Global Journal of Management and Business Research, E: Marketing, Volume 23 Issue 1
instead of merely providing space, installing the latest gym services, offering attractive pricing, and making it accessible to its target markets (De Pelsmacker et al., 2007). Thus, fitness firms must communicate with current and potential customers to reach their goals and objectives. This paper aims to elucidate the beneficial effect of FMC of fitness clubs in China on CS and CL building in a competitive environment (García- Fernández et al., 2018b).The study explicitly investigates a hypothetical, theoretical model to demonstrate the empirical connection between FMC and EXP, PSQ, CS, and CL. The study found that communication significantly impacts customer expectations and perceived service quality, and these variables also play a critical mediatory role in the link between FMC and CL in the Chinese fitness market. As a result, the study demonstrates the efficacy of FMC strategies for fitness firms or clubs to understand better customer expectations and better responses in a constantly evolving environment. According to our knowledge, the current study is a pioneering effort that sheds light on relationship marketing and consumer buying behavior studies by empirically examining the beneficial effects of FMC on EXP, PSQ, CS, and CL building toward a fitness club in mainland China (Avourdiadou & Theodorakis, 2014; Pedragosa & Correia, 2009; Theodorakis et al., 2004). Firstly, contrary to Hypothesis H1, the findings of this study indicate that customer expectations have no significant effect on the perception of service quality. This indicates no correlation between how consumers perceive a fitness club's service quality and their expectations. Extent research indicates that EXP and PSQ are separate variables (Robinson, 2006). Customers’ expectations constantly evolve, resulting in a situation in which they continue to set higher standards. Regarding fitness club services, when customers’ specific needs and desires are met, they must seek out high-quality, expensive products that give and place them in a higher social class and status. As the changing characteristics of expectations, current fitness club services become unimportant, and club members' expectations cannot identify PSQ (Habel et al., 2016). Secondly, the study findings of Hypotheses H2 and H8 reveal that club member expectations may negatively affect their satisfaction and loyalty toward a fitness club in China. This means that CS and CL deteriorate when customer expectations increase with the influence of competitors’ marketing communication. Although consumers have expectations in each encounter for the services, sentiments of satisfaction may also form (Tse & Wilton, 1988). CS results from customers’ comparison of service quality with their prior established expectations. If customers’ perception of service quality as lower (higher) than their expectations, customers may experience negative (positive) disconfirmation, leading to dissatisfaction (satisfaction) (Habel et al., 2016). According to information processing theory (Sujan et al., 1986), when customers are highly motivated and capable of evaluating service quality, increasing the expectations of customers in an organization may reduce satisfaction, subsequently decreasing loyalty. Expectations that lead to satisfaction consist of what consumers think the fitness-club industry must offer. When fitness firms deliver more information through communications, it may increase their attractiveness to customers and simultaneously increase members’ expectations. Higher customer expectations are more challenging to meet and thus cause dissatisfaction. As a result, customer evaluations of fitness firms’ products and services with high customer expectations become negative, which may subsequently impact CL toward the fitness club. These findings are consistent with prior literature by Rahman et al. (2017) and Tukiran et al. (2021). Thirdly, Hypotheses H3 and H9 demonstrate that PSQ is significantly associated with CS and CL. This study presents a positive relationship between perceived service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty. Service quality is essential for the performance of the fitness business. Because customers play a critical role in the success or failure of businesses today and in the future, they are demanding quality and expecting to be given that quality. However, not all service providers can offer quality service to customers who have an opportunity to assess the quality given to them in comparison with their quality expectations. Meeting expectations and quality of service are two essential factors that make loyal customers who also determine the firm’s competitiveness in the market. This study validated hypotheses H3 and H9, demonstrating that PSQ is a critical antecedent of CS and CL. The study's findings are consistent with prior literature Moreira and Silva (2016) and Coye (2004). Fourthly, regarding firm-level marketing communication, the results report that Hypotheses H4 and H5 are significantly positively related to customer expectation and perceived service quality. In the fitness industry, numerous competitors exist in urban areas, and intense competition among themselves is also visible. Competitors’ promotional activities increase customer knowledge which may help to create customer expectations (Peltier et al., 2006). Businesses make more effort to fulfill customer expectations by delivering superior services in a competitive environment. When customers receive desired services from organizations, they become more satisfied. However, in Hypotheses H6 and H7, the result shows that FMC is not significantly related to CS and CL. This result means that members’ satisfaction and loyalty to fitness club does not directly depend on the fitness club's change level of Customer Loyalty in the Fitness Club Industry: The Role of Club Communication, Customer Expectation and Perceived Service Quality 54 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXIII Issue I Version I Year 2023 ( )E © 2023 Global Journals
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