Determinants of Student Loyalty and Word of Mouth in Dual VET Secondary Schools in Bulgaria

Teofana Dimitrova (), Iliana Ilieva () and Valeria Toncheva
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Teofana Dimitrova: Department of Marketing and International Economic Relations, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Iliana Ilieva: Department of Mathematics, Physics and Information Technology, Faculty of Economics, University of Food Technologies, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Valeria Toncheva: Department of Marketing and International Economic Relations, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, University of Plovdiv Paisii Hilendarski, 4000 Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-22

Abstract: In response to the growing importance of vocational education for youth employability, this study examines students’ perceptions of dual vocational education and training (dVET) in Bulgaria, focusing on the following determinants of student loyalty (SL) and word-of-mouth communication (WOM) in the secondary education context: brand associations, brand relevance, brand image, image of dVET, service quality, and student satisfaction, based on previously validated scales adapted to the Bulgarian context. A structured questionnaire was administered to a target population of 608 students across nine vocational secondary schools in the Plovdiv region. A total of 507 usable surveys were collected from students in 11th and 12th grades who were actively participating in work-based learning. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with the SmartPLS 4 software. The findings indicate that brand image is the strongest direct predictor of the image of dVET. Furthermore, student satisfaction stands out as the most influential antecedent of WOM. The indirect pathways from service quality to both SL and WOM, mediated by student satisfaction, underscore the pivotal role of satisfaction as a transmission mechanism. The study contributes to the limited empirical research on branding in dVET and offers insights for policymakers, school administrators, and employers seeking to improve the attractiveness of these pathways.

Keywords: student loyalty; word-of-mouth communication; dual vocational education and training; vocational secondary schools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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