Prelims

Half Title Page

The Global Private Health & Fitness Business

The Global Private Health & Fitness Business: A Marketing Perspective

Edited by

Jerónimo García-Fernández

University of Seville, Spain

and

Pablo Gálvez-Ruiz

Valencian International University, Spain

BeOne Fitness & Sports, Spain

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2021

Copyright © 2021 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80043-851-4 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-850-7 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80043-852-1 (Epub)

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

FIGURES

TABLES

About the Editors (Editor Biographies)

Jerónimo García-Fernández, Associate Professor in Sports Science at the University of Seville. Currently, he is a Professor and Researcher in the Physical Education and Sport Department at the University of Seville, Spain, where he teaches Bachelor and Master level courses in sport management and marketing. He is a member of Fitbe Spin-off, a Start-up focussed on consumer management in fitness centres. He has published more than 80 articles indexed in international journals as well as various book chapters. His main research topic are sport management, sport technology, fitness apps, customer loyalty and satisfaction at fitness services.

Pablo Gálvez-Ruiz holds a PhD in Physical Education from the University of Málaga. Currently, he is a Professor and Researcher at Valencian International University, Spain and Club Manager in BeOne Fitness & Sport. His research is primarily focussed on sports management, specifically quality of service, consumer behaviour, satisfaction, customer loyalty, job satisfaction and organisational culture. He contributes substantially to literature on low-cost fitness centre, and he has published articles in such journals as Sport Management Review, International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship, Economic Research, Sport in Society, Sustainability, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, and Current Psychology.

About the Contributors

R. Algar is the Managing Director of Oxygen Consulting, a UK-based company that provides strategic insight for organisations connected to the global health and fitness industry. He is a long-term strategic adviser to organisations whose everyday mission is to help people to experience the benefits of a healthier and more physically active life. He has an MBA from the University of Surrey, MA Marketing from the University of Greenwich and a BA in Sports Psychology from the University of Kent.

J. Almazán del Pozo is a Doctoral student of Social Sciences. He did Master’s degree in Management and Organization of Sports Activities at the University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain and Bachelor’s degree in Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. He is also Reviewer and Evaluator of the journal PRAXIS of the University of Magdalena.

N. Almohaimeed is an Independent Participation and Engagement Consultant. He is an experienced management consultant with an exposure to the sports, culture and lifestyle industries. For the past 10 years, he has assisted government, right holders, organisations and private entities in the areas of growth strategy, mass participation and public engagement both in Saudi Arabia and internationally.

D. J. F. Anderson is a PhD student in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. His main research focusses are sport fandom and sport/fitness consumer behaviour. He is particularly interested in esports with regard to event attendance, viewership, spending and social media usage.

P. Aparicio-Chueca is an Associate Professor in the Business Department of the University of Barcelona. She is the Director of the Master’s degree in Sport Business Management at the same university. Her major research areas are healthy economy, sports management and innovations and education research.

M. K. Azami is a PhD student at the University of Kurdistan, Iran with valid degrees of coaching sport for all, printing prestigious assignments in the field of sport for all, sport marketing related to the cause and social marketing.

S. Balhadj is an Associate Professor at the National School of Commerce and Management in Abdelmalek Essaadi University. He teaches human resources management and entrepreneurship, which are his major research areas.

A. Batrakoulis is the recipient of four fitness industry awards (2021 PFP Trainer of the Year, 2020 NSCA Personal Trainer of the Year, 2019 IDEA China Fitness Innovator and 2018 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year). He is a global fitness educator presenting in over 40 different countries and is preparing to earn a PhD in Exercise Physiology from the University of Thessaly, Greece.

F. Bastos is an Associate Professor at University of São Paulo and an Advisor of Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Postgraduate Program. She holds a Doctorate in Education at University of São Paulo. She is the Leading Researcher of the Group of Studies and Research in Sport Management and of the Laboratory of Management, Policies, Marketing and Communication in Sport and Physical Education.

D. Duclos-Bastias holds a PhD in Sports Science from the University of Valencia and Master’s in Sports Management from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the School of Physical Education and Head of Sports at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. He is also the member of the Latin American Association of Sports Management affiliated to World Association for Sport Management (WASM).

