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

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  • Woolf, Jules

Abstract

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

Suggested Citation

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

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    1. James M. Carman & Eric Langeard, 1980. "Growth strategies for service firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 7-22, January.
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    2. Tsai, Pei-Hsuan, 2020. "Strategic evaluation criteria to assess competitiveness of the service industry in Taiwan," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1287-1309.
    3. Sheikh Farhan Ashraf & Cai Li & Babak Mehmood, 2017. "A Study of Premium Price Brands with Special Reference to Willingness of Customer to Pay," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 7(7), pages 619-639, July.
    4. Yuanfei Guo & Mary FitzPatrick & Roy Larke, 2017. "Use of Digital Technologies in Consumer Fitness Practices: Insights from Service-Dominant Logic," International Conference on Marketing and Business Development Journal, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 8-14, July.
    5. Vera Pedragosa & Salvador Angosto & Celina Gonçalves, 2022. "Validity and Reliability of a Wearable Fitness Technology Scale in Portugal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-13, May.
    6. Manuel Jesús Baena-Arroyo & Jerónimo García-Fernández & Pablo Gálvez-Ruiz & Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana, 2020. "Analyzing Consumer Loyalty through Service Experience and Service Convenience: Differences between Instructor Fitness Classes and Virtual Fitness Classes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.

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