Trust, satisfaction, loyalty and adaptation to price in fitness centres

Abstract

Purpose – The main objective is to find out how trust affects customer loyalty and adaptation to possible changes in the price of the service. Sports services have experienced growth in recent years in a competitive environment that uses different strategies to attract and retain users. Trust is a fundamental tool for managing a sports service since it creates a more positive customer perception. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 408 customers of a fitness centre participated in this study. A multiitem scale measuring trust, satisfaction, loyalty and adaptation to price was used. The relationships between constructs were tested using structural equation modelling. Findings – The results have shown that trust is very relevant among users of the centre, as it affects both satisfaction and loyalty as well as adaptation to price. Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed on the relationships between these constructs, especially on the relationship between satisfaction and price adaptation, in more sports centres, whether forprofit or not-for-profit, while it is also necessary to include the variable price or low-cost centre, which may condition this relationship, becoming a limitation of this study. It would also be interesting to consider external factors, such as the socioeconomic context, the profile of users or social commitment. Practical implications – Fitness centres, in response to a change in prices, must establish measures that affect trust, with the aim of increasing the attitudinal and behavioural variables resulting from such a change. Originality/value – These results highlight the importance of user confidence in terms of their behaviour and intentions in the face of changing prices. The research will provide information to managers and sports centres on different measures and variables.