Customers’ expectations ofservice in Greek fitness centers

Gender, age, type of sport center, andmotivation differences

Yanni AfthinosUniversity of Athens, Athens, Greece

Nicholas D. TheodorakisAristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, and

Pantelis NassisUniversity of Athens, Athens, Greece

Abstract

Purpose – Aims to identify the aspects of service delivery deemed most important by the users ofGreek fitness centers and to examine whether their desires differ according to the type of fitness centerthey use as well as according to certain demographic and motivation patterns.

Design/methodology/approach – The study was based on the QUESC instrument developedby Kim and Kim. A total of 346 individuals who were members of public and private fitnesscenters in Athens/Greece completed the questionnaires. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) testwas conducted for each item of the instrument in order to examine whether different groups haddifferent desires for service delivery. Where a difference between group means was identified,Duncan’s multiple range tests were performed to determine which means were significantlydifferent.

Findings – The aspects of service delivery desired more by sports centers users refer to the tangibleelements of the facilities, the personnel attitudes and abilities, attributes related to the cost ofparticipation and items related to the programming and scheduling of services provided. The findingsalso suggest that significant differences of desires exist between males and females as well as betweenusers of public and private sports centers.

Research limitations/implications – The sample of the fitness centers was convenient ratherthan statistical. The reason was that there is no official agency in Greece with a complete list of fitnesscenters.

Practical implications – This paper is a useful source of information for fitness centersmanagement to identify their customers’ wants, take action to improve service delivery, and establishstandards of performance to address the identified customers’ needs.

Originality/value – This paper sought to address questions on the way certain demographicvariables and patterns of use might affect sports centers’ users’ desires, so that an information packagecan be applied in making marketing decisions for improving sports centers service delivery.

Keywords Fitness centres, Customer services quality, Greece

Paper type Research paper

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0960-4529.htm

The authors thank Dr D. Papadimitriou for contributing to this study. The authors also thankDr Kim for providing QUESC for use in this research.

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Managing Service QualityVol. 15 No. 3, 2005

pp. 245-258q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0960-4529DOI 10.1108/09604520510597809

IntroductionThe health and fitness movement is a rapidly growing industry worldwide. In the USAthere are more than 33,000 health and fitness facilities. The number of fitness centers inEurope is fewer, but increasing (Costa et al., 1998). In Greece, there are approximately1,300 private fitness centers with 311,500 customers, generating an income of e164.5million per year (Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research, 2002). This is acompetitive industry, and the rise of consumer power in the fitness-center industry hasforced managers to focus on customer service to meet the high expectations of theircustomers (Robinson, 1998).

In such highly competitive service industries, delivery of excellent service is aprerequisite for survival and success (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Numerous studieshave shown that profitability and retention of customers are the key benefits ofdelivering service of high quality (Fornell and Wernerfelt, 1987; Parasuraman et al.,1988; Philip and Hazlett, 1997). A satisfied customer is more likely to continue buyingthe services, engage in positive word-of-mouth publicity, and increase the volume ofpurchases (Howat et al., 1999). In addition, business earnings increase as a result ofcustomer loyalty, reduced spending required in attracting new customers, and thewillingness of customers to pay a higher price for superior quality services (Kim andKim, 1995).

There have been several attempts to provide an understanding of the concept ofservice in terms of the specific characteristics of a service. Parasuraman et al.(1985) and Zeithaml and Bitner (1996) identified intangibility, heterogeneity,simultaneous production and consumption, and perishability as the maincharacteristics of services. However, critics of this approach have pointed outthat the above-mentioned characteristics do not apply to all service sectors andthat a concentration on these characteristics tends to ignore the role of customersin service delivery. Kim and Kim (1995) and Chelladurai and Chang (2000) haveidentified inseparability as a key feature of services – thus highlighting theinteraction between clients and service employees as being critical to theproduction and consumption of services.

