Fitness Ontario

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Reframing the service environment in thefitness industryEric Macintosh a & Alison Doherty aa School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences , The University ofWestern Ontario , London, Ontario, Canada , N6A 3K7Published online: 17 Sep 2007.

To cite this article: Eric Macintosh & Alison Doherty (2007) Reframing the service environment in the fitnessindustry, Managing Leisure, 12:4, 273-289, DOI: 10.1080/13606710701546835

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Reframing the service environment in thefitness industry

Eric MacIntosh and Alison Doherty

School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario London,Ontario, Canada N6A 3K7

Understanding how to be competitive within the fitness industry requires a fundamental awareness

of the service environment at the club level. To date, research on the fitness industry has placed con-

siderable focus on the notion of service quality, particularly such elements as equipment, pro-

grammes, facilities and ancillary services, and its role in client satisfaction and retention. Recent

research suggests that an organization’s culture – the values, beliefs and assumptions that reflect

how things are done within an organization – may be perceived outside the organization as well.

The objective of the study was to examine the relationships between what have thus far been ident-

ified as key service elements for fitness organizations, organizational culture values, and the atti-

tudes and intentions of client members from one private fitness company operating in Canada.

Findings showed that both the service elements and the corporate values were significantly associ-

ated with members’ satisfaction and intentions to stay. The findings suggest that what has typically

been conceptualized as the service environment of fitness clubs should be revised to include organ-

izational culture elements.

INTRODUCTION

The role the fitness industry plays in offering

an environment where people can engage in

physical activity is important for both indi-

vidual and community wellbeing. Popular

trade literature contends that the service

environment of a fitness organization is a

factor in member satisfaction and retention

and also bottom line profitability (Gerson,

1999; McCarthy, 2004). Understanding the

impact of the service environment in satisfy-

ing and retaining members is vital for fitness

managers. The business of managing a

fitness organization requires placing a con-

siderable emphasis on servicing the client

member. Essentially, the belief is that by

focusing on the service environment,

members will be satisfied and more likely

to stay, and the organization can benefit

from revenue streams and reducing the

costs associated with attracting new

members (McCarthy, 2004). Therefore, cater-

ing to the needs of the membership base is of

the utmost concern to management strategy

in this competitive industry.

In order to compete, survive and prosper in

the fitness industry, the service environment

needs to be operating at a high level. Cavnar

et al. (2004), in their study on the quality of

recreation facilities, noted such things as the

cleanliness of the restroom, the equipment

and amenities, and maintenance and safety

issues as being important to the customer’s

assessment of the facility. These elements

are also important across the fitness industry,

whether the facility operates in the private or

public sector, is a women’s-only club, or a

coed club. Today, most fitness clubs focus

on cleanliness, have similar workout equip-

ment and facilities that are alike in both

Managing Leisure ISSN 1360-6719 print/ISSN 1466-450X online # 2007 Taylor & Francis

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DOI: 10.1080/13606710701546835

Managing Leisure 12, 273–289 (October 2007)

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concept and design, are staffed with educated

personnel, and even offer comparable pro-

gramming (i.e., step-classes, spin-classes and

mind-body classes). Arguably, these elements

of the service environment have become a

blueprint or standard of excellence to

achieve competitive success.

Within sport and recreation management

literature, much has been written about

managing a fitness facility, such as the chara-

cteristics that comprise facility operations,

the importance of a clean and well-kept

environment, and the importance of servicing

the client member (e.g., Alexandris et al.,

2004a, b; Bodet, 2006; Chang and Lee, 2004;

Chelladurai and Chang, 2000; Chelladurai

et al., 1987; Howat et al., 1996; Howat et al.,

1999; Huset-McGuire et al., 2003; Kim and

Kim, 1995; Lam et al., 2005; Lentell, 2000;

Papadimitriou and Karteliotis, 2000). The

common focus of these studies has been the

notion of service quality.

The literature suggests that organizational

culture may be another aspect of the service

environment that can influence client

member attitudes and behaviour (Hatch

and Schultz, 1997; Kowalczyk and Pawlish,

2002). Organizational culture is commonly

known as the values, beliefs and basic

assumptions operating within an organiz-

ation (Schein, 1991), and has been expressed

as ‘how things are done around here’

(MacIntosh and Doherty, 2005). Elements of

an organization’s culture that are observable

to the naked eye include artifacts and

symbols such as staff dress or uniforms,

grooming standards, posters and/or paint-

ings around the club, company logo and/orvisible mission statement, among others

(e.g., Smith and Shilbury, 2004). These

things reflect what is valued in an organiz-

ation. Culture is also manifested in the

actions and behaviour of an organization’s

staff, as it provides a guideline for their per-

formance (e.g., Smith and Shilbury, 2004).

Research on organizational culture has

focused almost exclusively on the effect of

culture on the staff of the organization.

However, there is reason to believe that

organizational culture has a notable impact

on people outside of the operational unit;

for example, the client member (Hatch and

Schultz, 1997; Kowalczyk and Pawlish, 2002).

Consumers’ perceptions of what is valued in

the organization, as reflected in company arti-

facts, organizational policies and procedures,

and employee behaviour, help form their

image of the organization. The image or

impression left in the mind of an individual

can have important consequences with

respect to their attitude and behaviour

towards the organization (Robinson, 2006).

Ultimately, the concern for all managers

operating in the service sector is how the con-

sumer of their service interprets the worth of

that service, and in the case of the fitness

industry, the worth of the membership.

It would seem that part of this appraisal

may include the corporate values operating

in the organization that the client member

can feel and identify with. These may be

known to clientmembers through their obser-

vation of artifacts and symbols of the organi-

zation, as well as through their contact with

employees whose behaviour reflects the

organization’s culture. Thus, both organi-

zational culture and service elements may

be important factors in customer perceptions

of an organization.

