International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, 2(1), 123–141
Value Judgements and Continuing
Education
Susan Geertshuis
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Otto Krickl
University of Graz, Austria
This article examines the perceived value of continuing education courses
and discusses how value is related to satisfaction, value for money judge-
ments and willingness to pay for education. Data was collected through an
online survey at four universities in two nations. A four-factor value struc-
ture was identified with the following dimensions: institutional image, career
value, learning value, and social value. Differences between Austrian and New
Zealand based respondents in the relative importance of the four dimensions
were observed and the possible origins of these differences are explored. We
propose a theoretically informed model that is consistent with our observa-
tions.
Keywords: learning; continuing education; perceived service value; community
education; value for money; satisfaction; willingness to pay
Introduction
Continuing education in the form of community courses, lectures, and/or
professional development is offered by most universities to members of
their regional and professional communities. The primary motivation has
more commonly been to provide a public service rather than deliver pro-
grammes on a commercial basis (Winter, Wiseman, & Muirhead, 2006).
Historically, all or some of the costs of these courses have been born by gov-
ernments, professions, employers and/or by the universities themselves
(Geertshuis, 2009). However, times are changing, resources are less read-
ily available and students are having to shoulder a greater financial burden
(Milam, 2005). This applies to degree programmes and is well documented;
however, a similar, or even more radical, shift is being experienced in con-
tinuing education. In New Zealand, for example, all subsidies for non-credit
continuing education programmes delivered by universities were withdrawn
during 2011 and 2012 (Treasury, 2009, 2012). As a consequence, contin-
uing education units are being pressurised to displace costs on to learners
and to base provision on the market rather than on perception of need.
While, as educationalists, we may rail against the hegemony of ne-
oliberalism, as pragmatic practitioners our stance is that we must do
www.issbs.si/press/ISSN/2232-5697/2_123-141.pdf
124 Susan Geertshuis and Otto Krickl
what we can, where we are and with what we have. This paper, therefore,
unashamedly takes approaches from the field of marketing and applies
them largely in an unproblematized fashion to continuing education. Our
rationale is simple; if we are to survive, we must persuade our learners
to pay higher fees. If we can find out what learners value in our courses,
perhaps we can make them more valuable. If courses are valuable, pre-
sumably learners will enrol in them, pay their (high) fees, be satisfied and
become loyal and regular customers. However intuitively appealing (and op-
timistic) this line of reasoning is, a cursory examination of the literature
makes it clear that the precise nature of these variables and any causal
relationships between them are not only complex but relatively uncharted
particularly when educational services are considered.
The paper begins with an introduction to the concept of perceived value
and the constructs purported to relate to it, as well as to the willingness to
pay higher fees or prices. We draw upon the marketing literature in general
and upon the scant literature that relates to educational services. The high
level aim of the present study is to provide insight into how the concepts of
value and price can be applied by researchers and practitioners to inform
and improve the provision and viability of continuing education. More specif-
ically, we seek to identify the dimensions of perceived value and establish
their generality. We then aim to investigate the relationships between per-
ceived value, satisfaction, value for money and willingness to pay.
Review of the Literature
The notion of value and value creation is pervasive within the marketing
and business literature. Indeed, creating value is what businesses strive
to do, but what is value? Efforts by scholars to both define and measure
value constructs have not resulted in a clear and easily comprehensible set
of guidelines for practitioners or theorists and the area remains contested
(Boksberger & Melsen, 2011; Heinonen, 2004). Zeithaml (1988, p. 14) de-
fines perceived service value as ‘the consumer’s overall assessment of the
utility of a product /service based on perceptions of what is received and
what is given.’ Thus the notion of exchange is central, perceived value can
be seen as a trade-off between the benefits of using a service and the sac-
rifices made to gain the service. Based on this fundamental concept, Rust
and Oliver (1994) indicated in their work on service value that perceived
value should increase as prices decrease and quality increases.
