Search results

Marketing management.

Undergraduate/Postgraduate.

The present case is a disguised one and is meant to enable students to critically analyse the operations and functioning of a fitness centre located in a city. Despite a runaway success, “Fit in” was facing problems of time-management and members’ management. Thus, catering to the members was becoming unwieldy, especially with respect to providing the personalized experience to the members, which was their forte. Thus, Mukesh and Naina faced the challenge of motivating their existing members and getting fresh referrals. Should they cut some of their services? Should they make some changes in manpower management? Or, should they change the operating strategy for their business?

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: how to ensure customer loyalty in service organization settings and how to enhance motivation among the service customers.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS: 3: Entrepreneurship.

By reading and understanding the case study, Students will be able to link the importance of healthy life style and the physical exercise to the fitness industry in the UAE society, to reduce the growing percentage of obesity and related diseases; identify the main challenges of Tone Fitness Ladies’ Studio (Tone); explore the market segmentation of fitness centers in UAE based on a benefits segmentation of fitness industry; identify the demographic segmentation of Tone Fitness studio and the effects of considering gender and age; and develop individual perspectives of how Tone Fitness ladies’ studio may overcome the challenges to compete in the UAE fitness market.

Three sisters from the United Arab Emirates (Hind, Mariam and Amna Mohamed Omer) have established a fitness studio for women in Al Maqta’a (formerly known as Bain al Jasrain) on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi. Each of them shared a passion for sport, which led them to realize their business idea of setting up a fitness studio specifically for women. An understanding of Emirati culture and the needs of women in their society inspired them to think of a special place where women could find relief from work and life demands while also exercising pursuant of a healthy lifestyle. They launched Tone Ladies’ Fitness Studio (Tone) in September 2014, the first fitness studio for women in Al Maqta’a. The studio is in the same building as a cooperative hypermarket – a very good location because it is visited by many people and has ample parking spaces. Partly due to growing interest among Abu Dhabi residents in fitness and health, new fitness studios opened nearby in 2016, with competitors offering excellent services at reasonable prices. While the demand for fitness and healthy lifestyle pursuits is high in the region, the market has also expanded greatly to meet this demand, with many high-quality options becoming available. As a result of this, businesses such as Tone are facing serious threats to their sustainability. Thus, first, how can the Omer sisters sustain their business and strategize to maintain customers in their market segment? Second, what could they do to improve the market position of Tone in the UAE fitness market?

This case study is suitable for advanced level of diploma certificate in marketing or undergraduate student of marketing field.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 8: Marketing

This study aims to explore the influence of appearance comparison on fitness intention. Specifically, it analyzes the mediating effect of appearance-based exercise motivation and perceived behavioral control between appearance comparison and fitness intention.

434 samples were obtained by the network survey in China. Hierarchical regression analysis and the Hayes' SPSS PROCESS macro were used to verify the hypotheses.

Appearance comparison has a positive influence on fitness intention. Appearance-based exercise motivation mediates appearance comparison and fitness intention. Appearance comparison can produce a positive effect on fitness intention via appearance-based exercise motivation and perceived behavioral control in sequence.

The findings have some practical implications for both individuals and fitness center managers. First, people can view appearance comparison rationally, understand the process of its transformation into fitness intention and enhance fitness intention. Second, fitness center managers can make some reasonable marketing plans according to this study.

This study explores the positive effects of appearance comparison combining social comparison theory, social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior. It contributes to extant literatures about appearance comparison and fitness intention by promoting the understanding of the influence mechanism of fitness intention.

The purpose of this paper was to better understand the underrepresentation of Muslim women living in Australia in physical activity and in group-fitness classes in particular. The authors contend that the Australian fitness industry has ignored the needs of this group through stereotypical islamophobic views focusing on religious dictates as the prime barrier for participation of this group. This study debunks this myth showing that motivations for exercise are complex and multi-faceted.

The authors conducted interviews and a focus group with 27 Muslim women living in Australia. Through this method, the authors explored the role of religiosity and national culture in attitudes towards participation in exercise, gym attendance and group fitness classes.