The purpose of this study was to examine

the relationships between both organiz-

ational culture values and standard service

elements and customer satisfaction and

retention in one private fitness organization

in Canada. This paper considers whether

what is typically regarded as the service

environment in the fitness industry should

be reframed to include the corporate values

operating within an organization. The follow-

ing review of literature identifies how the

service environment in the fitness industry

has been conceptualized and measured to

date, and the potential role of organizational

culture in that environment.

274 MacIntosh and Doherty

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CONCEPTUALIZING THE FITNESSSERVICE ENVIRONMENT

Leveraging the value of one’s service can

assist in both retention and expansion of

the existing membership base (Zeithaml,

2000). The service environment in general

has been shown to have a positive effect on

revenue streams via the intermediate goals

of membership satisfaction and strength-

ened retention (Meyer and Blumelhuber,

1998). When a member perceives they are

receiving a high level of service for their

money, or receiving good value, they will

be more loyal to their service provider

(Ham et al., 2003; Venetis and Ghauri, 2004).

In the fitness industry, there have been

several efforts to conceptualize and

measure the service environment.

Chelladurai et al. (1987) developed the

Scale of Attributes of Fitness Services

(SAFS), a model which consists of five dimen-

sions of fitness services that represent the

members’ experience in a fitness organiz-

ation: (1) primary core professional services

(e.g., qualifications of those who test

member fitness, number and variety of

fitness classes, motivation provided by

instructor); (2) primary core consumer ser-

vices (e.g., number and variety of tourna-

ments organized, price of renting courts,

ease of reserving courts); (3) primary periph-

eral services (e.g., enthusiasm of reception-

ists, reputation of nursery staff, location of

reception); (4) primary facilitating goods

(e.g., club’s hours of operation, cleanliness

of equipment, type of weight training equip-

ment available); and (5) secondary consu-

mer services and facilitating goods (e.g.,

dining area, price of drinks in bar, variety of

the menu).

The primary segment includes ‘all aspects

of the service that relate to fitness, such as

instructors, equipment, reservation system,

and courts’ (Chelladurai et al., 1987, p. 161).

The secondary segment includes all the

‘goods and services within the fitness club

that do not relate to fitness per se, [such

as] food and beverage services’ (Chelladurai

et al., 1987, p. 161). As well, the authors con-

ceptualized peripheral services to include

the parking, laundry, and fire safety pro-

cedures. Chelladurai et al. found that

primary facilitating goods was rated as the

most important dimension, although female

subjects rated the primary core professional

dimension as equally important. The authors

noted that, ‘when consumers evaluate

whether to join a particular club, they may

base their decision on those aspects of the

club they can see, the physical evidence of

the tangible facilities and goods’ (p. 169).

The authors also noted that clubs attempt

to differentiate from their competition by

promoting secondary goods and services.

Yet, findings showed that all groups ranked

secondary services and facilitating goods as

the least important dimensions (Chelladurai

et al., 1987).

Building on the SAFS model, Huset-

McGuire et al. (2003) agreed that primary

fitness services offered by a fitness organiz-

ation include three main dimensions – (1)

core services, (2) facilitating goods and (3)

peripheral services – but they expanded

the conceptualization of these dimensions.

The dimension of core services, as noted

by the authors, includes the professional ser-

vices and consumer services identified in the

SAFS model, but also programme services

which was added based on the work of

Chelladurai and Chang (2000), Howat et al.

(1996), Howat et al. (1999) and Kim and Kim

(1995). The programme services dimension

consists of the variety of fitness intensity

levels, the convenience of the exercise

sessions, and the availability of rewards or

incentives (Huset-McGuire et al., 2003).

Huset-McGuire et al. also expanded the

conceptualization of professional services

to include ‘any service that requires special

knowledge and comprehensive training of

the individuals responsible for delivering

the service’ (p. 263). Professional services

Reframing the service environment in the fitness industry 275

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make up a large component of their model

and include elements such as fitness testing

and screening, training and instruction,

leader feedback, leader social support and

leader physical traits. The dimension

labelled facilitating goods was separated

into supporting facilities (i.e., cleanliness,

ventilation, temperature and size and

layout of workout area) and equipment (i.e.,

maintenance, accessibility, variety). The

final dimension of the model, peripheral ser-

vices, includes the venue aesthetics (i.e.,

general ambiance) and participants (i.e.,

social context) with consideration given to

the participants’ social support and physical

traits (Huset-McGuire et al., 2003).

Thus far, conceptual work on the fitness

service environment has focused on such

things as the core services offered through

professional staff certifications, training,

education and testing. Consideration has

also been given to the number and variety

of fitness classes offered and the general

fitness leadership. The cleanliness and

variety of the equipment found in the clubs

and the state of the locker rooms have

been of interest, as have the hours of oper-

ations and parking. Focus has also been

placed on secondary or peripheral services

offered by a fitness organization like the

juice bar or restaurant. These elements of

the service environment have been pro-

posed as key factors in club members’ atti-

tudes and behaviour.

MEASURING THE FITNESS SERVICEENVIRONMENT

Several tools have been used to measure

service quality in fitness organizations

including both general service quality and

industry specific measures. A common

instrument used to assess level of service is

SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988).