Zeithaml’s (1988) perception of value as a single overall judgement cul-
minating in a decision to purchase a service has been overtaken of late
by the notion that consumers have a set of values, which collectively in-
form consumption decisions (Smith & Colgate, 2007). Trade-off models are
criticised as being too simplistic for consumption and service experiences,
because they ignore the multidimensionality of the construct of perceived
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 125
value (Holbrook, 1999; Sweeney & Soutar, 2001). Recent findings define
customer value as a multidimensional construct that consists of several
dimensions and interrelated attributes (Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994; Hol-
brook, 1994, 1999; Sheth, Newman, & Gross, 1991). Writers identify val-
ues that relate to service quality and to symbolic constructs such as status
enhancement (Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; Richins, 1997). Various at-
tempts have been made to design multidimensional conceptual frameworks
to assess the perceived value in several areas of interest (Holbrook, 1994,
1999; Smith & Colgate, 2007; Spiteri & Dion, 2004).
Sheth et al. (1991) defined five types of consumption values: functional
value, social value, emotional value, epistemic value, and conditional value.
Functional value represents the economic utility of a product or service.
Social value concerns the utility derived from the association with cer-
tain groups that are deemed to play a decisive role in the evaluation of
products and services (Park, Jawarski, & Macinnes, 1986; Park & Lessig,
1977). Emotional value captures the value placed on the services’ ability
to produce affective states, such as excitement, security, fear, and happi-
ness. Epistemic value is the interest, curiosity or learning stimulated by the
product or service. Finally, conditional value is derived from the specifics
of the purchasing situation, which may influence perceived value. These
concepts have been applied in a range of contexts and a measurement
scale known as PERVAL was developed and validated positively (Gallaraza
& Saura, 2006; Sweeney & Soutar, 2001). Of particular relevance for this
paper has been LeBlanc and Nguyen (1999) and to a lesser extent Ledden
and Kalafatis (2010), who took Sheth et al.’s (1991) model and adapted it
for investigations of values placed on, and derived from, university business
school education.
LeBlanc and Nguyen (1999) assessed the perceived service value of
business degrees and identified 33 items that were related to value dimen-
sions. They proposed a six-factor value structure of perceived service value
as follows: ‘functional value’ relating to degree utility with regard to gain
future employment, ‘epistemic value’ relating to the institution’s capacity to
offer educational services through guidance and knowledge provided by the
faculty and ‘image’ relating to the reputation of the business school that is
linked to the value of the students’ diploma, ‘emotional value,’ defined as
positive feelings students have towards their field of study, ‘function value’
relating to fair pricing and ‘social value’ that derives from group and social
activities that add value to the learning experience.
Development of Hypotheses
Using LeBlanc and Nguyen’s (1999) work as a foundation, a suite of hy-
potheses was developed within the values framework in order to exam-
ine the perceptions and judgements of continuing education students. The
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
126 Susan Geertshuis and Otto Krickl
study is unique in applying the theoretical approaches drawn from marketing
and business and represents an attempt to both deepen our understanding
of the perceived value of educational services and better equip the practi-
tioners for an emerging economic reality.
Multidimensionality of the Construct of Perceived Service Value
Previous work clearly indicates that categories of value exist, although the
number and nature of these values is contested (Holbrook, 1999; LeBlanc
& Nguyen, 1999; Sheth et al., 1991). Whilst considerations of the dimen-
sions of perceived service value and their measurability seem to be the
topic of an on-going critical debate, the conceptual framework of the present
paper is based on the findings of LeBlanc and Nguyen’s (1999) adaptation
of the Sheth et al.’s (1991) model of consumption values. This approach
ensures traceability and meets the requirements of a clear value definition.
The importance of LeBlanc and Nguyen’s findings results from the
uniqueness of the study, which identified the factors that have an impact
on students’ evaluation of value during their educational experience. It
represents the first examination in this vein and therefore builds an appro-
priate basis for further research. To establish that LeBlanc’s and Nguyen’s
six-factor model can be adopted and generalised to continuing education
students we propose that:
H1 Categories of values will be identifiable.
H2 Categories identified will reflect the value dimensions reported by
LeBlanc and Nguyen.
