Dissertation. The consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s. membership. Kwok Sze Man. Student no:

Transcription

1 Dissertation The consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s membership Kwok Sze Man Student no:

2 Table of Contents Abstract Chapter 1 1. Introduction p.5-8 Chapter 2 2. Literature review.p Consumer behavior 2.2 Factors that affecting consumer decision making The Psychological Core: Internal Consumer Process Maslow's hierarchy of needs Decision making process The consumer s culture: external processes Social class influences Cultural influences Social influences 2.3 The marketing mix 2.4 Participation Patterns of Hong Kong People in Physical Activities Chapter 3 3. Methodology.p Primary data 3.2 Survey design 3.3 Per-test and pilot test 3.4 data collection 3.5 Target group 3.6 Sample 3.7 Statistical analysis 3.8 Secondary data 3.9 Limitation 2

3 Chapter 4 4. Result and Discussion..p Data presentation 4.2 Result and Discussion Chapter 5 5. Conclusions and Recommendations p Conclusions 5.2 Recommendations Reference..p Appendix A. SPSS Output B. Survey Questionnaire 3

4 Abstract Since there are many studies shows that exercise have good influence on health, it is important to raise the awareness of the general public. It is important to encourage people to exercise regularly. Participate in fitness center is one kind of way for people to exercise. According to the increase number of fitness, strategy should be developing to attract people s joining. Thus, the increase number of fitness center can benefit our society by raising people s participation of exercise. If fitness center can be well-develop, exercise will become more common around the society. It also helps to develop a healthy lifestyle for the society. In order to help fitness center to develop suitable strategy, it is important to find out consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s membership. 4

5 Chapter 1 1. Introduction Nowadays, health becoming more and more important amount the society. People tend to focus on their health more. How can we maintain and improve our health in our daily life? There are many studies and reports shows that exercise have good influence on health. Thomas (2006, p.2) state that many studies find that regular exercise is beneficial for both the prevention and treatment of hypertension, and can reduce cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Cade et al. demonstrated that an exercise program based on walking for three months induced a significant reduction in blood pressure in subjects with mild or moderate essential hypertension. The Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation (2009) released the city's first breast cancer registry report. It showed that 74 percent of female breast cancer sufferers exercised for less than three hours a week. These studies and reports do reflect exercise more can reduce the risk of having disease. To maintain and improve our health, Hong Kong people should put exercise in a part of their daily life. 5

6 On the other side, let look at the society. Did Hong Kong people get enough exercise? A consultancy study was commissioned by the Community Sports Committee (2009). It shows that nearly 80% of people state that they participate in sport for at least one time per week. But there is still 50% of Hong Kong people failed to meet the "baseline indicator" of physical activity level. That means they didn t exercise at least 30 minutes a day and three days a week with moderate or vigorous physical activities. By the recommendations guideline of National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE),US Center for Disease Control (USCDC) and US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) adults aged 20 or above should participate in moderate intensity physical activities for at least five times a week and for at least 30 minutes per day. For adolescents, moderate to vigorous intensity physical activities is needed at least three days a week and at least 20 minutes per time. For children, they should participate in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity five days a week and at least 60 minutes each time. To reduce the risk of having disease, the guideline is recommended for people to follow. Compare to the participation pattern and the recommendations guideline, Hong Kong people did not get enough exercise. If the sport participation of Hong Kong people keeps in this level, the risk of having disease cannot be reduced. It should be some way to raise people s participation rate in sport and exercise. 6

7 There are many new fitness centers come out recent years. Different brands of fitness center appear and advertisements are all around the city. No matter television, bus stop, magazine, outdoor banner or posters, advertisement of fitness center are everywhere. Is there any relationship between the numbers of fitness center and people s participation rate? Is there any influence to the participation rate of Hong Kong people if the number of fitness center increase? Since there are many studies shows that exercise have good influence on health, it is important to raise the awareness of the general public. It is important to encourage people to exercise regularly. Participate in fitness center is one kind of way for people to exercise. If a fitness center can develop a comprehensive strategy, more people will be attracted to join their center. The present of fitness center increase the chance and place for people to participate in exercise. There are many kind of exercise that people can do in the fitness center. Different facility and classes are arranged for different needs. Apart from people aged fewer than 18, nearly all people can join the membership of fitness center. In this research, it aims at finding out the consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s membership. To understand the behavior of the consumer, it enables the industry to make some improvement at their strategy. If it can find out how a person chooses to purchase a fitness center s membership, the 7