This instrument has been used extensively

in the financial and commercial sector, but

has also been used and adapted for fitness

and leisure centre management (Alexandris

et al., 2004a; Williams, 1998; Wisniewski,

2001). The SERVQUAL instrument is a multi-

item tool used to quantify the service expec-

tation-perception gap of the dimensions of

reliability, responsiveness, assurance, tangi-

bles and empathy. Some of these service

attributes may be consistent with an organiz-

ation’s core values. The instrument has

come under some scrutiny due to its lack of

consideration regarding the role that per-

sonal culture and values play in evaluations

(Imrie et al., 2000), and its limited applica-

bility across different industries (Alexandris

et al., 2004a), however it is still considered

to be amongst the most popular models to

examine service quality (Alexandris et al.,

2004a; Wisniewski, 2001).

Indeed, Howat et al. (1996) drew from this

instrument, along with customer focus group

meetings, to develop the Centre for Environ-

mental and Recreation Management (CERM)

model to assess customer service quality

(CSQ). The CERM CSQ questionnaire is com-

prised of 15 core attributes used to measure

customer’s expectations compared to their

perceptions of service quality at the macro

level in leisure centres (Howat et al., 1996).

Four dimensions emerged from this ques-

tionnaire; core services, staff quality,

general facility and secondary services.

The authors noted that it is not surprising

that the CSQ dimensions are different from

the SERVQUAL dimensions since ‘leisure

industry services include a range of very

different attributes compared to financial

services’ (Howat et al., 1996, p. 87).

Further criticism levied against the

popular SERVQUAL application in the

fitness and leisure industry is that the instru-

ment is missing one key dimension: outcome

quality (Alexandris et al., 2004a). Thus,

Alexandris et al. (2004a) incorporated the

outcome dimension of service into the

SERVQUAL and collected data in a private

health club operating within a larger chain

of clubs in Greece. The authors were


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interested in examining the ability of the

service quality dimensions to predict custo-

mers’ commitment to exercise programmes

(Alexandris et al., 2004a). Confirmatory

factor analysis did not support the original

structure of the SERVQUAL model in their

study. Furthermore, the SERVQUAL dimen-

sions that were supported predicted only

15% of the variance in client commitment,

although an additional 11% of the variance

was explained with the further consideration

of the outcome dimension. The authors

noted, ‘providing quality services might not

be enough for health clubs to retain custo-

mers [and] might be one of the reasons for

the low retention rates reported in the

fitness industry’ (Alexandris et al., 2004a,

p. 289). Thus, as Lentell (2000) noted, the

original hope of adopting the SERVQUAL

format and customizing it according to

industry ‘has not been well founded’ (p. 4).

In another study on the Greek fitness

industry, Alexandris et al. (2004b) tested a

simplified service quality model proposed

by Brady and Cronin (2001) that comprises

three dimensions: (1) interaction quality

(interpersonal interactions between custo-

mers and staff), (2) physical environment

(ambient conditions, facility design, and

social factors), and (3) outcome quality

(waiting time, other tangible elements).

Alexandris et al. (2004b) were interested in

examining ‘its applicability for measuring

service quality in the fitness industry’

(p. 37). The authors found support for the

three-factor structure and noted that the

physical environment had the greatest

influence on members’ satisfaction. They

also commented that a strong relationship

between the physical environment and

satisfaction was expected because ‘custo-

mers of private fitness clubs have high

expectations from the physical element of

the services’ (Alexandris et al., 2004b,

p. 46). The authors suggested that the influ-

ence of the service environment will spread

through word-of-mouth communication,

and thus a satisfied member is a highly

desirable asset for helping to market the

organization.

The Quality Excellence of Sports Centres

(QUESC) instrument was designed by Kim

and Kim (1995) to measure service quality

specifically in the fitness industry. This

instrument was developed for fitness

centres in Korea, and consists of 12 dimen-

sions: ambiance, employee attitude,

reliability, information giving, programming,

personal consideration, price, exclusivity,

ease of mind, convenience, stimulation, and

social opportunity (Kim and Kim, 1995). As

Kim and Kim noted, ‘the QUESC instrument

overcomes the weaknesses of SERVQUAL

by taking the form of an attitude model

based on customer’s importance-weighted

evaluations of performance for specific

service dimensions and by being tailored to

a specific industry’ (p. 211). However, the

QUESC model is not without its critics.

Poor factor structure and low internal con-

sistency values call into question the validity

and reliability of the scale (Alexandris

et al., 2004b). Likewise, Papadimitriou and

Karteloliotis (2000) tested the model and

found that it was an inadequate measure of

fitness service quality in its original form,

however their study supported a four-factor

solution that included the dimensions of

fitness instructor quality, facility attraction

and operation, programme availability and

delivery, and other service factors (e.g.,

safety, cost).

More recently, Lam et al. (2005) designed

and developed the Service Quality Assess-

ment Scale (SQAS) specifically for health

and fitness clubs to evaluate their level of

service. The tool was constructed by consid-

ering elements of the SERVQUAL instrument,

the SAFS and other service quality models

found in the literature (Lam et al., 2005).

The SQAS consists of six factors that

emerged after rigorous testing and validation

measures, and include: staff, programme,

locker room, physical facility, workout facility,


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and child-care. As Lam et al. suggested ‘when

applying the SQAS in the health-fitness

setting, the top management can simply

examine the mean service-quality score of

each factor of the SQAS to determine the

area of improvement’ (p. 106). This instru-

ment, while still in its infancy, is a promising

development for the fitnessmanagement field.

Recently, Bodet (2006) investigated the

nature of service attributes contributing to

customer satisfaction in a health club

context and found that ‘the quality of

human factors, such as staff behaviour,

and non-tangible factors, such as image’

were relatively important determinants of

participants’ satisfaction (p. 149). Results

of Bodet’s research ‘tend to reduce the

importance of facilities or physical evi-

dence claimed by several authors’ (p.