Although many researchers have studied the concept of service, there is no acceptedconsensus regarding a single definition of service quality (Jensen and Markland, 1996).The most commonly accepted definition views quality in terms of the consumer’simpression of an entity’s overall excellence or superiority (Bitner and Hubbert, 1994;Zeithaml, 1987). Many researchers accept that consumers’ perceptions of quality arebased on a comparison of the customer’s prior service expectations with theirsubsequent perception of the actual service performance (Gronroos, 1984;Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988). Customers’ expectations of a service organizationare thus considered to be of primary importance in assessing quality. Theseexpectations might be influenced by several factors, including “ . . . word of mouthcommunication from other customers, personal needs of customers, past experienceand external communications from service providers, including the price-qualityrelationship” (Howat et al., 1996, p. 78). Expectations are:

. confirmed when a service organization performs as expected;

. negatively disconfirmed when the services perform more poorly than expected;and

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. positively disconfirmed when the service organization performs better thanexpected (Manning, 1986).

Meeting customers’ expectations and satisfying their needs are important elements inan organization’s efforts to retain its customers and gain competitive advantage(Fornell and Wernerfelt, 1987; Parasuraman et al., 1988).

However, although customers’ perceptions of service quality have received muchattention from both service marketers and academic researchers, customers’expectations have received relatively little attention in the literature. Even lessemphasis has been placed on an examination of the way in which customers’expectations differ in terms of demographic, socioeconomic, motivational, and usagefactors. In one of the few attempts to explore these matters, Kim and Kim (1995)concluded that customer expectations of Korean sport and fitness centers fitness do notdiffer significantly in relation to gender, age, purpose in using the centers, and types ofcenters. In a subsequent effort to segment sport-center members in Seoul, Kim and Kim(1998) reached the conclusion that users’ attitudes to service quality are not associatedwith age and income groups, but that they are associated with gender.

The purpose of the present study was to examine customers’ expectations of servicein Greek fitness centers located in the metropolitan area of the city of Athens. Theresearch questions examined in this study were:

. What are the most desirable aspects of service for Greek fitness-centercustomers?

. Do the expectations of customers differ according to: the type of fitness centerthey use (public or private); certain demographic patterns (gender, age); andmotivational patterns (purpose in using a fitness center)?

MethodologySampleThe research is based on data gathered from six fitness centers located in the Athens(Greece) metropolitan area. The self-administered instrument was delivered to 500customers of the centers. A total of 346 completed questionnaires were returned (69.2percent of the number delivered).

The fitness centers ranged from smaller facilities with two hall-areas (one forweight-lifting and one for aerobic dance) to larger facilities with several different areas(gymnasium, tennis court, swimming pool, and children’s playground area). Alimitation of this study is the fact that the sample of centers was convenient rather thanstatistical. This was because there is no official database with a complete list of fitnesscenters in Greece.

The instrumentThe 43-item QUESC instrument developed by Kim and Kim (1995) was used in thisresearch. QUESC was selected because it was specifically developed to measure servicequality in sport centers. The instrument has two parts. The first part measures thedesirability of a list of scale items. In the second part, the same list of items is used tomeasure perceptions of the quality of service delivered. Because the present studyfocused on expectations, only the first part of the questionnaire was used. In this study

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expectations were viewed as “desires” (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Responses werecoded on a five-point scale indicating the degree of desirability of each item (rangingfrom “not important” to “highly important”).

A panel of four bilingual experts used collaborative “back-translation” techniques totranslate the instrument into Greek (Brislin, 1970; Evangellopoulos, 1993). Followingthe translation, QUESC’s Greek version was content validated by a panel (Nachmiasand Nachmias, 1987) of five physical-education professionals who were expert in sportcenters and service quality. The only suggested change was the deletion of one item(“community activities”), which was perceived to be not applicable. A few concernswere raised with respect to clarity of language, and these were taken intoconsideration. The instrument was also face validated by 18 undergraduate students ofthe department of physical education and sport science at the University of Athens.

The reliability coefficient of the Greek version of the first part of QUESC wascalculated using Guttman’s split-half method (Nachmias and Nachmias, 1987). Thisrevealed an alpha level of 0.93.

Data collection and analysisBefore statistical analysis was conducted, the returned questionnaires were examinedfor completeness and haphazard answers (Hartline and Jones, 1996). This led to sixquestionnaires being excluded from subsequent analysis.

