A Proposal of Service Attributes and Performance Indicators for Fitness Centers

Abstract

In recent years, fitness and health club industry has grown in Brazil. Thus, there is an increasing competition among different organizations. Thereafter, a lot of health clubs, managed mostly by Physical Education professionals, are being pressured by executives of franchises with resources to control the market. Therefore this study aims to propose relevant service attributes and performance indicators from the perspective of health club managers, professionals and customers in order to improve the competitiveness and development of companies. For this, we conducted a research with managers, customers and employees of three fitness centers in Florianópolis, SC, measuring 31 service attributes of fitness centers. The performance indicators were evaluated only by managers. Data were collected in May 2016. We concluded that it is necessary to contextualize the attributes and indicators for each company. Regarding the attributes, we suggest further research on the topic, but it is possible to conclude that customers play a major role about them. About the performance indicators, we found that managers need to improve the use of them, so it is required a change of behavior to ensure this kind of business survival.