Helen N. Watts Dr Jan Francis-Smythe

1. Membership retention in the fitness industry: A qualitative study and the development of a predictive model Helen N. Watts Dr Jan Francis-Smythe

2. Overview • Industry background/ the problem • Research questions • Approaches/ literatures • Design/ methodology • Sampling • Results (final template) • Implications • Limitations

3. Industry background • 2004, 4.2 million adults - members of private clubs in UK • 9.1% of the adult population (Mintel, 2005). 11% (2007) • Increased governmental campaigning to increase well-being and reduce health problems associated with sedentary lifestyles (Robinson, 2004; UK Government, 1999). • Rapid growth over the last 15 years to £2.5bn.

4. The problem • Poor retention rates of members • Average retention rate- approx. 60% (Mintel, 2005, FIA, 2002) • Membership fees- 76% of revenue • Driven by economic competition 2000 – 2004 MV ↑ 43%, growth ↑ 30% (Mintel 2005)

5. ‘any industry that is losing nearly 40% of its customers on an annual basis needs to scrutinise itself very carefully and ask if it can do more to try to retain their business.’ (Mintel, 2005) • Retention- cheaper than acquisition • (Reicheld, 1996)

6. What determines cancellation decisions? - satisfaction ratings? - members’ usage levels? - intention to cancel? What makes members give good ‘word of mouth?’ Research questions

7. Health psychology - physical activity Consumer psychology - satisfaction/ service quality Mostly measure either activity levels or intentions, not actual cancellation decisions Mostly descriptive or concurrent, not predictive Existing approaches

8. Mixed design 2. MRQ a) Concurrent b) Longitudinal 3. SEM of questionnaire results (n=500+) Method Interpretation QUAN QUAN qual qual 1. Telephone interviews 4. Interviews at the end of/ exit from longitudinal study

9. A priori themes Retention The club The activity Commitment Brand identity Service quality Attitude Subjective norm Perceived behavioural control

10. Literature review- a priori themes Recorded interviews (n=25) using Skype and Callburner Approx. 23 minutes each To avoid biased data and provide comfort Manually transcribed and thematically analysed Telephone interviews

11. Maximum variation Initial pool of 72, 24 current, frozen and ex members (expecting 50% response rate) Most non-response due to invalid numbers Sampling Current members (n=12) Length ofmembership 5 yrs (n=2) 1 yrs (n=2) 3 mths (n=2) X15 pm (n=2) Monthly usage x5 pm (n=2) X1 pm (n=2) Frozen members (n=3) Ex members (n=10)

12. A priori The club The activity Commitment Brand identity Service quality Attitude Subjective norm Perceived behavioural control

13. Final template The club The activity Commitment Brand identity Service quality Attitude Subjective norm Perceived behavioural control Habit Self-determination The individual Social Physique Anxiety State anxiety Social identity Rapport

15. The same club- different experiences for different members - different levels of rapport and feelings of identity - different levels/types of anxiety A club can be also be a place of anxiety as well as well-being The need for individual profiling and monitoring throughout membership Implications

16. Low number of frozen members Same interview technique used for different groups- concept mapping may have been better for ex members Limitations

17. Any questions? Thanks for your time, enjoy the rest of the ICSS