160). Bodet noted that the focus to date

on basic service attributes ‘seems to

describe a market sector that is not

mature yet’ (p. 160). Indeed, like the con-

ceptual models, the measurement of

service quality in the fitness industry has

predominantly focused on the service

elements of physical environment, the

workout facility and equipment, fitness pro-

gramming, supporting facilities and the

staff attitude towards the member.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE WITHIN THEFITNESS SERVICE ENVIRONMENT

To date, much is known about the service

environment in the fitness industry.

However, the impact of an organization’s

culture on the client member is not yet well

understood. Perhaps this is not surprising

since organizational culture is one of the

most recent considerations in organizational

theory to garner attention on how it can

impact a company’s performance (Slack

and Parent, 2006).

The literature on organizational culture

has given rise to many variations in its

meaning. Despite this, common themes

have emerged which include ‘the values,

beliefs, basic assumptions, shared under-

standings, and taken-for-granted meanings’

operating within a company (Slack and

Parent, 2006, p. 275). These particular

elements tend to be shaped by the leaders

and senior managers of a company and

shared to some degree by employees of the

organization (Schein, 1991). Although

culture can, in theory, be known at three

levels (artifacts, values and beliefs, and

basic underlying assumptions; Schein,

1985), it is typically measured and indicated

as the corporate values of the organization

(Ashkanasy et al., 2000).

Schein (1999) argued that ‘culture is deep,

extensive, and stable. It cannot be taken

lightly. If you do not manage culture, it

manages you’ (p. 185). Tushman and

O’Reilly (1997) reasoned that a shared under-

standing among staff of how things are done

within the organization can help create a

more transparent and efficient working

environment. They wrote that the ‘values

and norms that drive behaviour, which com-

bined form an organization’s culture, are

among the most critical factors in determin-

ing long-term strategic success’ (p. 100).

This premise has been supported by

several researchers in a variety of settings

(e.g., Colyer, 2000; Deal and Kennedy, 1999;

Keyton, 2005; Leo and Alan, 2000; MacIntosh

and Doherty, 2005; Scott et al., 2003; Smith

and Shilbury, 2004). Research has confirmed

the importance corporate values have on

staff attitude and behaviour, and ultimately

company performance. A strong and positive

culture that corresponds with the organiz-

ation’s mission and mandate has been

shown to help human resource departments

acquire recruits that are a better fit with the

company (Goodman and Svyantek, 1999),

contribute to higher retention among

current employees (Bretz and Judge, 1994;

Sheridan, 1992), and foster superior perform-

ance over the long term (Bretz and Judge,

1994; Deal and Kennedy, 1999). Within the


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fitness and leisure setting, MacIntosh and

Doherty (2005) found that staff perceptions

of organizational culture were significantly

associated with their satisfaction with the

organization and their intent to stay with or

leave their job. In general, it is believed that

a strong and positive organizational culture

will contribute to organizational effective-

ness (Deal and Kennedy, 1999).

Hatch and Schultz (1997) and Kowalczyk

and Pawlish (2002) argued that organiz-

ational culture impacts the environment

beyond the staff of a firm and its internal

operating boundaries. Their particular inter-

est was the influence of perceived organiz-

ational culture on consumers’ image of a

firm. Consumers develop a sense of what is

valued in an organization through visible

artifacts and symbols such as the corporate

logo, mission statement, and staff dress, as

well as staff behaviour as an indicator of

‘how things are done around here’. Organiz-

ational culture may be particularly percepti-

ble in service organizations, such as fitness

clubs, where there is high customer-

employee interface (e.g., Chelladurai and

Chang, 2000).

The notion that organizational culture may

be perceived beyond the organization has

received limited empirical investigation to

date. However, Kowalczyk and Pawlish

(2002) found evidence of a link between the

external perception of organizational culture

and corporate reputation. Specifically, the

corporate values of decisiveness and pre-

cision were found to be predictive of corpor-

ate reputation in the computer technology

industry. Thus, we may expect client atti-

tudes and further behaviour with regard to a

company to be influenced, at least in part,

by their perception of the organization’s

culture. It is of interest in this study to

examine fitness club members’ perceptions

of both organizational culture and standard

service elements, and to consider their

association with client satisfaction and

intent to leave.

METHOD

Focal Organization

The focus of this study was a large fitness

chain with well over 100 facilities across

Canada. The organization operates in the

for-profit sector of the fitness industry

where members pay fees to join a club. All

of the organization’s fitness facilities offer

the same basic service elements, such as

fitness equipment, locker rooms, fitness pro-

gramming, certified personal training, and

customer service staff. A number of the

fitness facilities offer additional amenities

such as a swimming pool, hot tub and/orsauna, as well as child-care, chiropractic

care, massage therapy, and tanning beds.

The organization’s clubs are designed with

similar policies, procedures and rules and

regulations for staff to follow (i.e., proper uni-

forms/dress, opening and closing pro-

cedures, front desk check-in procedures,

etc.). Such guidelines are instilled under the

umbrella of a similar mission, vision and

purpose for all clubs to follow.

Participants and Procedure

Study participants were 113 client members

of one of five clubs in the focal organization.

They comprised 67 women (59%) and 46

men. The average age of the participants

was 38 years (SD ¼ 14.26), ranging from 18–

73 years. With respect to education, 18.6%

of the participants indicated that they had

received a high school degree or lower,

53.1% had a college/university degree,

26.5% had a graduate degree and two

people did not respond. The average mem-

bership length of study participants was 4.2

years (SD ¼ 4.8), and facility usage was, on

average, about16 times in a month

(M ¼ 15.7 times/month, SD ¼ 4.9).

Instrument

A survey instrument was designed to

measure client member perceptions of

organizational culture values and service


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elements, as well as client member satisfac-

tion and intent to leave and discontinue

their membership with the organization.