To examine whether different groups had different desires, an analysis of variance(ANOVA) test was conducted for each item (Table I). The groups used for comparisonwere: men and women; various age groups (Table II); and private and public fitness

Programs % Motivation %

Weights 38.3 Fitness 40.5Aerobics 17.5 Health 14.9Weights – equipment 15.6 Weight control 9.3Other combination 13.4 Other 9.0Equipment 8.9 Health – fitness 8.2Weights – aerobics 3.0 Fitness – weight control – relaxation – health 7.8Aerobics – equipment 2.2 Relaxation 3.3Gymnastic 1.1 Fitness – weight control 3.3

Fitness – relaxation 3.0Socialization 0.7

Table I.Programs preferred andpurpose for using theprivate fitness centers

Gender groupsPub. Priv.

Age (years)Pub. Priv.

EducationPub. Priv.

(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

Males 12.00 50.95 , 19 16.7 7.8 Primary 5.4 0.4Females 88.00 49.05 20-29 36.1 59.4 Secondary 5.4 1.1

30-39 16.7 25.8 High school 37.8 27.140-49 26.4 5.1 Graduate 47.3 56.950-59 4.2 1.2 Postgraduate 4.01 4.5. 60 – 0.8

Table II.Demographiccharacteristics by type offitness centre

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centers. If a difference between group means was identified, Duncan’s multiple rangetests were performed to determine which means were significantly different at the 0.05and 0.01 level (“X” indicating a p value less than 0.05, and “XX” indicating a p valueless than 0.01).

ResultsDemographic profileThe customers who participated in this study were predominately women (f ¼ 195,57.7 percent), compared with men (f ¼ 143, 42.3 percent). Respondents’ ages rangedfrom 14 to 60 years, 78.1 percent of whom were aged 20-39 years (f ¼ 257). Most had ahigh school or university level of education (f ¼ 283, 84.3 percent) (Table II). Thesample was equally divided between light users (one to three times per week, 46.0percent) and heavy users (four to seven times per week, 46.9 percent). Theirmembership of the fitness centers ranged from fewer than two months (18.1 percent) tomore than two years (29.8 percent) (Table III).

Of total respondents, 62 percent used a fitness center on weekdays in the afternoon,74 percent spent 1-2 hours per visit, 32.7 percent exercised with weight-lifting, 28.9percent undertook aerobics, and 13.5 percent used a combination of weights andaerobic machines.

The reason for practising was for “fitness” (41.3 percent), “health” (16.2 percent),and “body weight balance” (8.7 percent).

Public and private centersData analysis comparing users of public and private fitness centers revealed thefollowing:

. The customers of the public fitness centers were predominately women (f ¼ 66,88.00 percent), compared with the private ones in which the genders were almostequally represented (men f ¼ 134, 50.95 percent; women f ¼ 129, 49.05 percent)(Table II).

. The age distribution of customers was significantly different between public andprivate facilities. Those aged more than 40 years represented almost one-third ofthe customers of public fitness centers (f ¼ 22, 30.6 percent), whereas this agegroup represented only 7.1 percent of the customers of private fitness centers(f ¼ 18) (Table II).

. All of the customers of public fitness centers stayed in the facility for fewer than2 hours (f ¼ 76, 100 percent) (Table IV), whereas a considerable proportion of theusers of private fitness centers stayed more than 2 hours (f ¼ 54, 20.3 percent)(Table V).

Length of membership % Frequency of use % Duration of use per visit (hours) %

, 2 months 18.1 , once a week 2.6 , 1 10.22-6 months 14.9 1-3 times a week 46.0 1-2 74.06-12 months 22.5 4-7 times a week 46.9 .2 15.81-2 years 14.6 Other 4.4. 2 years 29.8

Table III.Length of membership,

frequency of use andduration of use per visit

(percent of the totalsample)

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. Of the customers of private fitness centers, 14.5 percent had a postgraduatedegree (f ¼ 38), compared with only 4.0 percent of those who used public fitnesscenters (f ¼ 3) (Table II).

. Most public fitness-center customers had used the facilities for fewer than 12months (f ¼ 61, 80.3 percent) (Table IV), whereas almost half of the customers ofprivate fitness centers were members for more than one year (f ¼ 137, 51.5percent) (Table V).