8 industry can develop a suitable strategy to attract people to join. According to the increase number of fitness, strategy should be developing to attract people s joining. Thus, the increase number of fitness center can benefit our society by raising people s participation of exercise. If fitness center can be well-develop, exercise will become more common around the society. It also helps to develop a healthy lifestyle for the society. 8

9 Chapter 2 2. Literature review 2.1 Consumer behavior Wayne et al (2010,p.3) state that Consumer behavior reflects the totality of consumers decisions with respect to the acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, activities, experience, people, and ideas by (human) decision-making units (over time). Consumer behavior is not only for tangible products, it also includes services, activities, experiences and ideas. It is a dynamic process that can involve many people. Such as making decision on purchasing a fitness center membership is a kind of intangible product. Consumer behavior covers four basic domains, it included the psychological core, the process of making decision, the consumer s culture and consumer behavior outcomes and issues. Before a people design to buy one thing, they will go through the four domains. Wayne et al (2010,p.10) For example, to make decision that affect outcomes like buying new products, consumer must first engage in processes described in psychological core. They need to motivated, able, and have the opportunity to exposed to, perceive, and attend to information. They need to think about this information, develop attitudes about it, and form memories. The consumer s culture also affect the psychological core, it affect what motivates consumer and how they process the information. Factors 9

10 like age, gender, social, ethnicity, family, friends will affect consumer values and lifestyles. Thus, the factors affect how consumer making the decisions. In the case of purchasing fitness center membership is also the same. Consumer s culture like age, gender, social, ethnicity, family, friends, values and lifestyles will affect consumer s decision. If we want to find out a strategy to get more customer, we should find out is there any relationship between consumer s culture and their decision. For example, if it can find out that the middle class are more willing to spent on fitness center, we can develop suitable strategy to focus on that group of people. 10

11 2.2 Factors that affecting consumer behavior The Psychological Core: Internal Consumer Process For the Psychological Core, there is a Internal Consumer Process that affecting a person s behavior. Before a person makes his decision, there must be some source of information in his mind that he can base on. These sources can be motivation, ability opportunity, exposure and perception. For example, if someone never joins any fitness center before, his perception also can help him to make decision. Everyone have perception to everything. The perception can affect by the information they get. Such as a fitness center that has many advertisements, most of the people will know about this fitness center. To compare with less advertisement one, people will tends to join the well-know one. That is because they get more information from the well-know one. This information gives them a good perception, so they can make a choice. 11

12 Maslow's hierarchy of needs In the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, there are total five hierarchies. The lowest hierarchy is the Biological and physiological needs. The second hierarchy is the safety needs, the third hierarchy is belongings and love needs, the forth hierarchy is the esteem needs and the last hierarchy is the self-actualization. In fact, everyone is motivated by needs since they born. Our most basic needs are inborn. The Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs helps to explain how our needs motivate us. The theory in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs shows that we must satisfy with the basic 12

13 life needs to survive. Only when the lower hierarchy of needs was satisfied we can start concerning the higher hierarchy of needs, thus at the end having self-actualization. Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower hierarchy of needs had been taken away, we can no longer concern about the maintenance of the higher hierarchy of needs. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs can also apply to the consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s membership. Purchasing a fitness center s membership is a kind of esteem needs. We cannot concern these kinds of needs when our basic needs cannot satisfy. The target consumer of the fitness center must able to satisfy their basic needs, such as life needs and safety needs. 13

14 Decision making process In the decision making process, there are five stages. The first stage is problem recognition and the second stage is search for information, the third sage is evaluation of alternatives, the fourth stage is purchase and the last stage is making post- decision evaluations. Whenever we decided to make a decision, the decision making process is working to figure out the decision. The buying process starts with need recognition. At this stage, the buyer recognizes a problem or need (e.g. I am hungry) or responds to a marketing stimulus (e.g. you pass food court and are attracted by the aroma of the food). A consumer will decide how much they require for a product or service before 14

