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Competence inference from muscle: how and when trainers' muscle mass impacts service purchase of personal fitness training

Sangchul Park (Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA)
Shinhyoung Lee (Division of Business Administration, Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Republic of Korea)
Hyun-Woo Lee (Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA)

International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship

ISSN: 1464-6668

Article publication date: 9 February 2022

Issue publication date: 19 August 2022

407

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how and when trainers' muscle mass impacts service purchase of personal fitness training, drawing upon signaling theory. Specifically, the authors investigated (1) the mediating role of perceived competence in the relationship between trainers' muscle mass (highly vs moderately muscular) and customers' service registration intention and (2) the moderating role of customer expertise in this mediating mechanism.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conceptualized trainers' muscle mass, developed its experimental stimuli and validated them through the two pretests (total n = 387). Using the validated stimuli, the authors conducted the two experiments (total n = 802). In both experiments, the authors recruited participants via MTurk using the convenience sampling method and employed a single-factor between-subject design based on random assignment.

Findings

Findings supported the authors’ proporsed model. Consumers perceived highly (vs moderately) muscular trainers as more competent, which in turn engendered greater service registration intention. This effect emerged for expert consumers but not for novice consumers.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first attempts to empirically test the influence of trainers' muscle mass on consumer acquisition in the context of personal fitness training. It also expands the sport marketing literature to the consumer psychology and behavior fields addressing the characteristics of sport-service providers. The findings also provide fitness organizations with managerial insights into how to effectively leverage trainers' physical appearance as a marketing tool.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Sookmyung Women’s University Research Grants (1-2103-2008). The authors also acknowledge the helpful input of the three anonymous reviewers.

Citation

Park, S., Lee, S. and Lee, H.-W. (2022), "Competence inference from muscle: how and when trainers' muscle mass impacts service purchase of personal fitness training", International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 804-822. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-08-2021-0162

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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