Part of the instrument built on a previous

investigation of staff perceptions of organiz-

ational culture within the same focal organiz-

ation (MacIntosh and Doherty, 2005). In that

study, personal interviews were conducted

with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and

Chief Operating Officer (COO) to identify

the corporate values they strive to engender

in the organization’s culture. Interviews were

then triangulated with company documents

(e.g., training manuals, books, newsletters,

company website). Ten corporate values

were extracted from this data and were vali-

dated by the CEO and COO. An instrument

was developed from that research to

measure the staff perceptions of organiz-

ational culture through multiple items that

represent the manifestation of the corporate

values.

For the current study, the CEO and COO

were approached again to verify whether

the previously identified corporate values

were what they also intended to be trans-

mitted to the client membership base. With

the exception of the corporate value of

Growth, which focused exclusively on staff

personal growth, all of the corporate values

were retained. The nine values measured in

this study included Integrity (staff of the

organization follow through on promises,

do what they say they will do, are respon-

sible for their actions), Fitness (staff of the

organization are committed to fitness of

members, value the role of fitness, know

that fitness makes a positive difference in

people’s lives), Peak Attitude (staff are

upbeat, motivated to serve, are energized),

Innovation (the organization is a leader,

information is cutting edge, staff are dedi-

cated to improving knowledge and skill),

Communication (members are listened to

and heard, information is easily accessible,

events and activities are clearly communi-

cated), Performance (organization is stable,

has a rich history, is successful), Trust

(members trust staff knowledge, have confi-

dence in staff ability, can count on staff),

Care (staff care about members, members

come first, members are respected) and

Passion (staff enjoy their work, are dedicated

to serving members, are passionate about

their job).

The items preserved from the original

survey were adjusted in order to represent

the members’ perception of the corporate

values. As an example, an original item for

the corporate value of Integrity was, ‘the

organization does what it says it will do for

staff’. This was adjusted to, ‘the organization

does what it says it will do for members’.

Hence, the items were adjusted from a staff

focus to a member focus while retaining the

essence of each corporate value. Another

example of an adjusted item was for the cor-

porate value of Trust, which initially was

‘employees can count on the organization

to look after them’, and was adjusted to

‘members can count on staff to look after

them’. In total, 43 items were used to

measure the corporate values as perceived

by client members of the organization.

The instrument also incorporated the

service elements found in the SQAS (Lam

et al., 2005). Several of the items in the

SQAS representing Staff corresponded with

items representing the corporate values of

the focal organization (i.e., Staff: willingness

to help, corresponded with Passion: staff

are passionate about helping members;

Staff: possession of required knowledge/skills, corresponded with Trust: members

trust staff knowledge is up to date; Staff: cour-

tesy, corresponded with Care: staff are

friendly to members; and finally, Staff: com-

munication with members, corresponded

with the items of the corporate value Com-

munication). As a result, the SQAS scale

Staffwas eliminated to avoid overlap. Consul-

tation with two top executive members of

the organization (COO and Director of

Member Services) also helped construct


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this portion of the instrument. From the con-

sultation, it was decided that the elements of

Ancillary Services (massage, sun-tanning,

food and drink), Memberships (reasonable

cost, good value, convenient payment

options) and Front Desk (convenience of

location, staff availability, easy check-in)

should be included as they are key elements

in the focal organization. The remaining

service elements included: Programmes

(variety, availability, convenience of sche-

duling), Equipment/workout facility (modern

looking, good variety, availability), Locker

Rooms (well maintained, clean, comfortable),

Facility (hours of operation, location,

parking, club layout), and Child Care (safe,

convenient hours, quality staff). A total of

34 items were used to measure the service

elements.

Participants were asked to indicate on a

scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly

agree) the extent to which they agreed or dis-

agreed that each item representing organiz-

ational culture values and service elements

was present within the fitness club. Multiple

items were developed to measure client

member satisfaction. Respondents were

asked to rate on a scale of 1 (low) to 7

(high) their satisfaction with their member-

ship, with their club, and with the organiz-

ation as a whole. Further, respondents were

asked to rate on a scale of 1 (definitely not)

to 7 (definitely) whether they would rec-

ommend the club to others, and rate on a

scale of 1 (never) to 7 (always) whether

they would recommend the organization in

general to others. Multiple items were also

created for intent to leave. Participants

were asked to rate on a scale of 1 (never)

to 7 (always) how often they felt like drop-

ping their membership with the club, and

how often they felt like changing to another

fitness club. They were also asked to rate if

they felt like they would 1 (leave very soon)

to 7 (always stay with the club), which was

reverse scored. Open-ended questions

asked participants what things they like

most and what, if anything, they dislike

about their club. Participants were also

asked to provide some basic demographic

data. The instrument was pilot tested with

a sample of current members (n ¼ 9) to

check for clarity of items and instructions.

No adjustments were needed.

RESULTS

Psychometric Properties

Cronbach alpha reliability analyses were per-

formed to determine the internal strength

and consistency of the scales. The reliability

values for all but one of the service element

scales were deemed adequate (DeVellis,

1991): Programmes (five items, a ¼ 0.80),

Locker Room (three items, a ¼ 0.83), Child

Care (five items, a ¼ 0.89), Membership

(three items, a ¼ 0.85), Ancillary Services

(four items, a ¼ 0.81), Equipment/workout

facility (three items, a ¼ 0.69), Front Desk

(three items, a ¼ 0.63). The reliability value

for the service element Facility (five items,

a ¼ 0.57) was considered to be inadequate

and thus was removed from the study.