Influence of a National Context
To the knowledge of the authors there are no studies that examine the
differences in the perception of perceived service value and price of ed-
ucation across institutions and nations. Several relationships have been
established between values and contextual and demographic variables for
other services areas (Creusen, 2010; Dittmar, Beattie, & Friese, 1995;
Henry, 2002; Williams, 2002). A number of workers have sought to compare
values across geographic or cultural boundaries (Zhang, Beatty, & Walsh,
2008). Given the need to understand global consumer markets, studies
are needed that capture both individual and cultural elements, that is, we
need to understand the customers/students in their entirety for who they
are rather than where they may be. However, studies regarding the influ-
ence of multiple contextual and personal variables on value construct are
scarce (Raajpoot, 2004). Ladhari, Pons, Bressolles, & Zins (2011), having
compared respondents from two nations, emphasise the need to consider
both micro (individual) and macro (national) influence on values. They report
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 127
on a common set of values and identify differences in the degree to which
values are upheld. In our study, we also anticipate finding differences in the
importance of commonly held values.
Whilst both of our study sites are advanced western nations, they differ
in the degree to which the state subsidises education. Austria has an ex-
tensive education system, which supports students taking degrees and pro-
vides subsidised continuing education. Within New Zealand, learners who
attend university either for degree programmes or for less formal continuing
education contribute to the cost of their education. Ladhari et al. (2011)
note that organizational and structural differences between nations also
serve to shape expectations and perceptions. Work by Geertshuis (2009,
2011) has shown how important expectations and reference prices are in
judgements of willingness to pay for continuing education. We would there-
fore expect that New Zealanders, accustomed to paying for courses, would
be willing to pay more than Austrians, who are used to accessing continuing
education at minimal personal cost.
We therefore propose that:
H3 The value placed on value dimensions will vary with context.
H4 The New Zealand sample will be willing to pay more than the Austrian
sample for the same courses.
The Consequences of Value
We assessed three outcome measures: satisfaction, value for money and
willingness to pay, and expect positive relationships between perceived ser-
vice value and outcomes. Our rationale is laid out below.
Most authors, who have investigated the relationship between customer
value and satisfaction, see customer value as an antecedent of customer
satisfaction. Numerous studies support this assumption (Cronin, Brady, &
Hult, 2000; Eggert & Ulaga, 2002; Liu, Leach, & Bernhardt, 2005). In their
work, authors such as Wang, Lo, Chi and Yang (2004), and Spiteri and Dion
(2004) assume a direct relationship between individual value dimensions
and satisfaction.
Value for money is a concept that may summarise perceived service
value or quality and incorporate an element of price. Thus it captures the
summative perceptions consumers have of the trade-off between value re-
ceived and value lost in exchange for a given price or fee as a result of a
transaction (McDougall & Levesque, 2000). As such, we would expect that
perceived service value predicts ‘value for money.’
Judgements of value and quality are considered to be antecedents of
customers’ behavioural intentions (McDougall & Levesque, 2000; Monroe
& Dodds, 1988; Monroe & Krishnan, 1985). Willingness to pay (WTP) is
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
128 Susan Geertshuis and Otto Krickl
one such behavioural intention and is regarded as the amount of value,
in monetary terms, a customer places on a service (Breidert, Hahsler, &
Reutterer, 2006). Equity theory would directly predict that as value or qual-
ity increases, so would customers’ tolerance of higher prices, which has
been confirmed in the literature (Boulding, Kalra, Staelin, & Zeithaml, 1993;
Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996). The concept has been applied to
investigate WTP for health insurance (Dror, Radermacher, & Koren, 2007),
energy saving (Banfi, Farsi, Filippini, & Jakob, 2008) and renewable energy
(Scarpa & Willis, 2010). It must be noted, however, that there are critics of
the method who suggest that willingness to pay judgements made in the
laboratory may not closely reflect the purchasing decisions made on the
market (Sichtmann & Stingel, 2007; Spash, 2008).
A study by Frank and Enkawa (2009) analysed economic influences on
perceived value and willingness to pay (WTP) and found, that customer sat-
isfaction, as well as perceived value of services, were positively related to
an increase in income. This was attributed to customers with higher income
being able to adapt the range of products/services they purchased. In our
study, all respondents, irrespective of income, received the same service so
we do not predict a relationship between income and satisfaction or value
for money; nevertheless, we did control for income in our analyses.