15 making decision. If the need is strong and there is a product or service that closely meets their needs, then a purchasing decision can be made. If not, then the process of information searching will begin. There are various sources that consumer can get information, they are personal sources, commercial sources, public sources and experiential sources. Personal sources can be family, friends or neighbors. Commercial sources can be advertising, salespeople, retailers, dealers, packaging and point-of-sale displays. Public sources can be newspapers, radio, television, consumer organizations and specialist magazines. Experiential sources can obtain from handling, examining or using the product. These sources of information have different effect with different consumer and product. Thing that marketing team needs to do is to identify which kind of information sources are most influential for their target markets. The final stage of the model is the post-purchase evaluation. It is common for customers will use experience to make purchase decision. Consumer will change their decision after they got an experience. After buying a product, if they feel that an alternative product is better they will switch brands. They may not repurchase immediately, but will consider for other choice next time. With the post-purchase stage, marketing strategy should be developing to persuade consumer, let they know how the product satisfy their needs. Then after having made a purchase, strategy should be develop to let customer feel they get the right thing. 15

16 2.2.2 The consumer s culture: external processes The external factors that affect the consumer behavior include social class influences, cultural, personality, lifestyles and Social influences Social class influences In the Social classes system, Justin (2010, p.383) different lifestyle correlate with different levels of social prestige, and certain products often become a symbols of a type of lifestyle. In the social class, members usually share same values, interest and behavior. Different people of different status will get different feeling on a product. Thus, it is important to find out the relationship between social class and purchasing behavior. Then, different strategy can be developing to suit different group s needs. For example, if we find out people which is in high-economic status tends to care about the quality instead of price. We can provide them with high quality service with high price. What needs to do is to focus on what they want and make it to be the selling point. 16

17 Cultural influences Culture is an essential element in the society. Values is one underlying element in cultural. A culture can be dived into many basis: demographic characteristics, geographic region, ethnic background and so on. Charles et al (2009). Values are powerful influences on consumer behavior. Values always influence consumer at two ways. The first one is values become an important goal to be achieve, then it influence consumer consumption pattern. The second one is values become a moral standard which an object consider to be right, fair and appropriate in life. C.P Rao (2006). When the culture of a society changed, people s behavior will change with it. For example, the society started to promote a healthy life-style. There are many related program release at the society, this program will influence people s behavior gradually Social influences Social influences are always from reference groups, opinion leader and family. consumer may use product or brands to identity with or become a member of a reference group. Opinion leaders are members of the reference groups who influence others purchase decision. Family members also influence purchase decision, 17

18 children tends to shop on similar pattern as their parents. Charles et al,(2009, P ) A person s behavior can always influence by other people, especially who are close to their life. Most often it can see in the family, usually the behavior of the family member is similar. 2.3 The marketing mix In the marketing mix, there are 4Ps (Product, price, place and promotion). The 4Ps help to understand the promotion efficiency of the association. Gronroos(2002) explains the limits of marketing mix way of thinking about the marketing needs of a business. Efforts have been made to elaborate usefully the 4P framework to better deal with the managerial problems of service business. 18

19 Product From Wikipedia Product is a tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. In a fitness center, the tangible products can be the treadmill, dumbbell, bar bell and muscle training machine. The intangible products can be the service provide for customer. Price From Wikipedia The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. In the fitness center, the customer needs to pay for membership to join and use the service. Place From Wikipedia Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet.. For fitness center, it usually have many branches locate at different places. Promotion From Wikipedia Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer 19

20 may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements: advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Sponsorship is another way that they promote their association. From Wikipedia, to sponsor something is to support an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services as part of brand identification and marketing. A sponsor is the individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor. Crimmins & Horn (1996)"sponsorship improves the perception of a brand by flanking our beliefs about the brand and linking the brand to an event or organization that the target audience already values highly" For fitness center, they also use advertment as the promotion method. Usually they advertise at television, magazine or promotion banner. 2.4 Participation Patterns of Hong Kong People in Physical Activities A consultancy study was commissioned by the Community Sports Committee in The study aims at find out the participation patterns of Hong Kong people in Physical Activities. The study shows that 60% of the respondents had participated in sports for at least once in three months. The study had successfully interviewed more than respondents; it found that male participation rate in sports is 68.4%, slightly higher 20