K. Ebada is Professor of Weightlifting Training at Faculty of Physical Education and Vice-Dean of Faculty Management Technology and Information Systems at Port Said University. He is the Head Coach for Egyptian Team Blind powerlifters, the member of editorial board and reviewer in international scientific journals and the member of permanent committee for promotion of university professors.

A. Elasri-Ejjaberi is a Lecturer-professor of Business at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. She teaches strategy and change management courses in the Faculty of Economics and Business. Her research interests lie in the areas of sports management, customer satisfaction and e-Learning.

P. Gálvez-Ruiz is an Assistant Professor and Researcher at Valencian International University, and Club Manager in BeOne Fitness & Sport. His research topics are sport management and sport marketing, specifically, in the fitness centres models (service quality, satisfaction, customer satisfaction and consumer behaviour). He is also interested in organisational culture and engagement and contributes to literature with more than 40 peer-reviewed articles indexed in international journals and book chapters in international editorials.

J. García-Fernández is an Associate Professor in Sports Science at the University of Seville. Currently, he is a Professor and Researcher in the Physical Education and Sport Department at the University of Seville, Spain, where he teaches Bachelor and Master level courses in sport management and marketing. He is a member of Fitbe Spin-off, a start-up focussed on consumer management in fitness centres. He has published more than 80 articles indexed in international journals as well as various book chapters. His main research topics are sport management, sport technology, fitness apps, customer loyalty and satisfaction at fitness services.

S. George is a Professor at TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI, Manipal), India. He is a trained expert on the case method of teaching from Harvard Business School, USA and a Visiting Professor at Oakland University, Michigan, USA. He wrote the book Cases in Brand Management and Services Marketing.

Frano Giakoni-Ramírez holds PhD in Sports Science in Catholic University of Murcia and Master in Management of Sports and Physical Activity in Andrés Bello University. He is the Research Guest in the Centre for the Science of Learning and Technology at the University of Bergen, Norway. Is also part of the research groups of Sports Management in Spain (GDOT) and Chile (iGEO).

E. Jasinskas holds a PhD in Social Sciences, Economics. He is a Vice Rector for Science and a Professor at the Lithuanian Sports University, Department of Sport and Tourism Management, Economics and Sociology. His research fields are sports economics, innovation and management.

A. Kim is a PhD student in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. His research interests are studies of sport communication and sport consumer behaviour, especially marketing and management of sport-related new media, such as social media, live streaming services and mobile applications.

S. Kinuthia is a Fitness Instructor at the Kenyatta University Health and Fitness Centre. He also teaches at the Department of Physical Education, Exercise and Sport Science Kenyatta University, Kenya. His research interests are health and sport fitness; exercise psychology; injury prevention and exercise therapy; and outdoor adventure and leadership.

H. Mansour is the Dean of the Faculty of Physical Education at Fayoum University. He published his works in top-tier journals and supervised many Master’s and PhD projects. He also trained many professional volleyball teams. He is a member of the permanent committee for the promotion of university professors.

L. Mathew is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Commerce, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), India. Her industry experience is of sales and marketing in banking. Her research interests include healthcare marketing, digital marketing and branding. She regularly supervises postgraduate and undergraduate projects in these areas.

R. E. Medina is a Professor and Researcher of the School of Sports Organization of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. He has Master’s degree in Marketing and Commercial Management and PhD in Strategic Business Management from the University of Zaragoza, Spain. He is the Founding member of Latin-American Sport Management Association and WASM in Taiwan, He is also a PRODEP Profile (SEP) and a Sports Management Expert.

P. Menconi is the President of IFO and Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Egeria. He has gained his experience in management and business intelligence in different sectors: fitness, communication, marketing and editorial. He has published an essay on the successful management of negotiations and created various marketing material. He is called by many ‘the man of numbers’.

S. Mohammadi is an Associate Professor of Sport Marketing for the Physical Education School at University of Kurdistan, Iran. She holds a PhD in Sport Management from Kharezmi University. She has published in international academic journals such as International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, Sport Society, Annals of Applied Sport Science, New Trends in Sport Management and Sport Management Review.

P. Monesi is a Senior Executive Partner who has extensive experience from all system integration areas with over 25 years’ experience in Program Delivery and Client Management. He has developed expertise in recovering off-track complex transformation programs. He has accumulated broad experience managing programs in North America, Asia, Oceania and Europe.

