Eu não quero, não consigo e não tenho condições de sair da minha universidade: os custos de mudanças na Universidade Federal do Pampa

Abstract

The present study aimed to analyze the switching costs in the context of education, evaluating them in relation to commitment, intention to reuse and word-of-mouth (positive and negative) at the Federal University of Pampa, an institution present in ten different cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The descriptive study relied on survey method with a quantitative approach and the data analysis with linear regressions and descriptive statistics. The results showed that Financial Cost has greater recurrence in students/users, but is not a predictor of any type of commitment. The Relational Cost is the one that must be fostered more by the institution to create a retention by the desire and emotional connection of the user. The Calculative Commitment did not have a defined origin at some kind of cost of change, showing spontaneously and not due to switching costs presented, but it positively affects the generation of negative word-of-mouth. The intention of reuse is recurrent among students who have affective and normative commitment, but with a higher correlation in those who have the affective commitment, which consequently positively impacts on the occurrence of positive word-of-mouth. At the end of the article are presented the limitations of the study along with suggestions for future research and implications for managerial practice.