21 than the 62.9% for female. The survey also shows that the sport participation rate dropped with age. For the frequency of sports participation, most of the respondents (80.3%) indicate that they had participated in sports for at least once per week. A small part of the respondents indicated that they had participated in sports three times or more per week. The survey shows that the first three famous sports for Hong Kong people are jogging (13.8%), swimming (13.2%) and badminton (10.1%). For the site of participation, 60% of the respondents use facilities of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) or other government departments. When people consider participating in a sport, the first thing they will consider is "interest". The other two considerations are "keeping fit/health" and "time available". On the other hands, "facilities" and "cost" were not important to consider. Nearly half of the respondents (46.9%) shows that they participate in sports with friends/ neighbors, 40.8% of them participate alone and the rest participate with classmates. Apart from sport participation pattern, the study also study on participation in physical activities. "Physical activities" refers to all physical activities that consume energy. Daily activities including walking, housework or job-related manual work, can count as physical activities. Sports which require physical exertion and skills which can improve health and physique are also count as physical activities. The study found that over 50%of the Hong Kong people failed to meet the "baseline 21

22 indicator" of physical activity level. To meet the "baseline indicator", people need to do exercise at least 30 minutes a day and three days a week with moderate or vigorous physical activities. "Moderate intensity activities" refer to physical activities that can speed up a person s breathing and heart rate slightly. This kind of exercise cause mild sweating for participant but will not make them exhausted. People can still talk smoothly in this state. Examples of this exercise are brisk walk, jogging, walking stairs, slow cycling or dancing. The main reasons for the respondents to participate in physical activities are "keeping fit/health" (35.9%), "interest" (12.9%) and "physical activities/sports is a habit in daily life" (11.6%). The reasons for not participating in physical activities are "no spare time due to work/study" (30.7%), "tired" (17.5%) and "lazy" (14.6%). The study also found, younger who aged 7 to 12 and elderly aged 60 or above think that they had enough physical activities. However, if measured by the "baseline indicator", only 48.6% of the people can pass. It showed that self-evaluation and objective assessment is different. From the information of LCSD, the consultancy study "Sport for All - Participation Patterns of Hong Kong People in Physical Activities" a household survey was conducted in April The survey was carried out from May 22 to July 10, 2008 (first phase), followed by other carried out from September 2 to October 19, 2008 (second phase).more than people were successfully interviewed. Of the total 22

23 respondents, 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female, matching the gender distribution of Hong Kong's population. The result of the study is reliable to consult. To understand the Participation Patterns of Hong Kong People in Physical Activities, many useful information we can get. It shows how people consider participate in sport, also the main reason for joining. The study also shows a large part of people like to participate in sports with friends or neighbors. This information can help with the study on the fitness center. These kind of factors can also apply to the questionnaire, find out are those factors influence the fitness center s membership. 23

24 Chapter 3 3. Methodology Methodology can identify the principles about the design, collection, processing and analysis of the survey. In order to carry out the research of consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s membership, primary and secondary data needs to be collect and analysis. In the methodology, the method of collecting the data needs to be figure out. 3.1 Primary data Primary data is a original research done to answer current question for a specific operation. These kinds of data are usually very pertinent to an individual operation but may not be applicable to other situations. Robert (2010, P. 72) state that primary data can provide solid real-life information and a practical foundation to be used in the decision- making process. Primary data usually generate for a specific purpose when the information is not available elsewhere. It is normal to search for secondary data before engaging in a primary data collection process. Primary data can obtain by observation, surveys and experiments. The appropriate method will depend on the objective of your research and the design of the research. Research method can divide into two main types: quantitative and qualitative research. In this research, 24

25 quantitative research is selected to find out the consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s membership. Danlel (2004, p.1) Aliaga and Gunderson (2002) describe what we mean by quantitative research very well: Quantitative research is Explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analyzed using mathematically based methods (in particular statistics). 3.2 Survey design The objective of this research is to identify the consumer behavior on purchasing a fitness center s membership. In this case, the factors that affect people to purchase are needed to know. Factors such as environmental factor and individual factors should be analyzed quantitatively. In the survey, multiple perspectives questions were designed to identify factors that influence consumer s purchasing behavior. The questionnaires are all self-administered and complete by paper-and-pencil survey technique. The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first part asks about factors that affect the decision for joining a fitness center. The second part asks about factors that affect the participation in fitness center. The last part is personal information. There are total 34 questions in the questionnaire; the first part contains 8 questions, the second part contains 22 questions and the last part contains 4 questions. The questionnaires have two versions, Chinese and English version. The Chinese version questionnaire was 25

