Student Consumerism and Critical Thinking in Islamic Higher Education: Testing A Service Orientation Entitlement Mechanism in Indonesia

Ardiansyah (Department of Islamic Religious Education, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universitas Muhammadiyah Klaten, Klaten)
Viki Bayu Mahendra (Faculty of Tarbiyah, Institut Islam Mamba'ul 'Ulum Surakarta, Surakarta)
Muhammad Jauhari Muhsin (Faculty of Tarbiyah, Institut Islam Mamba'ul 'Ulum Surakarta, Surakarta)
Guretno Nasikatul Bariroh (Faculty of Tarbiyah, Institut Islam Mamba'ul 'Ulum Surakarta, Surakarta)
Intan Hasna Auliya (Faculty of Tarbiyah, Institut Islam Mamba'ul 'Ulum Surakarta, Surakarta)
Aufina Rusyda Amrina (Faculty of Tarbiyah, Institut Islam Mamba'ul 'Ulum Surakarta, Surakarta)
Ahmad Mufakkir Rofif (Faculty of Tarbiyah, Institut Islam Mamba'ul 'Ulum Surakarta, Surakarta)

Solo Universal Journal of Islamic Education and Multiculturalism
Vol. 4 No. 01 (2026): Solo Universal Journal of Islamic Education and Multiculturalism

Objective: This study investigates how undergraduate students' perceptions of institutional service orientation connect to a consumer-style educational identity, and how that identity relates—through academic rigour and grade entitlement as distinct norm-pathways—to critical-thinking disposition in one Indonesian Islamic higher-education institution. Theoretical framework: Drawing on educational marketisation and student-consumer identity scholarship, the study treats perceived service orientation (PSO) as an institutional signal and students-as-customers mindset (SAC) as an individually internalised stance. Academic rigour (AR) and grade entitlement (GE) are positioned as theoretically divergent pathways through which consumer identity may reach epistemic outcomes. Literature review: Previous studies have mainly discussed student consumerism in relation to academic performance, satisfaction, and learning. However, few studies have examined its relationship with critical thinking through academic rigour and grade entitlement, especially in Indonesian Islamic higher education. Method: A cross-sectional online survey produced 155 usable responses from one Indonesian Islamic institute. Five reflective constructs were assessed with theory-informed Likert items. A frozen 16-indicator model was evaluated using reflective PLS path modelling, 5,000 bootstrap resamples, percentile confidence intervals, HTMT, inner VIF, R², f², specific indirect effects, and out-of-sample Q²_predict. Results: PSO predicted SAC (β=.309, p<.001). SAC was strongly associated with GE (β=.487, p<.001) but not with AR. AR positively predicted critical-thinking disposition (β=.353, p<.001). Against expectations, GE was positively associated with self-reported critical-thinking disposition (β=.208, p=.011). Significant indirect effects were SAC→GE→CTD (β=.101, p=.013) and PSO→SAC→GE→CTD (β=.031, p=.041). Implications: Institutions need to explicitly separate service responsiveness from guarantees of academic outcomes while ensuring assessment practices sustain genuine cognitive demand. Novelty: Rather than treating marketisation as uniformly corrosive, this study identifies grade entitlement—not reduced academic rigour—as the visible pathway through which consumer identity operates, sharpening both the theoretical account and the policy focus.