I. Moraes is a Consultant and Professor of Sport Management and Sport Marketing. He did his PhD with emphasis Sport Marketing at the University of São Paulo. He is a Researcher at the Laboratory of Management, Policies, Marketing, and Communication in Sport and Physical Education and the Director of the Latin-American Sport Management Association and of the Brazilian Sport Management Association.

D. Murray is a Senior Lecturer at the University of South Australia (UniSA) Business School. His research interests include consumer behaviour in sport and recreation services, service quality and leadership.

N. Muthomi is a Lecturer in the Department of Recreation and Sports Management, School of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Studies, Kenyatta University, Kenya. Her research interests include aquatic sports and activities, leisure, counselling, fitness and exercise adherence and outdoor adventure pursuits and leadership.

F. Mwangi is a Lecturer in the Department of Physical Education, Exercise and Sports Science, Kenyatta University, Kenya. He specialises in exercise physiology and sports biomechanics. He has over 20 years teaching and research experience. He has authored and co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications.

L. Nascimento is a Professional in sales and technical assistance of equipment for gym. He did his Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from the University of Taubaté-SP, Brazil, and Master’s in Business Management and Marketing. He is a Master degree student at University of São Paulo and Researcher at Group of Studies and Research in Sport Management.

V. Pedragosa holds PhD, in Sport Sciences. She is a Scientific Coordinator, integrated member on the Psychology Research Centre and Associate Professor at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa. Her research interest is on consumer behaviour in fitness industry. She is the author of scientific papers, book chapters and communications at peer-reviewed conferences and ad hoc peer-review in scientific journals.

M. Pérez-Villalba has over 10 years of experience as a Sport Management Consultant. She is active in conducting research on the sports fitness industry and women and sports. She worked as a Consultant assisting in the design and implementation of the Saudi National School Sports Strategy. Currently she works as a Consultant for sports-related projects in Saudi Arabia and as an Associate Professor at Johan Cruyff Institute.

E. Polat did Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Sport Management at Gazi University and he completed PhD in Sport Management at Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University and his research interests include studies on sports marketing, fitness industry, service quality and consumer behaviour in sport.

K. Rajasekharan is a Professor at Manipal Institute of Management, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. His currents research interests are developmental economics, behavioural economics, higher education and tourism. He has co-authored one textbook, six book chapters and more than 60 articles to national and international journals.

I. G. Ramos holds PhD in Physical Culture Sciences, Master’s degree in Physical Activity and Sports with a focus in Sports Management and Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and Sports. He is Full-time Research Professor at the School of Education Sciences of the University of Colima. He is also Leader of the academic body UCOL-85 ‘Education and Movement’.

A. Simanavicius holds a PhD in Social Sciences, Economics. He is a Lecturer at the Lithuanian Sports University, Department of Sport and Tourism Management, Economics and Sociology. His research fields are sports economics and management and tourism risk assessment.

I. Staskeviciute-Butiene holds PhD in Social Sciences, Management. She works as an Associate Professor at the Department of Sport and Tourism Management, Economics and Sociology at the Lithuanian Sports University. She belongs to the scientific team ‘Sport and Leisure Management’ and her main research areas are leadership, entrepreneurship and organisational intelligence.

T. Takahashi is a Part-time Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Sports Science at Juntendo University, Japan. She has a Master’s degree in Policy Sciences. Her main areas of research interest include sport facility management and community sport management.

E. Tsitskari holds a PhD in Sports Marketing and is currently an Associate Professor in Democritus University of Thrace, with more than 60 research publications. She has been a marketing consultant of a basketball team, manager of a sport camps’ firm and a marketing consultant of fitness centres in Greece.

Z. Tuo is a Master student and Undergraduate Teaching Assistant in the College of Sport Management and Leisure at Guangzhou Sport University, China.

G. Tzetzis is a Professor at the School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. He has a lot of scientific and professional experience as well as research projects in the field of sport marketing, sport management, physical activity and health.

I. Valantine holds a PhD in Social Sciences, Education and Sport. She is a Professor at the Department of Sport and Tourism Management, Economics and Sociology at the Lithuanian Sports University. She leads a group of researchers in ‘Sport and Leisure Management’. Her research field mainly covers sport entrepreneurship, sporting events, leadership and good governance in sport.