The reliability values for all of the corpor-

ate value scales were considered to be

acceptable (DeVellis, 1991): Care (seven

items, a ¼ 0.90), Passion (four items,

a ¼ 0.90), Trust (four items, a ¼ 0.88), Integ-

rity (six items, a ¼ 0.90), Fitness (three

items, a ¼ 0.84), Peak Attitude (four items,

a ¼ 0.88), Innovation (five items, a ¼ 0.81),

Communication (five items, a ¼ 0.85), Per-

formance (four items, a ¼ 0.81). The internal

consistency of the client member satisfac-

tion scale was acceptable (five items,

a ¼ 0.94), as was the client member intent

to leave scale (three items, a ¼ 0.83).

Scale intercorrelations were used to

assess the interdependence among and

between the organizational culture values

and service elements (Table 1). Initially,

high correlations between the Care and

Passion scales (r ¼ 0.93) were observed,


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Table 1 Intercorrelation (r ) of service environment scales

Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Service Elements1 Programmes 0.47�� 0.63�� 0.41�� 0.48�� 0.48�� 0.66�� 0.66�� 0.69�� 0.67�� 0.73�� 0.71�� 0.60�� 0.53��

2 Locker Room 0.55�� 0.20 0.36�� 0.37�� 0.35�� 0.44�� 0.58�� 0.35�� 0.51�� 0.47�� 0.50�� 0.35��

3 Equipment/workout 0.33�� 0.54�� 0.52�� 0.61�� 0.51�� 0.55�� 0.54�� 0.51�� 0.66�� 0.49�� 0.36��

4 Child Care 0.37�� 0.58�� 0.30� 0.51�� 0.52�� 0.42�� 0.38�� 0.49�� 0.51�� 0.25�

5 Membership 0.61�� 0.51�� 0.42�� 0.63�� 0.50�� 0.47�� 0.47�� 0.47�� 0.27�

6 Ancillary 0.55�� 0.54�� 0.63�� 0.50�� 0.49�� 0.55�� 0.54�� 0.40��

7 Front Desk 0.50�� 0.53�� 0.43�� 0.49�� 0.52�� 0.44�� 0.35��

Corporate Values8 Trust 0.79�� 0.74�� 0.78�� 0.68�� 0.61�� 0.31��

9 Integrity 0.76�� 0.79�� 0.79�� 0.81�� 0.42��

10 Fitness 0.82�� 0.69�� 0.62�� 0.38��

11 Peak Attitude 0.70�� 0.66�� 0.36��

12 Innovation 0.79�� 0.51��

13 Communication 0.47��

14 Performance

Note: ��Correlations significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). �Correlations significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

282

MacIn

tosh

andDoherty

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and thus they were combined to form one

scale of Care/Passion (11 items, a ¼ 0.95).

Scale intercorrelations were recalculated

with the new variable of Care/Passion. Highcorrelations (r � 0.85, Tabachnick and

Fidell, 2001) between Care/Passion and four

other corporate value scales were observed

and, as a result, the Care/Passion scale was

eliminated from the study. The remaining

corporate values and service elements were

considered to be sufficiently independent

constructs (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2001).

Client Members’ Perceptions of the ServiceEnvironment

It was of interest to consider the extent to

which members perceived service elements

and organizational culture values to be

present in the organization. With particular

reference to the service elements examined

in the study, Front Desk (M ¼ 6.21,

SD ¼ 0.64) and Equipment/workout facility

(M ¼ 6.13, SD ¼ 0.68) seemed to be the

most apparent service elements according

to the client members who participated

in this study. The remaining service

elements in descending order were Pro-

grammes (M ¼ 5.86, SD ¼ 0.71), Locker

Rooms (M ¼ 5.71, SD ¼ 1.06), Membership

(M ¼ 5.49, SD ¼ 1.01), Ancillary Services

(M ¼ 5.39, SD ¼ 0.88) and lastly Child

Care (M ¼ 4.94, SD ¼ 0.95). With particular

reference to the corporate values, Perform-

ance (M ¼ 6.02, SD ¼ 0.72), Fitness

(M ¼ 5.88, SD ¼ 0.87) and Peak Attitude

(M ¼ 5.76, SD ¼ 0.99) appeared to be

the strongest indicators of ‘how things are’

within the company. These were followed

in descending order by Trust (M ¼ 5.53,

SD ¼ 1.02), Innovation (M ¼ 5.44, SD ¼ 0.84),

Integrity (M ¼ 5.39, SD ¼ 1.07) and Communi-

cation (M ¼ 5.35, SD ¼ 1.01).

Client members’ satisfaction

Pearson correlations were used to analyse

the relationships between the constructs

and client members’ satisfaction. Cohen’s

(1992) effect size indices were used to dis-

tinguish between correlations representing

small (r ¼ 0.10), medium (r ¼ 0.30) and

large effects (r ¼ 0.50). A large effect indi-

cates a strong and ‘meaningful’ relationship,

a medium effect represents a moderate or

‘apparent’ relationship, while a small effect

indicates what is likely a weak or ‘trivial’

association (Cohen, 1992; Parks et al.,

1999). Members’ satisfaction with the organ-

ization was significantly associated with all

of the service elements and corporate

values in the study (p , 0.05) (see Table 2).

