Marketing Research on a Fitness Center aimed at Women

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“What Women Want…” from a fitness centre


“What Women Want…” from a fitness centre


Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures

Tables

Figures


  1. Executive Summary

This study endeavours to identify the expectations of women aged between 20 and 40 years to find out what features and services they are looking for in a fitness centre.

The research aims to specifically address six specific research objectives, including what personal benefits women are looking for in a fitness centre, what features and services they deem to be important and how factors, such as payment options, location and demographics, may influence their decisions when seeking out fitness centre membership.

Secondary research shows that the fitness industry is expanding and that women are a large target market. Women have been shown to have high expectations in regard to fitness centre membership and the industry is increasingly responding to their particular needs (Senate Committee Inquiry 2006).

To further define our research problem, qualitative research, including focus groups, expert interviews and individual depth interviews, was undertaken which gave additional insight into the special demands and desires of female fitness centre customers, aged between 20 and 40 years, living in Perth.

A questionnaire was designed, using nominal, ordinal and interval scales, and a pre-test questionnaire was conducted before data was collected at several fitness centres and public places in different suburbs across Perth. Women were intercepted and had to qualify through a number of screening questions (e.g. gym membership and age). The sample size was 200 and the sample included women aged between 20-40 who visited a fitness centre in the last year. The sampling method employed was non-probability sampling, specifically judgement sampling, as respondents were targeted specifically based on age, gender and approachability, and only those with an active opinion were selected.

A number of different statistical tools were used to analyse the collected respondent data. Descriptive statistics describe the sample at hand and inferential statistics, including factor analysis, Chi Square and one-way ANOVAs, enable the researchers to make inferences about the broader female fitness centre customer population.

Descriptive statistics and measurement of central tendencies within the sample population showed that women aged 20-40 placed a generally high value on the features and services that are provided by a fitness centre and that they were more concerned with exercising to benefit their health and appearance and to reduce stress than they are for social reasons.

The conducted factor analyses found different target markets for fitness centre characteristics, services and benefits and indicated that amenities and additional features, staff, showers and equipment, and health and appearance were most important to the target group.

Chi-square comparisons and One-way ANOVAs were conducted to examine possible relationships between fitness centre characteristics and demographic features, such as number of dependent children and personal income.

The results of the research enabled the researchers to draw broad conclusions in relation to each of the established research objectives and to make recommendations based on the analysis, which can guide decisions for fitness centre management to target women in the specified age group.

This research provides useful information for fitness centre managements already in the market and prospective fitness centre managements in Perth. The findings can be applied by existing fitness centre management and by those who intend entering the industry. It will allow management to identify and evaluate opportunities and to make strategic decisions to better attract a female clientele.


  1. Research Focus

This study endeavours to identify the expectations of women aged between 20 and 40 years to find out what features and services an ideal fitness centre should offer. We will also aim to determine a number of specific research objectives, including whether factors such as demographics, location, and payment options influence women’s decisions to join a fitness centre and to investigate what personal benefits women are seeking from membership.

  1. Industry Background and Past Research

Recent Australian research into women and their participation in sport and physical activity showed that women are the prevalent customers of fitness centres (Senate Committee Inquiry 2006).

An examination of secondary data and industry background indicates that women have a wide range of expectations in fitness centre membership and the employed research instrument will take into account the findings of a number of studies, which provide valuable information about how to measure service quality in general (Parasuraman, Berry & Zeithaml) and in fitness centres in particular (Chang & Chelladurai and Afthinos, Theodorakis & Nassis).

It is proposed that 210 women, who are within the target age range and have been a fitness centre member in the past year, will complete a pre-designed questionnaire in the presence of an interviewer and the results will then be analysed.

When considering what women in the target age group want from a fitness centre, it is important to consider past research and current industry trends. A review of some secondary information available provides important insights into the problem and points to some facts that the current research takes into account.

Last year, the Australian Senate conducted an inquiry into women’s participation in sport and received submissions from well-known fitness centres across the country.

