A Study on the Relationship between Physical Education Environment and Recommendation Intention and the Moderating Effect of University Image

Universities providing educational services are constantly improving their educational environment by recognizing the importance of physical educational environment. However, most of the existing studies related to education services of universities have been limited to satisfaction with education services and academic achievement. It is time to increase the competitiveness of universities through the behavior intention of positive recommendations by encourage students as beneficiaries of educational services to take positive actions and psychology and promoting their image of universities. In this study, in order to understand the influence of the educational environment that affect the positive recommendation intention of the students, the relationship between the university image and the recommendation intention is examined in terms of the facility-centered educational environment factors from the perspective of the student who is the beneficiary of the educational service. To achieve the purpose of this study, a survey was conducted on university students studying in Busan, South Korea. The sample obtained through the questionnaire was refined and then analyses were conducted on demographic analysis, validity analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and moderating regression analysis by using SPSS Version 21. The results and implications of this study are as follows. First, the physical educational environment factors of universities including indoor environment, external environment, operation management and convenience were found to have relevant effect on the recommendation intention. Therefore, hypothesis 1-1, hypothesis 1-2, hypothesis 1-3, and hypothesis 1-4 were all supported; therefore, hypothesis 1 was adopted. These results prove that the positive effect on the students from the physical environment of the university is not limited to specific factors. Therefore, universities need to manage all the factors of physical education environment to encourage students' positive recommendation intention. Furthermore, it is necessary to have continuous interest and improvement in physical education environment. Second, this study examined the moderating effect of university image verified in the relationship between physical education environment and recommendation intention. The university image had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between indoor environment, external environment, convenience and recommendation intention which are sub-variables of physical environment of education. So, hypothesis 2-1, hypothesis 2-2, and hypothesis 2-4 were supported. However, since the operation management did not show significant influence, hypothesis 2-3 was rejected. So, hypothesis 2 was partially supported. Therefore, universities should pay constant attention to and strive for not only physical environment of education but also improved university image. Despite the results of this study, I would like to suggest future research directions based on the limitations of this study. In the follow-up study, if the study is conducted through samples from more various regions, the results of the study can be generalized. In addition, if the detailed items are studied on regional study and the classification of the education system such as the national universities, the private universities, the two-year colleges, and other forms of four-year universities, the study would be more effective.