26 used to do the survey as it is easier to understand by the interviewee. 3.3 Pre-test and pilot test Pre-tests of the questionnaires and pilot tests of survey procedures provide an opportunity to identify any problems with question wording or other aspects of the questionnaire as well as the planned arrangements for performing the survey. Such tests allow corrections or adjustments to be made before the main data collection effort. Biggs(2009, p.58) Per-Test Biggs (2009) state that the purpose of per-test a questionnaire is to make sure the questionnaire is easy to ask by interviewer, clear to understand by interviewee and produce the information needed. Per-test allow the researcher make correction to the questionnaire, thus make sure the most suitable data can obtain from the survey. Per-test procedure Before the research start, a per-test was conducted with the questionnaire. The per-test targeted on students at Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Chai Wan) in early November The study helps to examine the questions of the research 26

27 questionnaire. The total number of participants involve in the study contains twenty people. There are ten males and ten females. This group of participants was asked to complete the same questionnaire again after a week. The results of the questionnaire were being comparing and analysis to make sure it is high in reliability. Pilot test Pilot studies serve some of the same functions as prior research, but they can be focused more precisely on your own concern and theories. You can design pilot studies specifically to test your ideas or methods and explore their implications, or to inductively develop grounded theory. Maxwell(2005, P.56-57) To develop a more appropriate instrument to test the variables for this study, pilot study is needed. Pilot test procedure Before the research start, a pilot study was conducted. The pilot study targeted on students at Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Chai Wan) in early November The study helps to examine the questions of the research questionnaire. The total number of participants involve in the study contains twenty 27

28 people. There are ten males and ten females. The data obtains from the study are all usable, no data is missing and excluded from the analysis. 3.4 Data collection The data of the research will be collected in five months. The primary data of the survey will be collected between December and January. The participants involve in the research had screened by researcher to consider if they met the sampling specification which is 18 years old or above. 3.5 Target group The target group of this survey was randomly select at Mong Kok. The target will include both male and female, because both gender of people have chance to purchase the fitness center membership. To do the survey at Mong Kok is because Mong Kok has many different fitness centers. People at Mong Kok may more familiar with the adverting of different fitness center. The consumer of the fitness center there is also high in number. These factors can affect the result of the survey; data become more reliable when people are familiar with the object. 3 28

29 .6 Sampling The sampling method that use in the research is random sampling. Random sampling sometimes is called probability sampling. Sample will be randomly select in the population. There is one specification in the sampling, the participants must be 18 years old or above. It is because most of the fitness center only allow people aged 18 or above to join their membership. 3.7 Statistical analysis To be scientific, all data gain from the survey will analysis by excel and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Before sending out the questionnaire, every questionnaire will be given a code. These coding can help to avoid missing data, also is easily for collect, count and enter the survey results. 3.8 Secondary data Secondary data is data that had already been collect by some source. It is usually available for the public. It can be books, journals, newspaper and reports. Secondary data are easier and cheaper to develop than primary data. 29

30 3.9 Limitation The main limitation of the research is the time, there are only five months for the research to conduct. Fewer samples can be select to complete the survey, so the sample size is relative small. If the time of the research can be longer, the sample size can be larger and the result of the survey will be more reliable. Although, the sample size is relative small, the result can still reflect a part of purchasing behavior of fitness center s membership. Improvement can be done in this industry to make people have a healthy life style. 30

31 Chapter 4 4. Results and Discussion 4.1 Data presentation In the questionnaire, there are three parts. In the first part, question focus on factors that affect people s decision to join a fitness center. The second part focuses on factors that affect the participation in fitness center. The last part is personal information. There are total 34 questions in the questionnaire. Part 1 There are totally eight questions in this part. Figure 1.1 With the factor of maintain health, most of the respondents (36%) reflects it is very true that maintain health is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness 31

32 center. A large part (30%) of respondents reflects that is relatively true. 17% of respondents reflect neutral to it, 14% of respondents reflect that is not really true and only 3% of respondents reflect that is not true at all. Figure 1.2 With the factor of lose weight, most of the respondents (59%) reflects it is very true that lose weight is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness center. Secondly 17 % of respondents reflect that is relatively true. 14 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 10 % of respondents reflect that is not really true and there is no one reflect that is not true at all. 32