In particular, the service elements of Locker

Rooms (r ¼ 0.58), Programmes (r ¼ 0.58)

and Equipment/workout facility (r ¼ 0.57)

and the corporate values of Integrity

(r ¼ 0.68), Trust (r ¼ 0.58), Peak Attitude

(r ¼ 0.55) and Innovation (r ¼ 0.54), were all

found to be strongly associated with client

Table 2 Correlations (r) between corporate values,service elements and members’ satisfaction andintent to leave

Members’satisfaction r

Members’intent

to leave r

Integrity2 0.68�� Integrity2 20.60��

Trust2 0.58�� Peak Attitude2 20.46��

Locker Room1 0.58�� Front Desk1 20.46��

Programmes1 0.58�� Communication2 20.46��

Equipment/workout1

0.57�� Innovation2 20.45��

Peak Attitude2 0.55�� Trust2 20.43��

Innovation2 0.54�� Programming1 20.41��

Front Desk1 0.48�� Membership1 20.41��

Communication2 0.47�� Locker Room1 20.39��

Membership1 0.45�� Equip/workout1 20.38��

Ancillary1 0.39�� Ancillary1 20.34��

Fitness2 0.37�� Fitness2 20.30��

Performance2 0.26�� Child Care1 20.18�

Child Care1 0.25� Performance2 20.08

1 ¼ Service Element2 ¼ Corporate ValueNote: ��p , 0.01, �p , 0.05.


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members’ satisfaction. The service elements

of Front Desk (r ¼ 0.48), Membership

(r ¼ 0.45) and Ancillary Services (r ¼ 0.39),

and the corporate values of Communication

(r ¼ 0.47) and Fitness (r ¼ 0.37) were found

to be moderately associated with client

member satisfaction and are considered to

be visible to the naked eye (Cohen, 1992).

The corporate value of Performance

(r ¼ 0.26) and the service element Child

Care (r ¼ 0.23) were weakly associated with

member satisfaction. Thus, to the extent

that members perceive that the service

elements and corporate values measured

here are evident in their fitness club, they

will be satisfied with the organization. The

small sample size of the study did not

permit any further analyses.

Client members’ intent to leave

Pearson correlations were also used to

analyse the relationship between the con-

structs and the client members’ intent to

leave. Members’ intent to leave the organiz-

ation was significantly and negatively associ-

ated with all of the service elements and all

but one of the corporate values (p , 0.05).

The stronger the members’ perception of

these service elements and corporate

values, the less likely they are to leave the

organization. According to Cohen’s (1992)

criteria, members’ intent to leave the organ-

ization was strongly associated with the cor-

porate value of Integrity (r ¼ 20.60).

Members’ intent to leave the organization

was moderately associated with the service

elements of Front Desk (r ¼ 20.46), Pro-

grammes (r ¼ 20.41) and Membership

(r ¼ 20.41), and the corporate values of

Peak Attitude (r ¼ 20.46), Communication

(r ¼ 20.46), Innovation (r ¼ 20.46) and

Trust (r ¼ 20.43). Moderate relationships

were also found for the service elements of

Locker Rooms (r ¼ 2 0.39), Equipment/workout facility (r ¼ 20.38), Ancillary Ser-

vices (r ¼ 20.34), and the corporate value

of Fitness (r ¼ 20.30). The service element

of Child Care and the corporate value of Per-

formance were not significantly associated

with intent to leave.

Members’ open-ended comments

In response to ‘what things do you like most

about your club?’ participants were most

likely to comment that they liked the staff’s

positive attitudes, followed by the variety

and availability of exercise equipment, the

convenience of the club, the overall cleanli-

ness of the facility, and the variety of

fitness programmes available. In response

to ‘what things do you dislike (if anything)

about your club?’ participants were most

likely to comment that they disliked the

time it took to repair exercise equipment, fol-

lowed by the lack of fitness programmes

available, the sales push to purchase per-

sonal training, and the lack of staff presence

on the gym floor.

DISCUSSION

Capturing and understanding all aspects of

the service environment impacting the mem-

bership base is an important task for fitness

and leisure management. Chelladurai and

Chang (2000) noted that it is the ‘consumers

who know the quality of a service as they

experience it’ (p. 10). For managers asses-

sing their operations, it is good practice to

include the consumers of the service in an

evaluation of the service environment

(Robinson, 2006). This study examined the

perceptions of consumers within one

private fitness company in Canada, and

hence, it is important to note that the per-

ceptions of the service elements and organiz-

ational culture values examined here are

specific to this organization.

The findings identified both organizational

culture and standard service elements which

have typically been the focus of the fitness

service environment, to be meaningful to

the client members in this study. Cohen’s

(1992) effect size indices provide information


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about the relative strength of an association,

and thus ‘are measures of practical signifi-

cance or meaningfulness’ (p. 141, italics in

original). The findings with regard to the

standard service elements revealed that

client members’ perception of the locker

room, programmes, and the equipment and

workout facility were meaningful to their sat-

isfaction with the club. This is further evi-

denced by the open-ended responses in

which participants indicated that they par-

ticularly liked the variety and availability of

exercise equipment in their club. This is con-

sistent with previous literature, which has

shown that the ‘primary facilitating goods’

(Chelladurai et al., 1987) or physical environ-

ment of a fitness club (e.g., hours of oper-

ation, facility design, equipment) is the

most important aspect to clients (Alexandris

et al., 2004b; Chelladurai et al., 1987).

The current study further revealed that

the corporate values of integrity, trust,

peak attitude, and innovation were also

meaningful to client member satisfaction.

Again, this is further evidenced in part by

the open-ended responses in which partici-

pants indicated that they liked the staff’s

positive and upbeat attitude. Interestingly,

none of the standard service elements

examined here were more than moderately

associated with members’ intent to leave.

This suggests that the links between the

standard service elements and intent to

leave were apparent, but were not as mean-

ingful as the strong association between

perceived integrity of the organization and

member intent to leave; something that

may be demonstrated by staff doing what

they say they are going to do, and taking

responsibility for their actions. The

corporate values of peak attitude, communi-

cation, innovation, and trust were also mod-

erately associated with members’ intent to

leave, thus framing a view of the service

environment in the focal organization that

includes both standard service elements

and corporate culture.