To establish the impact of perceived service value dimensions on the
outcomes: satisfaction, value for money judgements and willingness to pay,
we predict that:
H5 Categories of values will determine satisfaction levels.
H6 Categories of value will determine value for money.
H7 Categories of value will determine willingness to pay.
Satisfaction has been reported to be a weak predictor of consumer be-
haviour in other studies (Mittal & Kamakura, 2001). To examine and under-
stand the impact of customer satisfaction on value for money and willing-
ness to pay, it is again necessary to draw upon equity theory, which focuses
on fairness in social exchange (Pritchard, 1969). Equity theory claims that
parties to an exchange base their judgement of fair treatment on a compar-
ison of outcomes and inputs (Bolton & Lemon, 1999). Cronin et al. (2000)
found that value was impacted both directly through behavioural intentions
and indirectly through satisfaction.
Homburg, Koschate and Hoyer (2005) found some evidence to suggest
that customers are thought to be willing to pay more if they are satisfied with
quality. Furthermore, it is believed that satisfied customers become repeat
customers and purchase more (Cooil, Keiningham, Aksoy, & Hsu, 2007).
However, despite the general belief that satisfied customers are willing to
pay more, supporting evidence is less than overwhelming (Homburg et al.,
2005).
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 129
Finally, Berwick and Weinstein (1985), examining willingness to pay for
health care, and Carpio and Isengildina-Massa (2009), who looked at pur-
chasers of farm produce, both report that income has a significant impact
on WTP judgements even when quality is constant. Indeed, Shiroiwa et al.
(2010) found household income to be the most consistent and greatest
predictor of WTP for one quality adjusted life year across six nations.
With regard to the relationship between satisfaction and income and
willingness to pay we predict:
H8 Satisfied learners will rate overall value for money higher.
H9 Satisfied learners will be willing to pay more.
H10Wealthier learners will be willing to pay more.
Methodology
The present study was conducted at four institutions: two in New Zealand
(The University of Auckland and Waikato University) and two in Austria (Uni
for Life Graz and University of Teacher Education Styria). Respondents had
all enrolled in one or more continuing education courses in the previous
12 months. Courses ranged from short one-off workshops or seminars to
diploma or certificate courses lasting over a year. For practical reasons, an
online questionnaire was selected for data gathering. It consisted of demo-
graphic items, satisfaction, attitudes to quality and price, and items relating
to customer perceived service value. To collect the data to examine the will-
ingness to pay, participants indicated the fee they would pay to attend four
sample courses. Courses were of similar length and were on the following
topics: history, foreign language, presentation skills and photography, thus
providing a mix of skills and interest based topics. A mean willingness to
pay score was calculated for each respondent. All analyses were carried out
using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18.0.
Sample
661 students completed the questionnaire, which represents a response
rate from between 5 and 10 percent at each study location. Of the sam-
ple, 77% were female and 23% male students, 378 (57%) studied in New
Zealand and completed the survey in English. 283 (43%) attended classes
at one of the two locations in Austria and completed the survey in Ger-
man. The sample was highly educated with almost 70% having a university
degree; furthermore, a range of age and income groups were represented.
Results
Dimensions of Perceived Value
In order to determine the factor structure of perceived service value, an ex-
ploratory factor analysis, using principal component analysis as the method
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
130 Susan Geertshuis and Otto Krickl
of extraction, was conducted. A four factor solution with varimax rotation
provided a satisfactory solution with clear interpretation. A final check
on this factor solution showed that the four factors altogether explained
56.27% of the variance, that there were no items with communalities less
than .2 and all factor loading was greater than .3. Any item loading on more
than one factor was assigned to the factor on which it loaded most highly.
Cronbach’s alpha was measured for the identified dimensions and found to
be acceptable.
