Empirical Study of Fitness Industry Cases-Based on SWOT

doi:10.4236/ape.2013.32013

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Advances in Physical Education

2013. Vol.3, No.2, 80-83

Published Online May 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ape) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ape.2013.32013

Empirical Study of Fitness Industry Cases-Based on SWOT

Jin-Dong Chang, Ming Yang

Physical Education of Sout h west University, Chongqing, China

Email: [email protected]

Received February 13th, 2013; revised March 15th, 20 13; acce pted March 28th, 2013

Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

provided the origina l w o rk is properly cited.

This paper aims to understand both the internal and external conditions of Qingdao Impulse Fitness Club,

through the questionnaire survey, field visit, individual interviews and other methods, and to carry out re-

search into the Club basing on SWOT analysis perspective. Then reveal the superiority and inferiority in

macroenvironment and microenvironment of Qingdao Impulse Fitness Club by means of building Matrix,

and formulate appropriate marketing programs for the Club.

Keywords: Sports Industry; Fitness Club; SWOT Analysis

Introduction

The proposals about further strengthening and improving the

physical work in new period (August 2000) clear that, “vigor-

ously develop the sports industry, actively cultivate the sports

market for the expansion of domestic demand, promote em-

ployment, stimulate economic growth and achieve the devel-

opment objectives of modernization”. Accelerating the devel-

opment of sports industry is a specific embodiment of firmly

establishing and completely implementing the scientific con-

cept of development, and an urgent demand for promoting

economic development and spiritual civilization under the so-

cialist market economy. Qingdao, on the coast of Yellow Sea,

lies in the southern tip of Shandong Peninsula, rapid economic

development, is one of China’s 15 sub-provincial cities and a

host city for the sailing event of the 2008 Olympic Games.

With the holding of the Beijing Olympic Games, more and

more attention on fitness are paid by majority of people, the

concept—“spend money on health” has been accepted by more

and more people (López- Sintas & García-Álvarez, 2006)

Under this circumstance, this paper applies SWOT analysis

in management to the study of Qingdao Impulse fitness club,

conduct scientific and comprehensive analysis on the advan-

tages and disadvantages that existed in the macroenvironment

and microenvironment, the opportunities and challenges that

the fitness industry faced as well, obtain objective and accurate

basis, formulate marketing strategies to promote the develop-

ment of the fitness industry, so as to stimulate the development

of the whole fitness club.

Methods

Subject

Qingdao Impulse Fitness Club.

Methods

Through documentary research, interviews, questionnaire

and other methods, and focus on the use of SWOT situation

analysis to analyze the Qingdao Impulse Fitness Club. The

so-called “SWOT analysis” refers to the subjects related with

the competitive advantage (strength), competitive disadvantage

(weakness), opportunity and threat, by means of investigation,

and arranged together according to the matrix form, finally

match each factor to each other for the purpose of analyzing

and drawing a series of correspondent and policy-making con-

clusion (Kahn & Wansink, 2004; Luo, 2008; CO, 2005; Zhang,

2006).

Both main tasks are building matrix and formulating the

plans that conduct SWOT analysis.

Results and Analysis

Analyse the Develop ment S (Stre ng ths) of the

Qingdao Impulse Fitness Club

The External Environment Advantages

Qingdao is one of the 15 sub-provincial cities, the largest

industrial city in Shandong province, the five counties and cites

under the jurisdiction of Qingdao all entered to the 2009 Na-

tional Top Hundred Counties, the average annual growth of

GDP was more than 12%, the per capita disposable income of

the urban residents increased obviously, the Engel coefficients

were 0.445 and 0.450 respectively. That provides a solid eco-

nomic base for the sports development in Qingdao, and be-

comes a major advantage for the development of the fitness

club. Meanwhile, after the implement of weekends and the

national holiday, the residents’ leisure time will increase to 115

days the whole year, and they can freely dispose nearly one

third time of the year, which creates necessary conditions for

developing the sports industry.

The Internal Environment Advantages

In Qingdao all variety of fitness clubs are flourishing, the

number of club members increases every year, and the resi-

dents’ consumption awareness on sports increases as well. Af-

J.-D. CHANG, M. YANG

ter Qingdao became the host city for the sailing event of the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games, pace of development was accel-

erated, owing to the special geographical location, which has

shown a good momentum of development in all types of fitness

clubs and entertainment places, and becomes a new stage for

integrating fitness industry into the recycling of the economic

development. Fitness service places play a unique role in the

heat of restoring mental health and fitness with its fashionable,

trendy business items and modern, flexible service. According

to the preliminary investigation in 2009: many fitness centers

have been developed in form of hotels in Qingdao with a

growing number, gradual expansion of the scale, gradual in-

creasing of grade, and expansion of the business field.

There are four Qingdao Impulse Fitness clubs in urban areas

and four in the county-level cities. The clubs in urban areas are

mainly located in the center of the city, and the surrounded

residential apartments, supermarkets and entertainment center,

governments, office buildings and commerce centers, which

provide a good population environment for the expansion of the

fitness club members.