M. Valcarce-Torrente is the Chief Executive Officer of Valgo Sports Consulting and Chief Marketing Officer of the technology company Valte, spinoff of University of Seville. He is currently a teacher in several master’s degrees and postgraduate courses at national and international universities such as Valencian International University, University of Alcala de Henares, University of Seville or INEFC Catalonia. He is an Expert and a Researcher in Sports Marketing and Technology applied to Sports. He has published several books, articles and reports on the sports and fitness sector.

Z. Wang is an Associate Professor of Sport Economics, College of Sport Management and Leisure at Guangzhou Sport University, China.

Y. Watanabe is an Associate Professor of Sport Management in the Department of Sport Business Administration at Hiroshima University of Economics, Japan. His main areas of research interest include sport marketing and community sport management. He has committed to a Visiting Scholar at International Center for Sport Management, the University of Georgia since 2017.

K. Williams is a Lecturer at the University of South Australia (UniSA) Business School. Her teaching and research is multidisciplinary and includes management, marketing, sport and leisure and gender and disability.

K. Yildiz did his Bachelor’s degree in Sport Management at Cumhuriyet University, he completed Master’s degree in Erciyes University and PhD in Sport Management at Abant Izzet Baysal University. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at Manisa Celal Bayar University and has studied in communication in sports, entrepreneurship, outdoor sports, fitness industry and service quality.

S. M. Yildiz is an Associate Professor of Faculty of Sport Sciences at the Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Turkey, and his research areas are sports management and service marketing. He has published extensively in sports journals. He currently teaches sport management and service marketing.

J. J. Zhang is a Professor of Sport Management at the University of Georgia. His primary research interests are applied measurement and/or applied studies examining sport consumer and organisational behaviours. He has published extensively and is a frequent presenter at international and national conferences.

L. Zhou is a Professor of Sport Management and Dean of College of Sport Management and Leisure at Guangzhou Sport University, China.

List of Contributors

R. Algar, Strategic Business Analyst, Oxygen Consulting

J. Almazán del Pozo, University of Colima, Mexico

N. Almohaimeed, Independent Consultant, Saudi Arabia

D. J. F. Anderson, University of Georgia, USA

P. Aparicio-Chueca, University of Barcelona, Spain

M. K. Azami, University of Kurdistan, Iran

S. Balhadj, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco

A. Batrakoulis, University of Thessaly, Greece

L. Nascimento, University of São Paulo, Brazil

F. Bastos, University of São Paulo, Brazil

D. Duclos-Bastias, Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile

K. Ebada, Port Said University, Egypt

A. Elasri-Ejjaberi, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain

I. Moraes, University of São Paulo, Brazil

P. Gálvez-Ruiz, Valencian International University, Spain

J. García-Fernández, University of Seville, Spain

S. George, TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI, Manipal), India.

Frano Giakoni-Ramírez, Catholic University of Murcia, Spain

E. Jasinskas, Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuania

A. Kim, University of Georgia, USA

S. Kinuthia, Kenyatta University, Kenya

H. Mansour, Fayoum University, Egypt

L. Mathew, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India

R. E. Medina, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico

P. Menconi, International Fitness Observatory (IFO)

S. Mohammadi, University of Kurdistan, Iran

P. Monesi, Egeria

D. Murray, University of South Australia (UniSA) Business School, Australia

N. Muthomi, Kenyatta University, Kenya

F. Mwangi, Kenyatta University, Kenya

V. Pedragosa, Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Portugal

M. Pérez-Villalba, Johan Cruyff Institute, Spain

E. Polat, Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Turkey

K. Rajasekharan, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India

I. G. Ramos, University of Colima, Mexico

A. Simanavicius, Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuania

I. Staskeviciute-Butiene, Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuania

T. Takahashi, Juntendo University, Japan

E. Tsitskari, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece

Z. Tuo, Guangzhou Sport University, China

G. Tzetzis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

I. Valantine, Lithuanian Sports University, Lithuania

M. Valcarce-Torrente, Valencian International University, Spain

Z. Wang, Guangzhou Sport University, China

Y. Watanabe, Hiroshima University of Economics, Japan

K. Williams, University of South Australia (UniSA) Business School, Australia

K. Yildiz, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Turkey

S. M. Yildiz, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Turkey

J. J. Zhang, University of Georgia, USA

L. Zhou, Leisure at Guangzhou Sport University, China