Global Journal of Management and Business Research, E: Marketing, Volume 23 Issue 1

Customer Loyalty in the Fitness Club Industry: The Role of Club Communication, Customer Expectation and Perceived Service Quality Mohammad Alauddin Author: Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Chittagong, Chattogram-4331, Bangladesh, Phd fellow, School of Business Administration, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, 116025, P. R. China. e-mail: mohammad_alauddin@cu.ac.bd Abstract- Recently, fitness clubs have become very popular among urban Chinese people due to increased health awareness and the lack of outdoor physical exercise space. The study aims to provide an extended view of industrial busin ess-to-consumer (B2C) conn ections by linking the theoretical steams of marketing communication. The study examines how firms' marketing communication (FMC) affects customer expectations (EXP) and perceived service quality (PSQ), subsequently influencing fitness club customer satisfaction (CS) and customer loyalty (CL). An online survey was conducted in China, and 300 valid respondents were taken as samples from large fitness club chains. Elementary analyses were done using IBM SPSS version 25; structural equation modeling (SEM) was tested using SmartPLS version 3.2.8. The study demonstrates that FMC is positively linked to EXP and PSQ, which subsequently helps build CL toward fitness clubs in China. Moreover, communication has a negative complementary full-mediation effect on CL through expectation and satisfaction and a positive complementary full-mediation effect on CL through PSQ and CS. Lastly, the theoretical and practical implications of communication on CS and CL in the fitness club sector are discussed. Keywords: consumer expectation, consumer satisfaction, perceived service quality, consumer loyalty, firm marketing communication, fitness club, china. I. I ntroduction ver the past few decades, China has seen a proliferation in the health and fitness market, from large-scale chains to small independent gyms that offer workout facilities for a membership fee (Kaur et al., 2020b). This fitness club typically offers members weightlifting, cardio, yoga, Pilates, and state- of-art fitness equipment (Hu, 2004; Wang & Lin, 2000). Since China opened its economy to the rest of the world, the nation has become a global economic powerhouse, and millions of its citizens have entered the middle-income bracket (Shira & Cyrill, 2019). With the increased disposable income and health awareness, more individuals prioritize a healthy and aspirational lifestyle, resulting in more sports and fitness-related service openings and membership registrations in almost all Chinese cities and urban areas(Zhang et al., 2020; Zhu et al., 2022). Many large and well-known local and international companies have entered the market, offering various services and products and competing for market share. In addition, the Chinese government has invested heavily in public sports programs and facilities to promote physical activity and health among the population (Chikán et al., 2022). According to Daxueconsulting (2022), as of December 2020, the number of fitness clubs in mainland China was approximately 100,000. The Chinese fitness industry has been further boosted during the 2022 Winter Olympics (Hou et al., 2019; Pizzo et al., 2020), which has created an environment for people to join fitness clubs easily and maintained the fitness club industry growth as well as become more competitive (Ainsworth & Sallis, 2022; Chikán et al., 2022). Prior research indicates that the Covid-19 outbreak ushered in a new era in the fitness sector (Davalos, 2021). Conventional fitness clubs have experienced a substantial drop in popularity since early 2020 (Rada & Szabó, 2022), prompting them to pursue a hybrid approach combining online and in-person workouts to survive and remain competitive (Almasri et al., 2020; Shandilya, 2021). The widespread usage of online media has created a demand for fitness apps, virtual training, online classes, and in-home equipment (Wang et al., 2023; Ziółkowska & Taraszkiewicz, 2022). Greater digital transformation investment has made the customer decision-making journey increasingly non- linear, allowing them to engage with different brand channels. More and more members have become accustomed to exercising at home (Kaur et al., 2020a). According to Mardhiah (2022), 90% of participants agreed to incorporate virtual classes into their daily routine exercise even after the epidemic. At this time of globalization, customers are demanding and mostly Parasuraman et al., 1985). Health and fitness club chains must continually evolve strategies to communicate with target customers to understand their expectations to possess a competitive advantage (Xu et al., 2021). Generally, customer expectations (EXP) are pre-consumption beliefs about products and services (Robinson, 2006). Customers may form their expectations based on their knowledge, past consumption experiences, and how the firm or brand O 43 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXIII Issue I Version I Year 2023 ( )E © 2023 Global Journals prefer high-quality products and services (Oliver, 1980;