Customer Retention in the Fitness Area: A Case Study at Ginásio My Gym in Portugal

Abstract

With the growth of the fitness market in Portugal, there is a constant need on the part of gym managers to understand how it works in order to be competitive. Capturing new customers and keeping them has become a permanent concern. Thinking about this reality, the present study intends to collaborate to clarify the problem of customer retention. For this, hypotheses were developed to verify whether the quality of service, the social environment, global satisfaction, price perception and the average weekly attendance of a member influence their retention at the Gym. This quantitative investigation was carried out at My Gym in Lisbon where, after applying questionnaires, a sample of 84 respondents was obtained. The analysis of the results allowed us to verify that overall satisfaction and the quality of the services provided have a strong impact on retention. It was also possible to observe that there is a new profile of people who see the gym as a way of socializing and, therefore, the social environment has a positive influence on retention. Price perception is an important dimension when choosing a gym, however it does not influence retention as well as the number of times a member attends the gym.