Trust as Mediator in Higher Education Service Quality and International Students’ Continuance Intention of Study

The globalization and internationalization of higher education are considered vital contributing factors and driving force in the economic growth of many countries around the world. Growth of education tourism and the mushrooming number of higher education institutions around the world promote the student mobility at an unprecedented rate [1]. The increasing opportunities and student mobility motivated an increase of international students’ enrolment globally. Malaysia aspires to achieve 250,000 international students enrolment by year 2025 as projected in the Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint: 2015 to 2025. This internationalization effort had encouraged many institutions particularly the private higher education institutions (PHEI) to continuously enhance its service quality for improving the international students’ enrolment reflected through the continuance intention of study. While analyzing the past literature, it is relevant for this study to focus on the importance of trust in the context of service quality and customer commitment. This research attempts to develop a theory. The future application of the proposed conceptual framework is expected to provide insightful findings in conceptual framework by adapting a suitable service quality model with an integration of established theoretical and practical aspects.