The factors identified can be described as follows: career value, repre-
senting the utility of educational services to ensure and improve job per-
formance, promotion prospects and payment; social value, concerning the
social side of attending courses and interpersonal exchange in learning en-
vironments; personal learning value, capturing the subjective evaluation of
an educational service offer to enable personal development as well as the
ability to provide novelty and image value, covering variables that represent
the students’ inference from the institution’s reputation to the value of the
service. This clear identification of value dimensions, which was replicated
for the combined data set and when each nation was considered separately
leads to the confirmation of H1.
While we identified four core dimensions of value LeBlanc and Nguyen
(1999) identified six, the values identified here map very closely to four of
the values identified by Le Blanc and Nguyen (1999). Their functional value
corresponds well with our career value. Their epistemic value corresponds
with our learning value. Both studies identify image as a further dimension
and they, like us, propose a social value. Unlike Le Blanc and Nguyen we did
not identify price or emotion as separate values. Our results provide partial
support for H2.
National Context
Analysis revealed significant differences between the New Zealand and Aus-
trian samples in the benefit they placed on career value (t =−2.31, p< .05),
social value (t =−5.7, p< .01) and image value (t = 8.2, p< .001), with the
Austrian sample evaluating career and social value and the New Zealand
sample placing greater emphasis on the image value. H3, which predicted
differing relevance of individual value dimensions across nations, is sup-
ported.
t-tests were performed to compare means and identify demographic dif-
ferences according to nation and a regression analysis was conducted to
establish the extent to which apparent group differences in value percep-
tion could be attributed to demographic variables or national differences.
The samples were significantly different on the frequency with which they
attended courses either at current (t =−2.93, p< .001) or other institutions
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 131
(t = −3.98, p < .001), their age (t = 12.78, p < .001) and how many hours
per week they worked (t =−10.23, p< .001), with the New Zealand sample
attending fewer courses, being rather older and on average working fewer
hours. One third of the New Zealand sample were over the age of 60 while
less than 1% of the Austrian sample fell into this age group. Nearly 25% of
the New Zealand sample were not employed and a further 12% worked for
less than 15 hours a week (only 4% of the Austrian sample worked for less
than 15 hours a week). The most striking difference (t =−11.03, p< .001)
was in the responsibility for paying for courses, which lay largely with the
individual in New Zealand, but mainly with the employer or the university
in Austria (χ2 = 189, p < .001). As predicted (H4) there was also signifi-
cant differences in the willingness to pay between the two national groups
(t = 4.12, p< .001).
We can accept that there are differences in the values and willingness
to pay between the two study sites (H3 and H4). However, our exploratory
efforts to identify the causal links between demographic and contextual
matters and values were unsuccessful. The differences in the perceptions
of social value and image value between the two nations cannot be safely
attributed to any specific demographic or contextual factor, as the two sam-
ples are so very different and so many aspects are confounded. We have
cautiously accepted H4, which attributes differences in willingness to pay to
differences in payment expectations. This effect was predicted, is proximal
and is reported elsewhere in the literature. It is reasonable to accept that
individuals who usually receive a service free of charge will be less willing
to pay for it than will customers who are accustomed to paying substantial
fees.
The relationship between Values and Outcomes
Given the significant differences between the New Zealand and Austrian
samples in their expectations regarding payment for educational services,
all further analyses reported here were conducted only on the New Zealand
sample. Our rationale was that it is inappropriate to ask people who do not
pay for services about value for money or price. These questions would be
hypothetical. Caution must therefore be taken before extrapolating from the
results to a wider population. They are derived from and are likely to hold
only for samples accustomed to paying for services.
A series of regression analyses were conducted with gender, age and
income as control variables, career value, social value, learning value and
image as predictors and, in turn, satisfaction, value for money and WTP as
the dependent variables. (See Table 1 and 2 for correlations and regression
analyses). The control variables were not predictive of the outcomes with
one exception: income significantly predicted the willingness to pay (β =
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
132 Susan Geertshuis and Otto Krickl
Table 1 Correlation Matrix Showing Correlations between Values, Income and the Three
Outcome Variables: Satisfaction, Value for Money and Willingness to Pay
Variable (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
Value – Career 1
Value – Social .169** 1
Value – Learning .065 .173** 1
Value – Image .291** .174** .153** 1
Satisfaction .254** .187** .295** .373** 1
Household Income –.095 –.087 .002 –.034 –.018 1
Value for Money .087 .127* .279** .314** .577** .089 1
Willingness to Pay .128 –.109 –.033 .049 .106 .262** .125* 1
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) Value – Career, (2) Value – Social, (3) Value –
Learning, (4) Value – Image, (5) Satisfaction, (6) Household Income, (7) Value for Money, (9)
Willingness to Pay. Sig.: *p< .05; **p< .01.