33 Figure 1.3 With the factor of muscle training, most of the respondents (39%) reflect it is relatively true that muscle training is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness center. Secondly 22 % of respondents reflect that is not really true. 20 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 17 % of respondents reflect that is very true and there is only 2 % of respondents reflect that is not true at all. 33

34 Figure 1.4 With the factor of maintain good body shape, most of the respondents (72%) reflects it is very true that maintain good body shape is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness center. Secondly 17 % of respondents reflect that is relatively true. 6 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 3 % of respondents reflect that is not really true and only 2 % of respondents reflect that is not true at all. 34

35 Figure 1.5 With the factor of know more friends, most of the respondents (39%) reflects it is not true at all that maintain good body shape is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness center. Secondly 32 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 25 % of respondents reflect that is not really true, 3 % of respondents reflect that is relatively true and only 1 % of respondents reflect that is very true. 35

36 Figure 1.6 With the factor of hobby, most of the respondents (39 %) reflect it is very true that hobby is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness center. Secondly 27 % of respondents reflect that is relatively true. 13 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 11 % of respondents reflect that is not really true, also 2 % of respondents reflect that is not true at all. 36

37 Figure 1.7 With the factor of participate with friends or families, most of the respondents (38 %) reflect it is relatively true that participate with friends or families is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness center. Secondly 28 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 18 % of respondents reflect that is very true, 10 % of respondents reflect that is not true at all and 6 % of respondents reflect that is not really true. 37

38 Figure 1.8 With the factor of go to gym become a trend, most of the respondents (38 %) reflect it is not really true that go to gym become a trend is a factor which will affect their decision to join a fitness center. Secondly 31 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 22 % of respondents reflects that is not true at all, 7 % of respondents reflect that is relatively true, only 2 % of respondents reflect that is very true. 38

39 Part 2 The second part contains total 22 questions. The questions focus on factors that affect the participation in fitness center. Figure 2.1 With the factor of brand of the center, most of the respondents (40%) reflect that brand of the center is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 20 % of respondents reflect neutral to this factor. 19% of respondents reflect that is not important, 9% of respondents reflect that is not really important and 8 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 39

40 Figure 2.2 With the factor of center is easy to access, most of the respondents (36%) reflect that center is easy to access is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 28 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 17% of respondents reflect neutral to it, 16 % of respondents reflect that is not important and only 3 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 40

41 Figure 2.3 With the factor of low price to get the membership, most of the respondents (39%) reflect that low price to get the membership is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 19 % of respondents reflect neutral to it. 18% of respondents reflect that is not important, 13 % of respondents reflect that is not really important and 11 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 41

42 Figure 2.4 With the factor of large space for member to use, most of the respondents (43%) reflect that large space for member to use is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 21 % of respondents reflect that is not important. 20% of respondents reflect that is really important, 14 % of respondents reflect neutral to it and only 2 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 42

43 Figure 2.5 With the factor of long business hours, most of the respondents (41%) reflect that a long business hour is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 18 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 17% of respondents reflect that is not important, 14 % of respondents reflect neutral to it and 10 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 43

44 Figure 2.6 With the factor of up to date equipment, most of the respondents (57%) reflect up to date equipment is a neutral factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 26 % of respondents reflect that is important. 12% of respondents reflect that is not important, only 3 % of respondents reflect that is not really important and 2 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 44

45 Figure 2.7 With the factor of fully-equipped center, most of the respondents (59%) reflect that fully-equipped center is a really important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 19 % of respondents reflect that is important. 14% of respondents reflect neutral to it, 8% of respondents reflect that is not important and none of respondents reflect that is not really important. 45

46 Figure 2.8 With the factor of well maintained equipment, a large part of the respondents (68%) reflect that well maintained equipment is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 23 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 9% of respondents reflect that is really important and none of respondents reflect that is not important or not really important. 46

47 Figure 2.9 With the factor of enough supporting facilities, most of the respondents (47%) reflect that enough supporting facilities are an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 26 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 14 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 11 % of respondents reflect that is not important and only 2 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 47

