Service quality in fitness centres- literature review and further research

Addressing the needs of the customers and understanding their perspectives on service quality (SQ) have become essential for fitness organisations in a competitive environment. In a saturated market, fitness clubs seek methods of both retaining existing and attracting new customers. This places a significant emphasis on SQ and the identification of what customers perceive as quality.

SQ in the sport and fitness industries evolved into a credible research stream from the late 1980s. However, there is still no agreement in the literature about the key dimensions of quality in these industries. Due to the unique aspects of the sport services, there are distinct differences between sport organisations and other businesses. Recognising this distinction, a number of studies (Brady and Cronin, 2001; Martinez and Martinez, 2010) have emphasised the need for developing industry specific SQ models.

The current study aims to review the existing body of literature on SQ in the fitness industry. Future research aims to examine SQ in fitness clubs in England and to test measurement scales from previous studies for their validity. The model of Brady and Cronin (2001) is taken as a basis for the research framework and suggestions for overcoming its existing limitations are proposed.