.27, p < .01), confirming hypothesis 10. The results confirmed H5 and H6
with value dimensions predicting both satisfaction and value for money.
Three of the four values significantly and positively predicted satisfaction
(career β = .21, p < .01; social β = .07, p > .05; learning β = .13, p < .05;
image β = .22, p < .01) and collectively explained 18% of the variance (F =
16.65, p< .01). Similarly, three of the four values significantly and positively
predicted value for money (career β = .10, p > .05; social β = .12, p < .05;
learning β = .15, p < .01; image β = .21, p < .01) and collectively explained
14% of the variance (F = 11.85, p< .01).
None of the values predicted the willingness to pay, collectively they
explained only 3% of the variance (F = 2.01, p > .05) and so H7 must be
rejected.
Two further regressions were conducted in which satisfaction was in-
cluded as a predictor rather than the outcome (see Table 3). Satisfaction
was observed to be a strong predictor of value for money judgements
(β = .58, p < .01), confirming H8. It should be noted that when satisfac-
tion is included in the analysis, values cease to be a significant predictor
of value for money. This, taken into account together with the results of
the earlier regressions, indicates that satisfaction may be a mediating vari-
able. That is, perceived service values act on value for money judgements
through satisfaction.
Satisfaction with service appears to have no impact on the willingness
to pay (β= .00, p> .05); therefore, Hypothesis 9 must be rejected.
To summarise, ten hypotheses were proposed and a number of analyses
are reported that test and explore the hypotheses. Our results are sum-
marised in Table 4 and show that while 2 hypotheses had to be rejected,
the remainder were wholly or substantially confirmed.
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 133
Table 2 Regressions of Values as Predictors
of the Outcome Indicators: Satisfaction,
Value for Money and Williness to pay
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Step 1
Gender –.03 –.1 .07
Age .09 .04 .00
Income .04 .08 .27**
R2 .01 .02 .08
F 1.07 1.58 8.38**
Step 2
Career .21** .10 .10
Social .07 .12* –.09
Learning .13* .15** –.06
Image .22** .21** .08
Change R2 .18 .14 .03
Change F 16.65** 11.85** 2.01
Notes Column headings show Beta values as fol-
lows: (1) Predictor Value, (2) Satisfaction (New
Zealand data only), (3) Value for Money (New
Zealand data only), (4) Willingness to Pay. Sig.:
*p< .05; **p< .01.
Table 3 Regressions of Satisfac-
tion Pred. Value for Money
and Willingness to Pay
(1) (2) (3)
Step 1
Gender –.1 .07
Age .04 .00
Income .08 .27**
R2 .02 .08
F 1.58 8.38**
Step 2
Career –.03 .10
Social .08 –.09
Learning .07 –.06
Image .09 .07
Satisfaction .58** –.00
Change R2 .27 .00
Change F 132.56** .00
Notes Column headings show Beta
values as follows: (1) Predictor Value,
(2) Value for Money, (3) Willingness
to Pay. Sig.: *p< .05; **p< .01.
Table 4 Summary of Hypotheses and Results
H1 Categories of values will be identifiable Accepted
H2 Categories identified will reflect the value dimensions reported
by LeBlanc and Nguyen
Partially
supported
H3 The value placed on value dimensions will vary with context Accepted
H4 The New Zealand sample will be willing to pay more than the
Austrian sample for the same courses.
