Development of the Motives of Long-Term Customers of Health-Oriented Fitness Companies During Membership
Authors: Zarotis George F. , Tokarski Walter 
Published: February 2025

Sustainable product and service improvements are necessary for fitness studios to develop a long-term market and remain competitive. This is extremely important since meeting client expectations can lead to customer happiness, which in turn improves customer loyalty and financial success. The fitness studio's value-added procedures should all be focused on meeting and exceeding client expectations. Athletes' unique preferences can be taken into consideration when creating offers thanks to insights from studies on motivations in fitness sports. On the other hand, because of the more focused target group orientation, marketing campaigns can be carried out more successfully. Longtime participants in the current study receive a motivation-related instruction on how to stay motivated to work out. The responders belonged to a health-oriented fitness club. The fifteen items on the survey were broken down into seven motivation-related categories. The surveys could be filled out on site or taken home, and they were available at the gym. 278 of the 350 questionnaires that were made were filled out. 79.4% was the response rate as a result. Members who have merely received equipment-based training make up the responders. There is a slight majority (just under 53%) of male respondents, making the gender ratio about equal. The poll respondents are 56.6 years old on average, with a 13.1-year range around the mean. The age distribution shows that while younger respondents are somewhat uncommon, the number of respondents in middle to senior age has increased dramatically. Among survey respondents who have been members for more than a year, the average membership duration is 11.6 years (With a variance of 7.5 years). Significant variations in the mean value were found in 4 out of the 17 significance tests. For four reasons, there is a noticeable variation in the length of membership. The durations of these four motivations vary from 2.3 to 4.0 years. It is possible to identify in detail the following important relationships between age and motives. The following significant correlations between the motivation and age can be found in individuals; they are also not considered to be the only negative effects of this particular symmetry (the correlation is based on the statistical significance of the medium-value difference): a) People who have the motive ‘general improvement in physical fitness’ are members for longer than those who do not have it (means 11.9 years to 7.9 years); b) People who have the motive ‘positive influence on physical complaints’ and use the term ‘cardiovascular complaints’ as a synonym for their physical complaints are members for a shorter period than those who do not have it (means 8.7 years to 12.4 years); c) people who name the motive ‘independent training planning and control’ stay longer than people who do not name it (means 12.8 years to 10.5 years) and d) people who name the motive ‘preparation for their own sport’ (means 15.2 years to 11.3 years). To create lasting customer loyalty, it is therefore important to thoroughly and seriously examine the motives of the customers, to know and evaluate them and to give appropriate personal action and fitness recommendations. The knowledge gained also contributes to the long-term success of fitness clubs and to improving the image of fitness sports in general.