The inquiry results show that the fitness industry was a rapidly expanding sector in which women were a primary market (Senate Committee Inquiry 2006).

According to industry estimates contained in the Committee’s report, 900,000 women in Australia use fitness businesses and 55 per cent of all fitness centre clients are female. The inquiry found that while women were generally less likely to participate in sport and recreation than men, they were more likely to join fitness centres, which women considered an important part of their sport and recreation experience. The 2006 report also showed that the participants of organised classes held in fitness centres were predominantly female and stated that: “meeting women’s needs appears to be an important part of how the sector operates. Most clubs, at least amongst the major providers, appear to offer child care and/or women’s only areas or classes”.

An examination of additional information from current fitness industry leaders further demonstrates the importance of the female market and shows that the industry is increasingly responding to women’s particular needs.

Fitness First Australia, a group with a nation-wide membership of almost 300,000, states that most of its current fitness centre members are females who have not held memberships before. More than one third of its members participate in group fitness classes, and of those 80 per cent are female. To cater to its female membership, almost all of the new clubs built by the group contain a female-only training area and offer childminding services (Fitness First Australia 2006).

Another large Australian industry player, Zest Health Clubs, reports that 58 percent of its 65,000 members are women, along with 74 per cent of staff. The majority of those female members also fall within the target age group - 18.2 per cent are aged 15-21 years, 32 per cent are 22-30 years, 21.5 per cent aged 31-40, 15.6 per cent aged 41-50, 10.9 per cent aged 51-65 and 1.8 per cent aged 65 and over (Zest Health Clubs 2006). The group offers childminding services, swimming pools and organised classes to attract a female clientele.

Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs have more than 80,000 members and are the second largest player in the fitness sector. Fernwood claims that women join its centres because they are not as competitive or intimidating as mixed-sex fitness centres and they “address a need in the community for women to have their own special space – a sanctuary to enjoy regular exercise to reach their health, fitness and wellbeing goals” (Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs 2006). Most of its members are aged 30-35. Group classes, including yoga and pilates, are popular and the clubs claim to have a community atmosphere, providing special touches that women love such as “free breakfast, free toiletries, sparkling facilities and friendly staff” (Fernwood Women’s Health Clubs 2006). Fernwood recently surveyed more than 5000 women and found that 80 per cent of respondents felt like they were battling with their weight, citing reasons such as being unmotivated to exercise, overindulging in unhealthy foods and being intimidated to exercise in public (Kostanski 2006).

Another women’s-only group, Curves International, primarily targets at women from the baby boomer generation, who are not exercise enthusiasts. The 2006 annual report of Curves’ Japanese parent company, Venture Link, outlines the findings from a survey of baby boomer women. 95 per cent of respondents said: “exercise is definitely needed to stay healthy and beautiful”. Even so, 30 per cent of respondents said they exercised only two to three times a week. Reasons included being too busy or exercise being troublesome (Venture Link 2006).

While the secondary data clearly shows the importance of the female market to fitness centres, it also indicates that satisfaction levels in the sector are difficult to assess. A number of scales have been developed to measure consumer perceptions of service-based industries generally (Parasuraman, Berry & Zeithaml) and in the fitness sector specifically (Chang & Chelladurai and Afthinos, Theodorakis & Nassis), which the current research will take into account.

Parasuraman, Berry and Zeithaml (1988) found that services were difficult to measure objectively and developed a multiple-item scale, called SERVQUAL, to measure consumer perceptions of service quality in service and retailing organisations. The 22-item scale is spread among the five distinct dimensions - tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy (p. 23) and measures the difference between expectations and perceptions to rate service quality.

Parasurman et al. refined the scale in 1991 and proposed that it could be applied to a broad spectrum of services, but other researchers have questioned its general applicability because the services it attempts to measure are so diverse.

Chang & Chelladurai (2003) looked specifically at quality dimensions in fitness services and identified that “high contact”, “shared service” and “the client’s involvement in the production and consumption” were factors unique to the fitness industry (p. 66). They developed the Scale of Quality in Fitness Centres (SQFS), which divides the fitness service into an input, a throughput and an output stage (p. 67). These three basic categories are represented by nine independent dimensions, and are assessed on a 35-item scale. The study found that factors such as management, service providers, clients and physical environment were significant factors contributing to quality in fitness centres (p. 79).