. Most public fitness-center customers exercised one to three times per week(f ¼ 48, 64.0 percent) (Table IV), compared most private fitness-center customerswho exercised four to seven times per week (f ¼ 139, 52.3 percent) (Table V).

. Most public fitness-center customers preferred “aerobic” exercise (f ¼ 53, 69.7percent) (Table VI), in contrast to private-fitness center users who preferred“weight lifting” (f ¼ 103, 38.3 percent) (Table I).

. There was no difference between public and private fitness-center customers withregard to the specific hours at which they exercised. All respondents preferredweekday afternoons (f ¼ 59, 77.6 percent public, f ¼ 154, 57.2 percent private).

Programs % Motivation %

Aerobics 69.7 Fitness 44.7Weights 13.2 Health 21.0Aerobics-gymnastics 9.2 Fitness – weight control – relaxation 9.2Weights-aerobics 5.3 Weight control 6.6Gymnastics 2.6 Relaxation 5.3

Health – fitness 5.3Other 2.7Fitness – weight control 2.6Fitness – relaxation 2.6Socialization 0.0

Table VI.Programs preferred andpurpose for using thepublic fitness centers

Length of membership % Frequency of use % Duration of use per visit (hours) %

, 2 months 18.0 , once a week 2.2 , 1 hour 4.52-6 months 12.8 1-3 times a week 41.0 1-2 hours 75.26-12 months 17.7 4-7 times a week 52.3 .2 hours 20.31-2 years 17.3 Other 4.5. 2 years 34.2

Table V.Length of membership,frequency of use andduration of use per visit(percent of the privatefitness centers customers)

Length of membership % Frequency of use % Duration of use per visit (hours) %

, 2 months 18.4 , once a week 4 , 1 30.32-6 months 22.4 1-3 times a week 64 1-2 69.76-12 months 39.5 4-7 times a week 28 .2 –1-2 years 5.3 Other 4. 2 years 14.5

Table IV.Length of membership,frequency of use andduration of use per visit(percent of the publicfitness centers customers)

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. Both groups were primarily motivated by reasons of health (f ¼ 56, 16.2 percent)or fitness (f ¼ 143, 41.3 percent), or a combination of the two (f ¼ 26, 7.5 percent)(Tables I and VI).

Desirability of service quality“Cleanliness” was considered to be the most important aspect of service (n ¼ 344,M ¼ 4:81, SD ¼ 0:48), whereas the least important item was “provision of snack food”(n ¼ 343, M ¼ 2:44, SD ¼ 1:28) (Table VII).

With regard to the core service provided, the highest-ranked aspects were“professional knowledge” (n ¼ 344, M ¼ 4:64, SD ¼ 0:62), “responsibility” (n ¼ 344,M ¼ 4:60, SD ¼ 0:65), and “courtesy of employees” (n ¼ 344, M ¼ 4:52, SD ¼ 0:72).

Differences of customers’ expectations of service qualityTo determine whether Greek fitness-center customers had significantly differentexpectations of sport-service provision, Duncan’s multiple-range tests were performedfor each item comparing desired services by: gender; age; purpose in using the fitnesscenter; and the type of sport center (public or private).

Gender. A total of 13 statistically significant differences were found to exist betweenmales and females with regard to their expectations of service quality. Women desiredfitness centers with more available space, a convenient schedule, a variety of sports,programs differentiated in terms of play or goal attainment, a comprehensive brochure,and convenient access. With respect to employees’ attitudes, the desires of womendiffered from those of men in terms of staff courtesy, professional knowledge, anddissemination of clear instructions.

In contrast, men desired the provision of membership packages, the ability to meetother people and bring guests, and the provision of snacks (Table VIII).

Age. All age groups had much the same desires with respect to services provided.There was only one statistically significant difference identified. This concernedcustomers aged more than 60 years (an age group which represented only 0.6 percentof all customers) compared with those aged less than 60 years and their respectiveattitudes to the question of staff responsibility. Even though both age groups perceivedstaff responsibility to be necessary, older customers desired it more strongly(Table VIII).

Purpose. With respect to customer purpose in using fitness centers, differences werefound in four items:

(1) For those who used fitness centers for health and fitness, the provision ofsnacks was more important than it was for those who used the facility solely forsocialization.