Huset-McGuire et al. (2003) noted that sec-

ondary services are often viewed as ‘extras’

by members, and thus have a relatively

minor influence on overall perceptions of

the service environment. This was sup-

ported by Bodet’s (2006) work which indi-

cated that peripheral services were not

meaningful to health club clients’ satisfac-

tion. Arguably, both ancillary services and

child-care are secondary services, and

according to the participants of this study

were of little consequence to their satisfac-

tion and stay intentions. Another interesting

observation in this study was the apparent

role of the front desk in members’ satisfac-

tion and intent to leave. This is not an

element that has been included in existing

measures of service quality; rather, it was

included at the suggestion of the leaders of

the focal organization, who consider it to

be a key factor and were interested in explor-

ing that notion. The relative importance of

the front desk to the client members in this

study may be a function of a particular

emphasis on this element in the focal organ-

ization. Nevertheless, the findings suggest

that it is a relevant service element, and

should be included in future research on

service quality in the fitness industry, and

recognized in daily practice. Indeed,

McCarthy (2004) argued that the importance

of the front desk should not be taken lightly

since it is the ‘front line for combating mem-

bership attrition’ (p. 19).

The front desk is certainly one key location

where client members have interactions with

staff, and where organizational culture

values may be transmitted. Kowalczyk and

Pawlish (2002) contended that these staff-

member exchanges help convey organiz-

ational culture, and are one way that

members pick-up signals about how things

are with the organization. Bentkowski

(2003) contended that ‘fitness staff will

have a leg up on membership retention if

all members are recognized and properly

addressed’ (p. 28). Further, McCarthy


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(2004) suggested that ‘a staff culture that

appreciates every member every time they

enter the club can be a factor in membership

retention’ (p. 19). Findings from this study

showed that front desk in conjunction with

the corporate values of peak attitude and

communication were significantly and mod-

erately associated with member’s intention

to stay with the organization. Together, the

findings suggest that paying attention

to both standard service elements and

the manifestation of corporate values may

be critical to understanding the overall

service environment in the fitness industry.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Consistent with previous research findings,

fitness clubs should continue to strive to

provide top quality service in terms of such

elements as the exercise equipment, types

of exercise programmes, the workout facility

and the locker rooms, which were identified

as particularly important in this study.

Further, recognizing the potential impact of

the location, staffing, and check-in pro-

cedures associated with the front desk of a

club as revealed in this study may assist

managers in enhancing the experience for

the client member. Findings from this study

also suggest that fitness clubs should recog-

nize the potential influence of their organiz-

ation’s culture on client attitudes and

behaviour. Though the corporate values

examined here were specific to the focal

organization and cannot be generalized to

other fitness companies, the notion that

culture has an influence on client members

should be recognized. Club leaders need to

identify the key corporate values within

their own organization and consider those

as a further component of the service

environment.

Organizational culture is manifested in arti-

facts and symbols such as the company logo,

mission statement, decor, staff dress, as well

as staff behaviour. Therefore, it is critical to

consider the extent towhich an organization’s

corporate values are in fact being played out

and perceived by client members. Percep-

tions of organizational culture can be

enhanced by increasing the presence and visi-

bility of artifacts and symbols that represent

key corporate values; for example, posting

photographs of staff helping client members,

or exhibiting certification credentials or

awards that staff have achieved. Staff beha-

viour is also a criticalmechanism for transmit-

ting organizational culture, particularly in the

service industry where there is high custo-

mer-employee interface. Training and devel-

opment must focus on reinforcing key

corporate values so that staff are well

equipped to deliver on those values.

In conclusion, managers operating in a

service environment need to appreciate

that the culture they engender likely has an

impact on the client members of their organ-

ization. In addition to ensuring that equip-

ment and programmes are up to date and

so on, fitness managers must consider

clients’ perceptions of ‘how things are

done’ within the club. Reframing what is typi-

cally known about the service environment

to include both the standard service

elements and the corporate values operating

within a firm may have important impli-

cations for helping fitness organizations

serve their communities, and achieve

success in this competitive industry.

FUTURE RESEARCH

This study was a preliminary step in refram-

ing the service environment in the fitness

industry, which has typically focused on

service elements such as equipment, pro-

grammes, and workout facility design.

Future research should include the consider-

ation of organizational culture, and the

meaning of the broader service environment

to client members. There were a number of

limitations of the study that could be

addressed in further investigations. First,


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the current study focused on one organi-

zation in the Canadian fitness industry. The

line of research presented here should be

expanded to examine the nature and

impact of the broader service environment

in a wider sample of fitness organizations.

Second, the current study focused on the

organizational culture specific to one organ-

ization and the findings are limited to percep-

tions of the service environment in that

organization. Thus, future research should

consider whether, like industry-wide

service elements, there are industry-wide

organizational culture factors that could be

incorporated into a more complete

measure of the service environment. Third,

the study was limited by the sample size

which precluded more sophisticated statisti-

cal analyses. In future research, a sufficiently

large sample size would enable regression

analyses that would permit a greater under-

standing of the relative impact of various

elements of the reframed service environ-

ment on client members. Assuming a

broader conceptualization of the service

environment in the fitness industry, it will

be important to more specifically identify

where fitness managers should concentrate

their efforts to provide a high level of service.

Future consideration should also be given

to any variation in client perceptions and pre-

ferences with regard to the reframed service

environment, according to key consumer

demographics in the fitness industry (e.g.,

gender, age, frequency of use, membership

length). This would help fitness managers

understand how different clients perceive

the service environment, and what it means

to them. Consideration may also be given to

any variations in perceived service environ-

ment and impact by type of fitness organiz-

ation (i.e., profit, non-profit, women-only, co-

ed). A re-conceptualization of the service

environment, and its broader measurement,

can enhance our understanding of the

factors that contribute to organizational

success in the fitness industry.

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Fitness Ontario