The authors confirmed that while religion impacted the form and place of exercise options, it did not impact the overall motivation to engage in exercise. This study found that group-fitness classes offered by gyms did not particularly appeal to this group of women, partially due to their religion (this form of exercise being too aggressive and immodest) and partially due to their ethnic background. Exercise options that were more social were favoured. The authors found that notions of femininity and culturally embedded expectations for the role of women were more powerful predictors of exercise engagement and choice of exercise type.

This research is exploratory in nature and as such its findings are restricted to the small sample. To extend this study’s implications, a larger empirical study should be conducted and needs to also consider the intersection between national culture and religiosity on decision-making.

This study has practical implications for the fitness industry attempting to attractive new markets in a multi-cultural population. To attract Muslim women, gyms and fitness centres need to consider providing appropriate areas for women to exercise that allow them to maintain their modesty. To attract this segment, fitness products that are focused on a holistic approach to wellness and highlight opportunities for social interaction should be developed. Focusing on this group as a market segment needs to include a broader contextualisation of their lifestyles and individual situations and should not just focus on their religion.

The requirements of the Muslim religion for women to adopt conservative dress and to avoid contact with men do hinder their ability and also their desire to exercise to maintain a healthy mind and body. Many of these women would like to exercise but find it difficult to find the right settings and form of exercise that suits their needs. Engaging in exercise with others is also an important way for these women to integrate into their communities and to assimilate with the national culture.

This research is original in that it is one of the first to explore attitudes of Muslim women towards exercise and group-fitness classes in Australia. In particular, it includes an examination of the impact of religiosity on motivations and attitudes towards fitness and is the first to consider the relationship between religion, ethnic background and notions of femininity in the context of fitness. The influence of religiosity is an area heavily impacted by cultural bias and stereotyping, and it is therefore important for a deeper understanding of this issue in the services domain.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the ways clients find out about a sport centre and the factors that lead them to enrol and influence their satisfaction with their membership. A secondary objective was to determine the reasons for continuing to attend a sport centre and how they influenced satisfaction towards achievement. Finally, the authors aimed to identify differences between reasons for enroling and reasons for continuing at a sport centre.

A specially developed 16-item questionnaire was sent to 125,000 clients and 21,043 responses were obtained.

Clients who found out about the centre through a recommendation or the internet were 25 per cent more likely to be satisfied with it than those who knew of the centre due to proximity. Similarly, clients who had a specific motive to continue using the centre, for example, to prepare for a sports competition were twice as likely to be satisfied with their membership as any other group (p<0.001).

It identifies a set of research priorities for the journal and the field.

In conclusion, the option of staying fit is established as the most effective recruitment method for retaining clients at the sport centre.

This paper intends to do is to establish the bases of information and knowledge for the treatment of high motives, as well as for managers of sports centres to remodel their strategies of marketing to attracting customers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how practices influence service systems.

Data across three service contexts (crafts, healthcare and fitness) were collected through depth interviews and netnographic analysis, and analyzed with a two-study multi-method approach focusing first on the micro- (individual) level and then on the macro- (network) level of service systems. Study 1 focused on a micro-level analysis using qualitative techniques (Spiggle, 1994). Study 2 focused on a macro-level analysis using partial least squares regression.

The results illustrate how practices can change service systems. This occurs when a nuanced practice (i.e. a practice style) orders and roots a service system in a specific form of value creation. The findings reveal four practice styles: individual-extant, social-extant, individual-modified and social-modified practice styles. These practice styles shift in response to event triggers and change service systems. These event triggers are: service beneficiary enhancement, service beneficiary failure, service provider failure and social change. Thus, the findings show that practices – when shifting in response to event triggers – change service systems. This transpires in the understudied meta-layer of a service system.

The study identifies four practice styles that can serve as the basis for segmentation and service design.

Service systems are dynamic and ever changing. This study explores how service systems change by proposing a practice approach to service systems.