Structural Equation Modeling for Evaluating Members' Satisfaction with Housing Interventions of Cooperative Societies in Universities, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

This paper aims to apply the Structural Equation Modeling approach that identifies the critical factors influencing members’ satisfaction with housing interventions in cooperative societies. Data were collected from 463 members of cooperative societies across the six purposively selected Federal Universities in Southwest Nigeria. By using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM) technique, a conceptual model was developed using Smart-PLS version 2.0 M3, and a total of 18 constraints to housing interventions of cooperative societies, which were finalized from the literature and based on factor analysis earlier carried out in the initial research period of this study were categorized into three groups cooperative governance-related factor, housing construction and economy related factor, and government interference and funding related factor. In Particular, the research finds the relationships between the three groups and how these relate to cooperative members’ satisfaction. The findings of this study revealed that the R2 value of the model scored 0.849, which meant that the three exogenous latent constructs collectively explained 84.9% of the variance in the endogenous construct of cooperative member satisfaction. The Goodness-of-Fit of the model was 0.475. The government interference and funding-related factors were the most important out of the three constructs, which profoundly affected the cooperative members’ satisfaction and diminished effective housing interventions in cooperative societies. The study suggests that available opportunities by cooperative societies to tap into traditional mortgage financing, less government interference in cooperative activities and manipulation, and adequate cooperative funding by members would lead to better satisfaction of cooperative members with cooperative housing interventions.