48 Figure 2.10 With the factor of various fitness classes to choose, most of the respondents (41 %) reflect that various fitness classes to choose is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 19 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 17 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 16 % of respondents reflect that is not important and only 7 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 48

49 Figure 2.11 With the factor of tight time table of class, most of the respondents (32%) reflect that tight time table of class is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 26 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 14 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 11 % of respondents reflect that is not important and only 2 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 49

50 Figure 2.12 With the factor of high quality fitness coach or instructor, most of the respondents (49%) reflect that high quality fitness coach or instructor is a neutral factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 19 % of respondents reflect that is not important. 17 % of respondents reflect that is important, 9 % of respondents reflect that is really important and 6 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 50

51 Figure 2.13 With the factor of enough advertisement, most of the respondents (32%) reflect that enough advertisement is a really important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 25 % of respondents reflect that is important.19 % of respondents reflect neutral to it, 13 % of respondents reflect that is not really important and 11 % of respondents reflect that is not important. 51

52 Figure 2.14 With the factor of present of brand spokesman, large part of the respondents (68%) reflect that present of spokesman is a not really important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 11 % of respondents reflect neutral to it. 8 % of respondents reflect that is not important, 7 % of respondents reflect that is really important and 6 % of respondents reflect that is important. 52

53 Figure 2.15 With the factor of large number in branches, a large part of the respondents (69 %) reflect that large number in branches is a really important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 22 % of respondents reflect that is important, 9 % of respondents reflect neutral to it. None of respondents reflect that is not important or not really important. 53

54 Figure 2.16 With the factor of various packages for membership, most of the respondents (40%) reflect that various package for membership is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 26 % of respondents reflect neutral to it. 22 % of respondents reflect that is not important, 6 % of respondents reflect that is not really important and other 6 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 54

55 Figure 2.17 With the factor of the attitude of the staff, most of the respondents (42%) reflect that the attitude of the staff is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 33 % of respondents reflect that is really important. 22% of respondents reflect neutral to it, only 2 % of respondents reflect that is not important and only 1 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 55

56 Figure 2.18 With the factor of center is tidy and clean, most of the respondents (53 %) reflect that center is tidy and clean is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 20 % of respondents reflect neutral to it. 14 % of respondents reflect that is really important, 13 % of respondents reflect that is not important and none of respondents reflect that is not really important. 56

57 Figure 2.19 With the factor of different kind of special offer, most of the respondents (35%) reflect that different kind of special offer is an important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 25 % of respondents reflect neutral to it. 17 % of respondents reflect that is not important, 14 % of respondents reflect that is not really important and 9 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 57

58 Figure 2.20 With the factor of chance of trial, most of the respondents (32%) reflect that chance of trail is a really important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 25 % of respondents reflect neutral to it. 23 % of respondents reflect that is important, 13 % of respondents reflect that is not important and only 7 % of respondents reflect that is not really important. 58

59 Figure 2.21 With the factor of easy and convenient to register, large part of the respondents (56%) reflect that easy and convenient to register is a neutral factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 26 % of respondents reflect that is important. 16 % of respondents reflect that is important, only 2 % of respondents reflect that is really important and none of respondents reflect that is not really important. 59

60 Figure 2.22 With the factor of well organized security facilities, nearly one-third of the respondents (77%) reflect that well organized security facilities is a really important factor which will affect their participation for a fitness center. Secondly, 16 % of respondents reflect that is important. 7 % of respondents reflect neutral to it; none of the respondents reflect that is not important or not really important. 60

61 Part 3 The last part is for personal information. This part contains 4 questions. Figure 3.1 The survey successfully interview 120 people. Amoung the respondents, 50 % are male and 50% are female. Thus, it have 60 male and 60 female in the survey. Figure

62 For the age of the respondents, there is 44% of respondents aged 34 or above. 43% of them aged 29 to 33, 11% of them aged and 2% of them aged The large part of respondents aged 29 or about. Figure 3.3 One of the personal information is education level. Amoung the 120 respondents, nearly all (90 %) are graduate from tertiary or university. There are 9% of them graduate from secondary school. Only 1 % of them graduate form master degree. None of them is in primary education level. 62