(2) The provision of grooming necessities was more important to those who usedfitness centers for health and fitness than it was for those who used the facilitiesfor body weight control.

(3) The provision of programs for children was more desirable for those who usedfitness centers for all the reasons included in the questionnaire than it was forthose for whom the primary motivation was socialization.

(4) The interest of employees in customer progress was desirable for all groups,except for those who used the fitness centers for socialization (Table VIII).

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Type of fitness center. In the analysis of types of fitness center, differences wererevealed for six items. Customers of private fitness centers had a strong desire formodern facilities, staff members who were willing to help, services provided in aconsistent manner, security of personal belongings and the provision of membershippackages. In contrast, customers of public fitness centers expressed a stronger desirefor convenience in transportation to sport centers (Table VIII).

Item M SD n

1. Pleasant interior 4.45 0.75 3462. Modern facility 4.41 0.75 3453. Cleanliness 4.81 0.48 3444. Brightness 4.16 0.80 3445. Comfortable temperature in locker rooms 3.91 0.97 3466. Adequate space 4.41 0.74 3457. Comfortable temperature in the gym 4.40 0.82 3468. Willingness to help 4.50 0.75 3449. Courteous employees 4.52 0.72 344

10. Responsive to complaints 4.38 0.81 34511. Professional knowledge 4.64 0.62 34412. Responsibility 4.60 0.65 34413. Customer record-keeping 3.60 1.12 34514. Skills recognition 3.87 1.02 34515. Interested in customer progress 4.34 0.83 34416. Clear instructions 4.48 0.77 34417. Consistency 4.18 0.93 34118. Emergency procedures 4.52 0.78 34519. Safety measures 4.09 1.01 34520. Comprehensive brochure 4.01 0.90 34521. Convenient transportation to fitness center 3.92 1.13 34222. Instructions on how to use the facility 4.11 0.90 34623. Easy access to drinks 3.66 1.11 34524. Snack bar 2.44 1.28 34325. Convenient schedule 4.47 0.74 34426. Family program 3.50 1.23 34327. Children programs 3.11 1.20 34528. Customized programs 3.91 1.07 34229. Variety of sports 4.39 0.77 34530. Play, goal differentiation 4.25 0.81 34531. Easy to obtain membership 4.04 1.06 34032. Provision of membership packages 3.91 1.13 34433. Moderate fee 4.31 0.87 34434. No loss or damage to goods 4.28 1.01 34335. Privacy 4.11 0.99 34436. Ability to bring guests 3.26 1.33 34537. Opportunity to meet people 3.01 1.29 3.4338. Stimulation 4.23 0.87 34539. Grooming facilities provided 2.88 1.28 34640. Programs renewed 3.71 1.02 34341. Interaction among members 3.24 1.20 34242. Location near a shopping area 3.36 1.36 345

Table VII.Desired aspects of service

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DiscussionThe aim of this study was to identify the aspects of service deemed to be mostimportant by the customers of Greek fitness centers, and to examine whetherdemographic factors, motivation for use, and provision of services affect customers’expectations.

Item Gender Age Purpose Type of fitness center

1. Pleasant interior2. Modern facility ££3. Cleanliness4. Brightness5. Comfortable temperature in locker rooms6. Adequate space £7. Comfortable temperature in the gym8. Willingness to help £9. Courteous employees £

10. Responsive to complaints11. Professional knowledge ££12. Responsibility £13. Customer record-keeping14. Skills recognition15. Interested in customer progress ££16. Clear instructions £17. Consistency £18. Emergency procedures19. Safety measures20. Comprehensive brochure £21. Convenient transportation to fitness center £ ££22. Instructions on how to use the facility23. Easy access to drinks24. Snack bar ££ £25. Convenient schedule £26. Family program27. Children programs £28. Customized programs29. Variety of sports ££30. Play, goal differentiation ££31. Easy to obtain membership32. Provision of membership packages £ ££33. Moderate fee34. No loss or damage to gods £35. Privacy36. Ability to bring guests £37. Opportunity to meet people ££38. Stimulation39. Grooming facilities provided £40. Programs renewed41. Interaction among members42. Location near a shopping area

Notes: £ ¼ p , 0:05; ££ ¼ p , 0:01

Table VIII.ANOVA with Duncan’s

multiple range testsresults for existing

differences in theexpectations of service

provided by fitnesscenters

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The expectations of customers emphasized the importance of the physical elementsof service provision and of interaction with employees. The high scores for these itemssupported the findings of Papadimitriou and Karteroliotis (2000) who studiedcustomers’ expectations of 12 private sports and fitness centers in the city of Patras,Greece. In the present study, most of the items that referred to facilities, with theexception of the item examining the desirability of comfortable temperature in thelocker rooms (M ¼ 3:91), were considered to be “quite important” or “highlyimportant” by the majority of the customers. The items concerning employees’attitudes and interaction with customers were also considered to be important, with theexception of “customer record keeping” (M ¼ 3:60) and “skills recognition” (M ¼ 3:87).The items referring to safety issues also scored highly in terms of importance.

Customers’ were also concerned with the cost of participating and with theprogramming and scheduling of service delivery. Items such as “easy to obtainmembership”, “moderate fees”, “convenient schedule”, “variety of sports offered”, “playor goal differentiated programs” had a mean value above 4. These findings are inaccordance with the commonly accepted belief that people want an attractive workoutarea, personal attention, convenient programming, and reasonable cost. In contrast,items related to social opportunity (for example, “ability to bring guests”, “opportunityto meet people”, “interaction among members”, and “availability of family and childrenprograms”) were found to be less desirable (mean value less than 3.50), a finding whichis in agreement with the work of Kim and Kim (1995) and Papadimitriou andKarteroliotis (2000).

The second part of the analysis concerned how customers’ desires for serviceprovided by fitness centers are affected by certain factors. The results indicate thatgender is a significant factor in both the formulation of desires of service quality and indifferences in expectations with regard to service aspects.

In contrast, it can be argued that people in different age groups share the samedesires as far as quality of service provision is concerned. The above conclusion is inagreement with the findings of both studies conducted by Kim and Kim (1995, 1998)among Korean users of sports centers.

It can also be concluded that people with different motivations for using sportscenters expressed essentially the same desires. This conclusion is supported by the factthat, in three out of the four statistical differences noted, the group that differed fromthe others was that constituted by those whose primary reason for exercising was“socialization”. However, statistical analysis of the profile of fitness-centers customersshows that customers belonging to this group represent only a minor percentage(Tables VI and I). “Provision of grooming necessities” was the only significantdifference between the group who exercised for “health and fitness” and those who didso for “body weight control”. It can therefore be concluded that motivational patternsare not important in determining differences of item desirability.

With respect to the classification of fitness centers, the customers of private andpublic fitness centers differed in their desires regarding six of the 42 original items.The most significant differences concerned the desirability of “modern facilities”,“convenient access to the fitness centers”, and the “provision of membershippackages”. In general, the customers of public centers had lower expectationsregarding the quality of services provided. Indeed, of the six items in which significantdifferences were identified, “convenient access by transportation” was the only item

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that was desired more by customers of public fitness centers. This item was consideredto be quite important to highly important by customers of public centers (M ¼ 4:3) –which supports the findings of Kontou et al. (1999), who found that 74 percent of theusers of public sports facilities in the metropolitan area of the city of Serres (Greece)lived within one kilometer of the facilities and 61 percent of them spent only fiveminutes in traveling to the facilities. In contrast, customers of private centers weremore demanding in their desires than users of public centers – especially with regardto items that relate to service delivery. Significant differences in desires included thephysical aspects of facility (“modern facility”), the core service itself (“staff willingnessto help”, “consistency in service provision”) and privileges and ease of mind providedby the fitness centers (“membership packages”, “security of personal belongings”).Those who were members of private fitness centers exhibited higher expectations withrespect to the tangible elements of service provision, their interaction with thoseresponsible for providing the services, and elements that are only indirectly related toservice provision. This diversity of expectations among customers of private fitnesscenters is a reflection of the intense competition in this market. Private fitness centersneed to differentiate themselves by investing in both physical and human resources ifthey wish to satisfy their customers’ expectations and remain competitive.