In 2005, Afthinos, Theodorakis and Nassis took a different approach to measuring fitness centre service quality and investigated customers’ expectations of service in Greek fitness centres. The researchers employed the QUESC scale, a two-part scale similar to the original SERVQUAL instrument, which was developed by Kim and Kim in 1995, to measure service quality in sport centres.

QUESC consists of two parts, comparing the desirability of 43 accommodated scale items with the consumers’ perception of the quality of the fitness service delivered. As the focus of the study was on consumers’ service expectations, and according to Parasuraman et al. (1988, p. 17), expectations can be interpreted as desires in the service quality literature, the researchers used only the first part of the instrument.

Their findings have important implications for the current research because they identified major gender differences (p. 247). The results of the study showed that women had higher expectations of service quality concerning tangible elements of sports facilities, employees’ attitudes and skills, program availability and delivery, convenience of schedule, adequate exercising space and access by transportation (p. 255). The researchers completed a conceptual diagram on the basis of the service items listed in the QUESC instrument (see Appendix 8.1).

  1. Research Objectives

The researchers developed a range of six clear research objectives based on fitness centre features, services, benefits sought, location, payment, and demographics to help specify what information will be collected and to address the information gaps.

Research Objective 1: Features

To determine what fitness centre features are important for women aged 20-40. This will take into account a variety of components and elements, including overall aesthetics, types of equipment, etc.

Research Objective 2: Services

To determine what fitness centre services are important to women aged 20-40. This will take into account a range of service-related factors, including availability of classes, access to child-care facilities, etc.

Research Objective 3: Benefits Sought

To determine what women aged 20-40 consider to be the most important personal benefits sought from a fitness centre membership.

Research Objective 4: Location

To determine if women aged 20-40 consider the location variable as important when choosing a fitness centre. This will take into account a range of potential influencing factors, such as proximity to home, work or school.

Research Objective 5: Payment

To determine what style of payment and contractual conditions for a fitness centre membership women aged 20-40 prefer.

Research Objective 6:  Demographics

To determine if demographic factors influence women aged 20-40 to join a fitness centre and if different demographic groups have different expectations in return.

  1. Major Contributions of the Research Project

This research will aim to provide useful information for fitness centres already in the market and prospective fitness centre managements in Perth, and in other city centres with similar demographic characteristics.

The findings will identify the expectations of female customers in the age range of 20-40 years with regard to which features and services an ideal fitness centre should offer. An analysis of the survey responses and the corresponding report will provide an in-depth insight into the needs and wants of the target group.

The findings of this research be will be useful for existing fitness centre management as well as for those who intend entering the industry. It will allow management to identify and evaluate opportunities and to make strategic decisions to better attract a female clientele.

On the basis of this research, existing fitness centres can modify or improve their service delivery (e.g. adapt spending priorities, course schedules, staff training, provide special equipment, offer child care facilities or particular membership packages, etc.) and develop a marketing strategy to better reach female customers. Prospective fitness centres targeting female customers can also use the research findings to set up their features and services accordingly.

  1. Research Methodology

As every research problem is unique, a generally applicable research design does not exist, and the most appropriate approach for each research problem and its objectives must be selected (Burns and Bush 2006, p. 116) to ensure that the undertaken research is valid and reliable (Polonsky & Waller, 2005, p. 84). In the research study at hand, the chosen design is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods, where qualitative research is carried out prior to quantitative research. According to Hair, Bush and Ortinau (2003, p. 211) the term qualitative research is interchangeable with exploratory research and refers to “research whose findings are not subject to quantification or quantitative analysis” (McDaniel & Gates 2007, p. 128). As proposed by Levy (2006, p. 3), qualitative methods can be characterised as “interpretative”, “subjective” and “introspective” and the research findings are not conclusive or representative of the population of interest to the researcher due to small sample sizes (McDaniel & Gates 2007, p. 130). Nevertheless, qualitative research is often used as an “exploratory tool” (Hague 2002, p. 61) gaining current and relevant information about the research problem. This information can help to define the research problem more precisely and to determine all relevant variables for the research instrument, thus improving the efficiency of the subsequent quantitative research (Stevens et al. 1997, pp. 54-55).

