INVESTIGATING THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TOWARDS A FITNESS CENTER OF THAI FEMALE CONSUMERS AGED 25 TO 35 AND 40 TO 60 YEARS. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand Thai female consumers' fitness center decision-making and the determinants that influence each stage of their decision-making process. Using the Consumer Decision Process (CDP) model as a framework, the researcher further found that participants from both age groups completed six stages of the decision-making process.
However, both groups were influenced by different factors at each stage of their decision-making process.
INTRODUCTION 1
The objective of this present study is to examine the decision-making process of Thai female consumers towards the fitness center. Women have also been identified as the majority of branded fitness center members in Thailand (Chareonchaivanich, 2005). Based on such evidence, women can be considered the target customers of fitness center business in Thailand.
However, there is still a lack of research aimed at investigating the decision-making process of Thai female consumers in relation to exercise in general and gym in particular.
LITERATURE REVIEW 5
- Consumer Behavior and the Decision Making Process 5
- Previous Studies on Consumer Behavior in Relation to Fitness 10
- Research Participants 13
- Data Gathering and Analysis 14
This current study is a qualitative research that aims to gain an understanding of the decision-making process of Thai female consumers regarding fitness. A study by Pattamadilok (2011) showed how price can be the main concern of a fitness center member. Interestingly, none of the participants in this current study mentioned brand as the main criterion when deciding on fitness centers.
In this study, none of the participants indicated that they were dissatisfied with the fitness centers where they were currently members. Therefore, there will be no discussion of the final stage of the decision-making process in this document. Fitness center experience: Once a member of the fitness club near her home (for 2 years).
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 18
Key Themes 18
Although all the participants from both age groups recognized the health benefits of exercise, not all of them had exercised regularly before applying to become members of the gyms. But when they became members of the gyms, they started to gain self-discipline by coming to the gyms several days a week. In general, none of the participants felt that they were wasting their time being gym members and even mentioned that they would continue to exercise regularly at the gyms as long as they could.
The reason why they signed up to join the fitness centers was because they wanted to have beautiful bodies. Among the seven participants in this group, five said they were overweight and that their goal in joining the fitness centers was to lose weight. As Pam, a 26-year-old participant, who was sponsored by her father to join the branded fitness center, noted:.
Two participants from the 25 to 35 age group, who had no problem with their weight, mentioned a beautiful body as their ultimate goal for becoming members of fitness centers. Four participants from the 40- to 60-year-old group and two participants from the younger group had been members of other fitness centers before moving to the current locations. These individuals did not pay attention to the brand, but chose to be members of those who were close to their places or easily reached there.
In addition to the convenient locations, most participants from both age groups indicated that for them the facilities of the gyms were quite important. In this current study, the two participants who chose to be members of the gym that was far from their homes said that they liked the facilities of that particular gym; thus they did not care how far it was from their houses.
Decision Making Process 26
The next part of this report will discuss the main findings regarding the conceptual framework of the decision-making process. Yet not all of them started by searching for information – the next stage of the decision-making process – and immediately finding the right places to practice. Interestingly, most participants said they only had one brand in mind after going through phase 2 of the decision-making process.
At Stage 3 of the decision-making process, “Individual Differences” played the key role in the decision-making process of the participants from both groups as their personality, lifestyle, values as well as motivation made their decisions in choosing the alternative choices of fitness center for their excited sets. The researchers also used the decision-making process framework to gain a better understanding of how those themes engaged at each stage of the decision-making process of those who are current members of the fitness centers. Several studies have already been conducted to gain an understanding of the factors that revolved around consumers' decision-making process towards the brand name fitness center in Thailand.
Linking all four themes to the Consumer Decision Process (CDP) model, the researcher further explored how these themes played their role in each stage of the decision-making process for people from two age groups who were current members of the gyms. The results suggested that as these two groups went through each stage of the decision. However, there is still a lack of research regarding the decision-making process of gym consumers and how internal as well as external variables play their roles in each stage of the consumer decision-making process.
Therefore, the study results may not be able to answer the question of how other demographic factors, such as education level, income, or marital status, might influence the decision-making process of fitness center consumers. She has been a member of the branded fitness center for 4 months now and works out there 3-4 times a week. She has been a member of the brand fitness center for 6 months now and tried to exercise there every day if possible.
You are a member of the brand's fitness center for 7 months and go to exercise there approximately 3 times a week.
CONCLUSION 38
Managerial Implication 39
The knowledge emerging from this research can be applied by practitioners working in the fitness segment or by those working in the companies related to health and exercise, as they plan to develop the competitiveness of their brands or to improve. If they want to target the younger age group of consumers, they should pay attention to the role of personal influence among the younger consumers. The messaging marketers use to communicate about their brands to this specific group of consumers must take group reference into account.
On the other hand, if the marketers want to target the group of older consumers, they must focus on the psychological factors and create the message that suits their motivations, attitudes, values, personality and lifestyle to motivate them to make a purchase. Interestingly, when it comes to gym services, the information sent through the marketing-driven sources does not gain much attention from either the older consumers or the younger ones. Focusing on improving the locations and facilities as well as giving away "samplings" and using word of mouth to promote the brand can be considered the better strategies to motivate the target audience from both age groups to purchase the gym service.
To create brand loyalty, research findings suggested that there were three important aspects perceived by target consumers of both ages. Interestingly, the cost of membership was considered less important than these three aspects by most of the research participants. Thus, this means that if any fitness center is excellent in terms of location, facility and variety of service, it will be able to gain customer loyalty despite the fact that the cost of their membership may be higher. higher than its competitors.
Theoretical Implication 40
Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research 40
What is the most important thing you are looking for from a fitness center (eg price, facility, variety of services). Is there anything you would like to tell me about your experience exercising and using the fitness center services that I didn't ask. Fitness Center Experience: 6 months membership at a large independent fitness club before moving to a branded club.
She has been working out regularly for 2 years now, going to the gym 3-5 times a week. She is a current member of brand name one and goes to her gym almost every day. Gym experience: Being a member of a few places before you stuck with the current one for a year now.
She goes to the gym 3-4 times a week to build a strong and beautiful figure. Experience with a fitness center: Being a member of a well-known fitness center for a few years before going to study abroad. Fitness center experience: A member of a few independent fitness centers for almost two years and then giving up regular exercise for several years.
She has just started working out again regularly at a new brand name fitness center where she has been a member for almost 6 months. Fitness center experience: Once a member of a famous fitness center for a few years and then moved to the new one that just opened near her home.