63 Figure 3.4 For the personal income, most of the respondents (54 %) have monthly income of $ 8000 to $ Secondly, 28 % of the respondents have monthly income of $ 4000 to $ For the other, 18 % of respondents have monthly income of $12000 to $ None of the respondents have monthly income of $ 0 to $ 3999 or $ or above. 63

64 4.2 Results and Discussions Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation F4. Maintain good body shape F2. Lose weight F1. Maintain health F6. Hobby F7. Participate with friends/families F3. Muscle training F8. Go to gym become a trend F5. Know more friends Valid N (listwise) 120 The above table shows the factors that affect people s decision to join a fitness center with descending order of mean. Form the table, the factor of maintain good body shape has the highest mean (M=4.54). That means maintain good body shape is the most important factor that affects people s decision to join a fitness center. For the other factors, lose weight (M= 4.25), maintain health (M= 3.81) and hobby (M=3.71) 64

65 are also important factors need to focus in descending order. On the other side, the factor that has the lowest mean is know more friends (M = 2.02). That means know more friends is not an important factor to affect people s decision to join a fitness center. Compare to the other factors, muscle training (M= 3.46) and go to gym become a trend (M= 2.30) is relatively not important to consider. Maintain good body shape; lose weight, maintaining health and hobby are important factors that affect people decision for joining a gym. This result is influence by the culture, in the society the appearance is a very important factor that affects our life. Also healthy life-style becomes more and more important to our life too. These factors is more important that our own hobby when design to join a gym. 65

66 Descriptive Statistics N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Q22. Well organized security facilities Q15. Large number in branches Q7. Fully-equipped centre Q17. The attitude of the staff Q8. Well maintained equipment Q9. Enough supporting facilities Q2. Center is easy to access Q18. Center is tidy and clean Q20. Chance for trial Q4. Large space for member to use Q13. Enough advertisement Q10. Various fitness classes to choose Q5. Long business hours Q1. Brand of the center Q16. Various package for membership

67 Q3. Low price to get the membership Q11.Tight time table of class Q6. Up to date equipment Q19. Different kind of special offer Q12. High quality fitness coach/ instructor Q21. Easy and convenient to register Q14. Present of brand spokesman Valid N (listwise) 120 The above table shows the factors that affect people s participation in fitness center with descending order of mean. Form the table, the factor of well organized security facilities has the highest mean (M=4.69). That means well organized security facilities is the most important factor that affects people s participation in fitness center. For the other factors, large number in branches (M= 4.60), fully-equipped centre (M= 4.30) and the attitude of the staff (M= 4.03) are also with high mean with more the four. On the other side, the factor that has the lowest mean is present of brand spokesman (M = 1.74). That means present of brand spokesman is not an important factor to affect people s participation in fitness center. Compare to the other factors, up to date equipment (M= 3.10), different kind of special offer (M= 3.08), high quality fitness coach or instructor (M= 3.04), easy and convenient to 67

68 register (M= 2.93) is also relatively not important to consider. 68

69 The result of the survey shows that the most important factors that affect people s participation in fitness center is well organized security facilities. It is very important to provide well organized security facilities for customer, this facilities can let customer feel relieved to use the service. If the center work poor with security customer will not pay to take the risk. Large number in branches is important because all people want to have convenience service. Fully-equipped centre and attitude of the staff are important because people always want to pay to have best service. Compare to the other factors, up to date equipment, different kind of special offer, high quality fitness coach or instructor, easy and convenient to register is also relatively not important to consider. It is because if the service of fitness center is good, customer will satisfy with it even the equipment is not in very high quality. Also, fitness coach or instructor is not essential for everyone. People will not mind to spent more time on register, if they know they can get good service after register. 69

70 Independent Sample T-test Independent Sample T-test is the most common t test. The test is use to compare the means of two independent sample on a given variable. For example, if you want to compare the average height of 10 male and 10 female, you would use the independent sample t test. (Urdan, 2005) Part 1 At the below is the result of Independent Sample T-test to see whether there are relationship between gender and the factors that affect people s decision to join a fitness center. Group Statistics Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean F2. Lose weight Male Female F3. Muscle training Male Female F4. Maintain good body shape Male Female

71 Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Std. Error Sig. Differenc F Sig. t df (2-tailed) Mean Difference e Lower Upper F2. Lose weight Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed F3. Muscle training Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed F4. Maintain good body shape Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed