目的：競爭的壓力以及不斷下滑的收入，已經推動許多大學增收錄取學生數，以做為提高收入的手段，而這些被錄取的學生則被視為是「顧客」。本文的目的是要檢驗學生對採用「學生如顧客」概念之結果的看法與這些結果交互作用的效應、社會作用在學生接受此概念之態度上的影響，以及大學採用此概念後學生的就讀意向等。
設計／發法／進路：一個概念之模型被發展出來，用以調查採用「學生如顧客」概念之五項結果彼此的交互影響（包括大學達至學生滿意度之目標、教師對於教學的忽視、教師與學生關係之受損、課堂學習成就之鬆弛、大學服務品質之改善）與學生接受「學生如顧客」概念之態度的社會影響，以及學生就讀採取此概念之大學的意向。調查的問卷被用於蒐集由學生而來的資料，他們就讀於大型的私立大學，並且傾向於採取「學生如顧客」之概念。結構方程模式為測試假設的模型。
研究發現：研究結果指出，學生們相信大學採用「學生如顧客」之概念，將會引致學校服務品質的改善、教學品質的下降（這是由於教師忽視教學之故）、師生關係的受損，以及課堂成就之鬆弛。服務品質的改善對於學生接受「學生如顧客」概念有著正向的影響，也對學生就讀採取此觀念之學校的意向有正向影響。有趣的是，社會之影響對於學生就讀採取此概念之學校的意向，產生了更大的效果，猶勝於學生對此概念之結果的信念。
原創性／價值：本研究屬於關於此議題的首批研究，以經驗性之調查探索影響學生接受「學生如顧客」概念的因素，以及他們就讀採取此概念之大學的意向。本文彌補了高等教育文獻的不足，提供了大學考慮並準備採取此概念之後果的一種指引，因為對此概念的採用，與有意就讀於這類大學的學生數目相關。

Purpose – Competitive pressure and declining incomes in higher education have propelled many universities to increase the number of students admitted as a means of increasing their income, while the admitted students are regarded as “customers.” The purpose of this paper is to examine students’ beliefs regarding outcomes of the adoption of the student-as customer concept and the interaction effects of these outcomes and the social influence on students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept.
Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model was developed to investigate the interaction effects of the five outcomes of the student-as-customer concept’s adoption – the universities’ aim toward student satisfaction, the instructors’ neglect of teaching, the impairment of instructor-student relationship, the ease of course achievement, and the improvement of universities’ service quality and social influence on the students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept, and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept. Survey questionnaires were used to collect data from students studying at a large private university inclining to adopt the student-as-customer concept. The structural equation modeling technique was utilized for testing the proposed model.
Findings – The results indicate that students believe that the universities’ adoption of the student-as customer concept will lead to improvement of the universities’ service quality and the degradation of educational quality in terms of the instructors’ neglect of teaching, the impairment of instructor-student relationship, and the ease of course achievement. The improvement of service quality has a positive effect on the students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept. The students’ beliefs toward the degradation of educational quality, on the other hand, have indirect and negative effects on the students’ intentions to study at universities adopting the concept. Interestingly, the effect of social influence on students’ intentions to study at universities adopting the concept is greater than the effects of students’ beliefs toward outcomes of the concept.
Originality/value – This study is among the first research to empirically investigate the factors affecting students’ attitudes toward acceptance of the student-as-customer concept and their intentions to study at universities adopting this concept. The paper fills the gap in the higher education literature and provides guidance for universities to consider and prepare for the consequences of the concept’s adoption associated with the number of students who intend to study at their universities.