Before any preliminary qualitative research was carried out for the study at hand, the researchers stated the basic research question and brainstormed some research objectives, which were subsequently summarised in a first draft of the conceptual diagram. Afterwards, relevant secondary literature, such as journal articles about similar research topics and industry information, was reviewed in order to clarify and refine the research objectives and to specify the correct methodology (Polonsky & Waller, 2005, p. 85). The findings and methodology of the identified key literature provided essential information and served as a basis for the current research study. However, as other researchers have previously collected secondary data for some other purpose, it is necessary to assess the accuracy and relevance of these data to the current project (e.g. the data source, purpose of the study, data collection method, main findings, how current is the research and is it consistent with other information, etc.) (McDaniel & Gates 2007, pp. 94-95). Some secondary data was not relevant or applicable to the current research problem, because the findings were outdated and reporting units, measurement units and class definitions did not match (Tull & Hawkins 1993, pp. 103-104).

It follows that qualitative research, such as focus groups, individual depth interviews and projective techniques (Polonsky & Waller, 2005, p. 84), had to be undertaken for this study in order to get quick and economical preliminary insights into the special demands and desires of female fitness centre customers, aged between 20 and 40 years, in Perth. As there is no general rule for deciding how many group discussions or individual interviews are needed to cover a subject (Hague, Hague & Morgan 2004, p. 54), the researchers discussed the matter with regard to the completion of the conceptual diagram and decided to conduct two focus groups, two expert interviews and three individual depth interviews.

  1. Focus Groups

Focus groups are small in-depth discussion groups guided by an objective moderator on a given topic. They typically consist of 6-10 people who are screened on certain predetermined characteristics (Arnould & Epp 2006, p. 63) to ensure that they have a certain degree of homogeneity and fulfil specific requirements (Hague, Hague & Morgan 2004, pp. 48-49). Advantages of the focus group technique include the interactive dialogue and spontaneous interplay among participants. Respondents talk at length and in detail about a topic (Hair, Bush & Ortinau 2003, 221) and a response from one individual may become a stimulus for another person (McDaniel & Gates 2007, p. 130), stimulating new ideas and thoughts similar to a brainstorming effect (Hague 2002, p. 63). Individuals tend to feel less pressured to make up answers and have the opportunity to expand and refine their opinions in the interaction with others (Tull & Hawkins 1993, pp. 450-51). Researchers should list their information requirements in advance and incorporate them into a well-planned discussion guide. This guide is mainly based on the research objectives and outlines the questions asked during a session (McDaniel & Gates 2007, p. 137); therefore, it can also serve as a checklist to ensure that all salient variables have been covered.

The two focus groups conducted for this study were led by one of the researchers according to a pre-planned discussion guide, while two other group members served as secretaries and took rough notes of the participants’ comments during the discussion. The participants had to match the target group selection criteria (female, aged between 20 and 40 years and current or ex fitness centre member) and were mainly recruited from researchers’ friends and work colleagues. Both focus groups consisted of seven women within the target group and took place in the researchers’ workplaces outside office hours in comfortable venues, which were conducive to spontaneous and unrestricted dialogue among the group members. The average length of the group discussions was 60 minutes.

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The employed discussion guide (see Appendix 8.2.) consisted of nine questions, covering the proposed objectives of this study. The conducted focus groups helped to learn more about the characteristics and services that are important to and the benefits sought by female gymnasium members. Many similar themes emerged in both sessions, which largely echoed the findings of the previously undertaken secondary research.

In Focus Group 1, it was noted that there was a lot of energy in the room when discussing the importance of friendly staff as well as clean and working showers with the availability of hairdryers. This ...

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