), and Kilibarda et al. (2016). another four questions regarding perceived value were adapted from le etal. (2020). Five questions indicating reliability were used as satisfaction evaluation criteria (chatathicoon & tanwanichkul, 2021; Kilibarda et al., 2016). the three questions indicating timeliness were adapted from Bouzaabia etal. (2013) and Uvet (2020). Finally, seven questions indicating satisfaction were adopted and modified from the Figure 1. Research framework. Note. uPt-LsQ: university public transportation logistics service quality. 6 R. sann anD s. siRiPiPattaWORn studies of Fernandes et al. (2018), gil saura et al. (2008), and sorkun et al. (2020). a structured response method using a 5-point likert scale was used to increase the success rate. cronbach’s alpha was used for each export factor to ensure internal consistency. table 1 details the variables and their indicators. 3.3. Data analysis Data were analyzed using iBM sPss 27 for organizing, cleaning, frequent analysis, and descriptive statistics, whereas seM was conducted using smart Pls 4.0. this study adopts Pls-seM over covariance-based seM because it is widely applied in social science research (sann etal., 2023; sann & lai, 2023). secondly, it is convenient for small sample issues where other applications are limited (sann et al., 2023). Finally, Pls-seM is free of a normal distribution. accordingly, there is no need for a normal distribution of empirical data (sann et al., 2023; 2023). thus, Pls-seM was suitable for this study. 3.4. Ethical consideration this study was exempt from ethical considerations because it only included interactions involving educational tests (e.g. cognitive, diagnostic, aptitude, and achievement), survey procedures, interview procedures, or observation of public behavior. 4. Results 4.1. Descriptive statistics Questionnaires were distributed to students using the shuttle bus service. after the completion of the study, 202 valid samples were included. table 2 summarizes respondents’ demographic and general information, according to which females constituted the majority at 64.9%, followed by males at 30.2%. Regarding age and education, the majority were in their 20s (36.1%) and studying for a bachelor’s degree (94.1%), respectively. additionally, most of them earn less than 10,000 baht (65.8%). Table 1. Details of variables and their indicators. Variables indicators source empathy (akdere et al., 2020; Dewi et al., 2011; Kilibarda et al., 2012) eMP1 You feel safe when you use the shuttle bus. eMP2 the shuttle bus service is attentive to customers at all times. eMP3 the air conditioning on the shuttle bus makes you feel relaxed. eMP4 the shuttle bus is large, so those using the service will not feel uncomfortable. Perceived value (Chatathicoon & tanwanichkul, 2021; Le et al., 2020) PV1 You feel satisfied when you can use the shuttle bus for free. PV2 You are amenable if the shuttle bus starts collecting money for the service. PV3 using a shuttle bus can help reduce your daily travel expenses. PV4 using a shuttle bus can greatly reduce air pollution. Reliability (Chatathicoon & tanwanichkul, 2021; Franceschini & Rafele, 2000) RL1 When a problem arises in using the shuttle bus service, the transport company demonstrates its commitment to resolving the issue. RL2 the shuttle bus driver has good driving ability. RL3 the shuttle bus service is stable and reliable. RL4 the exterior of the shuttle bus is strong and compact. RL5 the shuttle service application will notify you of lost or incidental items during the service. timeliness (Bouzaabia et al., 2013; uvet, 2020)tL1 the shuttle bus service time is appropriate. tL2 the waiting time for each shuttle bus doesn’t take long. tL3 You are satisfied with the frequency of the shuttle bus service. student satisfaction (Fernandes et al., 2018; gil saura et al., 2008; sorkun et al., 2020) ss1 You are satisfied with the shuttle bus service quality. ss2 You are satisfied with the cleanliness of the shuttle bus. ss3 the shuttle bus service is very convenient for you. ss4 the interior elements of the shuttle bus are appropriate (seat position or seat cushion). ss5 the technology in the shuttle bus is modern and looks high-quality. ss6 the bus stop displays the location of the shuttle bus at that time. ss7 We can see an application on the map that shows the location of every shuttle bus. Note: eMP, empathy; PV, Perceived value; RL, Reliability; tL, timeliness; ss, student satisfaction. cOgent BUsiness & ManageMent 7 4.2. Measurement model items with factor loadings lower than 0.5 were omitted from the measurement model (e.g. PV3, PV4, and ss2) (Figure 2). in this study, we used smart Pls 4.0, the values of which must be above 0.7, to investigate composite reliability and cronbach’s alpha to verify construct validity (Bujang et al., 2018). table 3 shows that the composite reliability ranges between 0.728 and 0.934, which is acceptable because the cutoff value of the coefficient rho_c should be > 0.70. the factor loading of this study is above 0.50, thereby meeting the criteria of convergent validity (Peterson & Kim, 2013; sann et al., 2023; 2023). the average variance extracted (aVe) is between 0.505 and 0.826, while cronbach’s alpha was above 0.701 (table 3). a construct’s perceived value (cR value) fails to meet these criteria, making it unacceptable (Yi & gong, 2013). however, according to Farrell (2010), aVe should be higher than 0.5 for it to be accepted. table 3 shows that all variables passed the measurement criteria, including aVe, the values of which were greater than 0.5. according to hasan etal. (2020), the degree to which a test is unrelated to others measuring different constructs is referred to as discriminant validity. to measure this, the square root of aVe is required. to establish discriminant validity, the square root aVe of the construct should be greater than the variance distributed between the construct and the others (sann et al., 2023). table 4 presents the discriminant validity of all five constructs. the square root of aVe for each latent construct should be higher than the correlations of any other latent construct (sann et al., 2023). Figure 2 shows how all variables are associated with each other and how the value of the path coefficient is influenced by every variable (Dewey & lu, 1959). 4.3. Structural model a bootstrap approach (confidence interval method: bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap, two-tailed test, significance level of 0.05) with 5,000 subsamples is used to test the hypotheses. table 5 lists the standardized coefficients with the corresponding t- and p-values. seM shows that the path coefficients from the UPt-lsQ attributes of empathy, reliability, and timeliness to student satisfaction are all statistically significant (eMP → ss: β = 0.219, t = 3.649, p < 0.000; Rl→ ss: β = 0.424, t = 5.692, p < 0.000; tl → ss: β = 0.284, t = 3.648, p < 0.000), however, the perceived value attribute is statistically insignificant (PV → ss: β = 0.039, t = 0.677, p = 0.499) within the expected directions. therefore, student satisfaction was influenced by the UPt-lsQ attributes of empathy, reliability, and timeliness (table 5). Table 2. Demographic information. items Describe Frequency Percent (%) gender Female 131 64.9 LgBtQ 1 0.5 Male 61 30.2 Prefer not to say 9 4.5 age 19 or below 52 25.7 20 73 36.1 21 36 17.8 22 27 13.4 23 or more 14 6.9 Degree Currently studying for a bachelor’s degree 190 94.1 Currently studying for a master’s degree 8 4.0 Currently studying for a Ph.D. 4 2.0 income (baht) less than 10,000 baht 133 65.8 10,001 – 15,000 baht 48 23.8 15,001 – 20,000 baht 8 4.0 more than 20,001 baht 13 6.4 Frequency of shuttle bus use 1–3 day(s) per week 47 23.3 4–5 days per week 70 34.7 6 days per week or more 53 26.2 once a month 32 15.8 total 202 100