Accepted
H5 Categories of values will determine satisfaction levels Accepted
H6 Categories of value will determine value for money Accepted
H7 Categories of value will determine willingness to pay Rejected
H8 Satisfied learners will rate overall value for money higher Accepted
H9 Satisfied learners will be willing to pay more Rejected
H10 Wealthier learners will be willing to pay more Accepted
Discussion
The research presented set out to investigate the issues related to the na-
ture of consumer perceived service value, specifically to identify the under-
lying multidimensional structure and to examine the demographic and con-
textual antecedents and the purported consequences: satisfaction, value
for money and willingness to pay. We made ten predictions and these were
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
134 Susan Geertshuis and Otto Krickl
Pe
rs
on
al
lea
rn
ing
va
lue
So
cia
l v
alu
e
Career value
Image
value
Percei-
ved service
value
Satisfaction
Financial
situation
Payment
expectations
Value
for money
Willing-
ness to pay
H5
H7
H6
H8
H4
H10
H9
H1, H2, H3
Figure 1 Perceived Service Value and the Outcomes of Educational Services
mostly confirmed (See Table 4 for a summary). In Figure 1 we offer a model
that captures our findings.
The work highlights the role of consumer perceived service value in the
sector of continuing education. Given the considerable explanatory power
and the four identified value dimensions career value, social value, personal
learning value and image value, our work offers a theoretically grounded
evidence base for institutions from which to analyse consumer perceived
value in their field of activity.
The analyses identified national differences in the perception and judge-
ment of values, with Austrian learners judging career value and the social
aspects of learning and the New Zealand sample valuing the image and
reputation of an institution more highly. However, given the striking differ-
ences in the demographic profile of the samples, this was more likely to
be attributable to the demographic differences including life stage and to
the educational context than to the underlying socio-cultural distinctions.
Providers may need to be mindful of all perceived service values, but per-
haps should strive to understand the priorities of the specific markets that
they are operating in. Our results indicate that it is not safe to assume
that all continuing education learners will prioritise values equally. If service
values are understood then service and communications can be tailored to
market segments.
Our results clearly showed a direct and significant relationship between
value and satisfaction with service. Similarly, perceived service values pos-
itively predicted value for money judgements. This is all as expected and
indicates that efforts to drive up service value should result in a more sat-
isfied clientele whose value for money judgements are elevated. However,
we did not find that perceived service value would translate into higher will-
ingness to pay. Willingness to pay more was determined by factors other
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 135
than the learner’s experience or perceived service value. Learners were will-
ing to pay more when they expected to pay more and when they had the
capacity to pay more. This implies that whatever providers do to enhance
the quality and perceived service value, it may not result in students will-
ing to pay higher fees. Tentatively we could suggest that in an effort to build
revenue providers must target customers with disposable income. However,
this may be unpalatable to many community education workers. We might
also suggest that providers manage expectations so that students have re-
alistic expectations regarding fees. Geertshuis (2011) has shown the power
of reference pricing on willingness to pay but has not shown that willingness
to pay in turn predicts purchasing behaviour. Additionally, on a note of cau-
tion, it should be pointed out that the New Zealand sample participants are
mostly learning for pleasure or out of interest rather than for accreditation
or professional development. We cannot say whether our findings hold for
other groups of learners.
Having conducted our research from a commercial stance we may claim
to have acquired something of an inside view of the commodification of
continuing higher education. Before closing our discussion we would, there-
fore, like to consider our findings in the light of this wider debate. While
the purported aims of higher education remain to provide a public good
(Tilak, 2008), our data tend to support the conclusions of many that mar-
ket forces run counter to ideals of, for example, access, critical discourse
and meritocracy (Giroux, 2002). Our samples from New Zealand and Aus-
tria offered contrasting perspectives; while in Austria, continuing education
remains largely funded as a public good, in New Zealand a more overtly
market oriented approach has emerged. Possibly, as a consequence, the
samples were markedly different as were the offered programmes. The New
Zealand sample participants, motivated by interest rather than employment,
were engaged largely in short courses and were older, with many being post
retirement age. Although other workers argue that market forces may nar-
row educational provision until it becomes wholly focused on employment
and on driving the economy (Kezar, 2004), in this case, it appears that ed-
ucation has been driven towards edutainment and, albeit highbrow, leisure
industry.