Managerial implicationsAs discussed above, the most important variable affecting customers’ expectations isgender. Data analysis has shown that women have higher expectations of servicequality with respect to: the tangible elements of sports facilities; employees’ attitudesand skills; and program availability and delivery. Women are concerned with theavailability of adequate space when exercising – which implies that overcrowdedfacilities are likely to cause dissatisfaction among women. However, to minimize suchnegative experiences for women, managers should identify the programs and types ofexercise preferred by women and ensure that they have the necessary equipment andprogram arrangements to deliver such services.

Contrary to the findings of Kim and Kim (1998), who found that male customerswere more concerned with the behavior of employees, the present research revealedthat female customers of Greek fitness centers are conscious of employee behavior. Theitems most desired by women were “courtesy”, “professional ability”, and“dissemination of clear instructions”. Staff members who provide the services musttherefore be trained to be more courteous and responsive to their female customers.The difference between the genders with respect to desirability of two closely relateditems should be carefully noted. These items were “possession of professionalknowledge” (p , 0:01) and “dissemination of clear instructions” (p ¼ 0:014596). Bothitems were very important to female customers (M ¼ 4:71 and M ¼ 4:56 respectively).Recruitment, selection, and training of staff – especially for programs that targetfemale users – should be a high priority for management. Investment of time, effort,and resources on staff selection, recruitment, and continuous training is an investmentin the organization’s future success (Rogers and Chaytor, 1994).

Furthermore, female customers differ significantly with respect to “convenience ofschedule” and “access by transportation” (an attribute of service quality that mightrarely be handled by a facility’s management). The concern of women with respect toboth of these items might be due to the busy schedules that many women have in

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attempting to manage full-time work, childcare, and housekeeping responsibilities.The availability of payment schemes that allow for lower fees and charges dependingon the frequency of use might be an attractive measure to meet the desires of femalecustomers regarding convenience and value.

In addition, “provision of a variety of sports” and “availability of play orgoal-differentiation programs” were significantly desired more by women than men(p , 0:01). The programming and scheduling of activities thus requires considerationof the distinctive needs of target groups. Overlapping sessions of the activitiespreferred by women is likely to cause dissatisfaction, restrict the choices available, andminimize the value of the experience for this group.

Male customers were found to differ significantly in terms of the desirability of“provision of membership packages”, “ability to invite non-members”,“meeting otherpeople”, and “provision of snacks”. Although the first two items were significantlydifferent at only a p , 0:05 level, they are both of considerable importance to malecustomers (M ¼ 4:05 and M ¼ 3:46 respectively). In contrast, although the latter twowere significantly different at a p , 0:01 level, they had a lower score on thedesirability scale – with “opportunity to meet other people” having a mean value of3.24 and “provision of snacks” ranging in the middle of the “slightly important” to“important” interval (M ¼ 2:66). These differences would suggest that managersshould consider flexible membership packages that allow male customers to exercisewith their friends or members of their family, as well as promoting social activities thattarget male users. Such measures are likely to develop the social aspect of serviceprovision for males, and thus increase customer retention.

ConclusionsThe findings of the present research suggest that the aspects of service most desired bycustomers of fitness centers in Greece relate to the: tangible elements of the facilities;attitudes and abilities of staff members; cost of participation; and programming andscheduling of the services provided.

Gender and type of center affected customers’ desires. Fitness centers that wish toattract a large number of women should emphasize their programming and scheduling– recognizing that female customers have specific expectations and are likely to bemore critical of service personnel. Customers of private fitness centers exhibited higherexpectations (compared with customers of public facilities) in terms of both thetangible elements of the facilities and their interaction with the centers” employees.

The above findings are likely to assist the management of fitness centers in theirefforts to:

. obtain information systematically for identifying customers’ desires;

. take regular action to improve service delivery; and

. establish standards of performance to address the identified needs of customers.

However, further research is required to address the effect on customers’ desires ofother demographic variables and patterns of use – for example, educational levels andfrequency of participation. This will allow a more complete information package to beapplied in making marketing decisions. Further research is also required to examinecustomer’s expectations in other sport-related services (for example, outdoor sportactivities and spectator services), as well as in different cultural contexts.

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