IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/spomar/v11y2008i1p51-75.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competitive Advantage in the Health and Fitness Industry: Developing Service Bundles

Author

Listed:
  • Woolf, Jules

Abstract

Supporting services augment the value of a business's core service, provide points of differentiation, and create a competitive advantage over competitors. Fitness clubs offer a number of supporting services, including sport participation opportunities. Fitness tests are a common supporting service. This study examined interest in fitness tests and related supporting services. Moreover, because customised programs are harder to imitate, optimal combinations of desired services were investigated. Further, K-means cluster analysis identified seven meaningfully differentiated customer groups. MANOVA and chi-square analyses indicated that clustered groups differed based on demographic and psychographic variables. The study demonstrates that (1) consumers desire supporting services, (2) distinct bundles of supporting services can be identified, and (3) consumers desiring distinct bundles of services are have distinct demographic and psychographic profiles. Fitness providers can develop distinct, desirable bundles of supporting services and can develop more tailored marketing strategies based on these consumer profiles.

Suggested Citation

  • Woolf, Jules, 2008. "Competitive Advantage in the Health and Fitness Industry: Developing Service Bundles," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 51-75, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:spomar:v:11:y:2008:i:1:p:51-75
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352308701037
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James M. Carman & Eric Langeard, 1980. "Growth strategies for service firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 7-22, January.
    2. Dunn, Dan T. & Thomas, Claude A. & Lubawski, James L., 1981. "Pitfalls of consultative selling," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 59-65.
    3. Bloch, Peter H & Sherrell, Daniel L & Ridgway, Nancy M, 1986. "Consumer Search: An Extended Framework," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(1), pages 119-126, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tsai, Pei-Hsuan, 2020. "Strategic evaluation criteria to assess competitiveness of the service industry in Taiwan," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1287-1309.
    2. Vera Pedragosa & Salvador Angosto & Celina Gonçalves, 2022. "Validity and Reliability of a Wearable Fitness Technology Scale in Portugal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-13, May.
    3. Ardvin Kester S. Ong & Yogi Tri Prasetyo & Kerr Lorenzo Picazo & Kim Aaron Salvador & Bobby Ardiansyah Miraja & Yoshiki B. Kurata & Thanatorn Chuenyindee & Reny Nadlifatin & Anak Agung Ngurah Perwira , 2021. "Gym-Goers Preference Analysis of Fitness Centers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Conjoint Analysis Approach for Business Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Sheikh Farhan Ashraf & Cai Li & Babak Mehmood, 2017. "A Study of Premium Price Brands with Special Reference to Willingness of Customer to Pay," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 7(7), pages 619-639, July.
    5. Yuanfei Guo & Mary FitzPatrick & Roy Larke, 2017. "Use of Digital Technologies in Consumer Fitness Practices: Insights from Service-Dominant Logic," International Conference on Marketing and Business Development Journal, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 8-14, July.
    6. Manuel Jesús Baena-Arroyo & Jerónimo García-Fernández & Pablo Gálvez-Ruiz & Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana, 2020. "Analyzing Consumer Loyalty through Service Experience and Service Convenience: Differences between Instructor Fitness Classes and Virtual Fitness Classes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bellini, Silvia & Cardinali, Maria Grazia & Grandi, Benedetta, 2017. "A structural equation model of impulse buying behaviour in grocery retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 164-171.
    2. O'Cass, A., 2000. "An assessment of consumers product, purchase decision, advertising and consumption involvement in fashion clothing," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 545-576, October.
    3. Zhou, Yuanyuan & Tsang, Alex S.L. & Huang, Minxue & Zhou, Nan, 2014. "Does delaying service-failure resolution ever make sense?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 159-166.
    4. repec:dgr:rugsom:04f04 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Mansur Chadi Mursid & Suliyanto Suliyanto & Rahab Rahab, 2019. "Value of Innovation and Marketing Performance," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 9(3), pages 127-133.
    6. Christine Gonzalez & Élodie Huré & Karine Picot-Coupey, 2013. "Mobile application value for consumers," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes 1 & University of Caen) 201340, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes 1, University of Caen and CNRS.
    7. Huang, Liyuan & Gursoy, Dogan & Xu, Honggang, 2014. "Impact of personality traits and involvement on prior knowledge," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 42-57.
    8. Nayum, Alim & Klöckner, Christian A. & Prugsamatz, Sunita, 2013. "Influences of car type class and carbon dioxide emission levels on purchases of new cars: A retrospective analysis of car purchases in Norway," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 96-108.
    9. Viejo-Fernández, Nuria & Sanzo-Pérez, María José & Vázquez-Casielles, Rodolfo, 2020. "Is showrooming really so terrible? start understanding showroomers," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    10. Sahay, Arvind, 2013. "A Customer Oriented Approach To Identifying Competitive Advantage," IIMA Working Papers WP2013-05-08, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    11. Vinh Nhat Lu & Pascale G. Quester & Christopher J. Medlin & Brett Scholz, 2011. "Determinants of export success in professional business services: a qualitative study," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(10), pages 1637-1652, November.
    12. Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya & Arvind Sahay & Arunaditya Sahay, 2022. "The Quest for Competitive Advantage: The Role of Technology Depth and Breadth at the Customer Interface," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 47(4), pages 274-287, December.
    13. Brouthers, Keith D. & Brouthers, Lance Eliot & Werner, Steve, 1996. "Dunning's eclectic theory and the smaller firm: The impact of ownership and locational advantages on the choice of entry-modes in the computer software industry," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 377-394, August.
    14. Aparna Bhatia & Anu Thakur, 2016. "Diversification Strategies of Multi-national and Domestic Companies in India: A Comparative Evaluation in the Dynamic Environment," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 41(3), pages 199-215, August.
    15. van Schie, Ron J.G. & Donkers, Bas & Dellaert, Benedict G.C., 2012. "Savings adequacy uncertainty: Driver or obstacle to increased pension contributions?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 882-896.
    16. Giraud, Georges & Lebecque, Annick & Amblard, Corinne & Bord, Cecile & Sulmont-Rosse, Claire & Lefur, Yves, 2008. "Does Knowledge-Based Economy Speaks to Consumers? A French Case Study with Respect to Food Products," 110th Seminar, February 18-22, 2008, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 49848, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Maier, Erik, 2019. "Serial product evaluations online: A three-factor model of leadership, fluency and tedium during product search," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 558-579.
    18. Colleen E. McClure & Justin M. Lawrence & Todd J. Arnold & Lisa K. Scheer, 2023. "The opportunities and costs of highly involved organizational buyers," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 480-501, March.
    19. Sanchez-Peinado, Esther & Pla-Barber, Jose, 2006. "A multidimensional concept of uncertainty and its influence on the entry mode choice: An empirical analysis in the service sector," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 215-232, June.
    20. Mohsina Fatema* & Md. Aminul Islam & Rosni Bakar, 2018. "Halal Purchase Intention- A Study on Islamic Banks of Bangladesh," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(12), pages 402-412, 12-2018.
    21. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/jeo70lroq9p9bmeio80mpgg5h is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Jang, Sungha & Prasad, Ashutosh & Ratchford, Brian T., 2017. "Consumer Search of Multiple Information Sources and its Impact on Consumer Price Satisfaction," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 24-40.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:spomar:v:11:y:2008:i:1:p:51-75. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/716936/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.