Our results indicate that efforts to improve quality and service value may
not entice people to pay more. In our New Zealand sample only people who
have more appeared to be willing (or able) to pay more. Thus fee increases
will work directly counter to universities’ espoused ideals of a meritocratic
society and equity of access. A continuing reduction in central support will
lead to an increasingly elite student base, perhaps, as our data suggest,
increasingly motivated by image and prestige and less by career and learn-
ing value. From a practitioner point of view this could create a vicious cycle
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
136 Susan Geertshuis and Otto Krickl
as serving the elite can be a justification for further reductions in central
support, which in turn drives fee increases and results in further restriction
of the student base and so on.
It appears that, in a financially constrained environment, practitioners
cannot attract and maintain a diverse constituency of learners through in-
cremental changes. The only way to maintain our ideals of outreach, access,
equity and merit may be to innovate in far more radical ways (Christensen
& Eyring, 2011). The University of Auckland, New Zealand, for example, is
developing a pan university strategy for outreach that provides free or low
cost access to its learning and research. Using electronic channels rather
than small face to face continuing education classes, the university hopes
to remain true to its aspirations to serve its communities well and yet work
within the constraints imposed by Government.
Further Research
In addition to replicating this study and further validating and improving the
instrument in similar and dissimilar contexts there are a number of other
avenues which merit investigation.
If perceived service values are to be used to inform service design then
care must be taken in the wording and approach. The instrument used here
asked respondents to report on the value they derived from past service. It
was therefore a reflection of value derived, not value desired. It could be that
particular values were not rated as valuable because that aspect of service
was poor or it could be that the service was good but not of importance
or value to the respondent. These difficulties remain unaddressed in most
instruments, but may be concealing important nuances in perceived service
value. If values are to be captured and used to guide service development,
it is very important to know whether it is value as delivered or value as
required that is being captured.
The failure to predict willingness to pay requires investigations using al-
ternative methods. Observations of purchasing behaviours and experimen-
tal manipulations might be necessary.
If WTP judgements are to be captured then it may be better to conduct
data collection close to the point of an actual purchase. Presumably then
customers will have a greater awareness of their purchasing decision. In
other studies by the authors, respondents were asked how important price
was and this affected WTP sensitivities (Geertshuis, 2011). It may be that
investigations that ask about the importance of price as well as wiliness to
pay will offer us greater insight.
Conclusions
The results extend the theory on customer perceived value as a multidimen-
sional construct, and give insights into the consequences of customer per-
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 137
ceived value within an educational context. In terms of practice, the results
inform the strategic management of continuing education programmes. We
found that increased service value leads to enhanced satisfaction and en-
hanced perceptions of value for money. However, any link between value and
willingness to pay appears tenuous and payment expectations and financial
situation were the strong predictors of willingness to pay in our data. There-
fore, it would seem that customer orientated program design executed in
combination with an appropriate marketing message and targeting may go
some way to safeguard an institution in times of economic cutbacks and
reduced subsidisation. Nevertheless, it needs further research to provide
reliable recommendations that can be safely generalized.
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Susan Geertshuis is a Professor of Lifelong Learning at the University of
Auckland, Business School. She teaches within the Graduate School of Man-
agement and researches decision making, learning and influence. Susan has
occupied positions within universities in the UK and New Zealand. Prior to
working at the Business School, Susan was a Director of the Centre for Con-
tinuing Education at the University of Auckland, Professor of Organisational
Studies and Director of the Centre for Learning and Innovation in Organisa-
tions at the University of Northampton and Director of the Centre for Learning
Research at the University of Wales Bangor. s.geertshuis@auckland.ac.nz
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
Value Judgements and Continuing Education 141
Otto Krickl is a Professor of Business Administration at the University of
Graz, Institute of Organization and Economics of Institutions. Otto has more
than 30-years of experience delivering courses and seminars in Austria, Ger-
many and Switzerland. He teaches at the University of Graz and is a Scientific
Director of three master’s degree courses at the UNI for LIFE, Graz. In addi-
tion, he is a consultant in organization and human resource management for
major companies and public sector bodies. otto.krickl@uni-graz.at
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