Seen from the survey of the new and old members in the

Impulse Fitness club (Figure 1), the urban population in Qing-

dao is supposed to be 242 million, then according to a rough

calculation, the club members made up 0.202 percent of the

total population in 2007; 0.345 percent in 2008; and 0.574 per-

cent in 2009.

The statistics shows that the club members increased rapidly

in the year 2008, which was inseparable from the fifth anniver-

sary of the clubs, economic consumption level and the sports

fever that brought by the Olympic Games. The concept “spend

money on health” is becoming maturer. The growth of the club

members reflects the recovery of the sports consumption.

Table 2 shows the survey results of the consumer motivation:

physical fitness, entertainment and spirit relief are the main

consumer motivation, which take up 37.3% and 27.4% respec-

tively. Most people go to the fitness club for the purpose of

relaxing themselves and enjoying the excitement. At the same

time, fitness club is also a helpful place to communicate with

each other and reach commercial agreement.

This part of people are highly agree with the paid sports

consumption, which indicates that the concept “spend money

on health” has been established as the residents have substantial

income, the potential consumer group laid a foundation for

exploring the fitness entertainment market in Qingdao.

Analyz e the Weakness of Qingda o Fitness Clu b

Low Market Share, Obvious Occupational Characteristics

of the Members

Table 1 show that the club members took up only 0.574% of

the total population in 2009, which means the market share, is

not high.

Figure 1 indicates: occupational distribution of the consum-

ers in the club is significant, commerce and service workers

take up 22.2%; political and administrative workers take up

18.1%; economic management workers 17.3%; workers in

education and science take up 13.7%; students take up 12.1%;

individual businessmen take up 10.9%; production and trans-

portation workers only take up 2.3%.

It is understood that the fitness card delivered from the en-

terprise and public institution is one of the sources of the mem-

bers. This shows that spontaneous awareness of participating in

physical fitness is not high, which is inseparable from the gov-

ernment’s efforts in promoting the physical exercise. People are

still in pursuit of the economic interests, and the paid consump-

tion only exists in a small part of people.

Small-Sized Club, Limitation of Space Development

The club on Hong Kong Road is the latest and most luxuri-

ous gym among all the Impulse Fitness clubs, with the area of

3600 square meters. There is e-coach, “sky garden” and other

Table 1.

Annual statistics of the members in the impulse fitness club (perso n).

YearTotal members number Per centage of t he total population

in the city (%)

20074887 0.202

20088349 0.345

200913,896 0.574

Table 2.

Consumer motivation of the members in the club.

Social communication Fitness Seek excitement Sports aesthetic Entertainment Hobbies & interest

% 7.6 40.5 2.7 8.2 27.4 14.6

13.2

17.6

18.4

25.9

2.3

10.9

8.6

3.1

0510 15 20 25 30

workers in science,education and health

…

workers in economic management

workers in the goverment

workers in commercial and service field

production and transportation workers

Private industry and commerce workers

students

others

Figure 1.

Consumers occupat i o nal distribution of Qingdao impulse fitness club.

J.-D. CHANG, M. YANG

special programs, and the swimming pool, squash and will

provide the consumers with more choice of fitness programs.

What’s more, the following services also are available in the

gym: business center, fitness packages, stored value bank, and

fitness supplies. The real fitness area is only 2000 square me-

ters, which would hinder the development of the club. Com-

pared with the 5000 square meters of the Hangzhou Intensity

International Fitness Club, the Impulse Fitness clubs only pro-

vide a fitness place for the members which limit the develop-

ment of the club.

Single Fitness Programs, Unreasonable Curriculum in

Amount and Time

Table 3 indicates: there is no exercise curriculum at daytime

at weekends, the programs are relatively simple which couldn’t

attract members’ interest. If the club can’t fully meet the di-

verse needs of the members, let alone service marketing, build

their own brand, and promote the development of the club.

The Overall Evaluation for the Club Service Is Not High

From the interview to the person in charge of the Club, the

club set individual files and records for the members, however,

it is found from the service evaluation survey: very satisfied

take up 0.03%, satisfied take up 0.33%, the overall evaluation is

not high (Table 4).

Analysis of the Opportunity that the Impulse Fitness

Club Faced

The 16th National People’s Congress of the CPC proposed

the magnificent goal for the achievement of a “all-round well-

off society” until 2020 and the successful holding of the 2008

Beijing Olympic Games provides an unprecedented opportunity

for the sports fitness industry, and brings excellent developing

opportunities for the sports industry as well. From an economic

point of view, the national fitness will bring enormous business

opportunities for the sports fitness market, attracting a large

number of private capital investments in the fitness industry.

Qingdao Impulse Fitness Club follows the trend of develop-

ment. If they can seize the opportunity, these will certainly

bring benefits to the club.

Analysis of the Threats that the Impulse Fitness Club

Faced

Lack of Professionals in Sports Fitness

The data in Table 5 indicates that totally there are 39 in-

structors in the four branch clubs which are respectively located

on Hong Kong Road, Guizhou Road, Fuzhou Road and the

Development Zone, which means the average number of each

club is less than 10. Serious shortage of professional fitness

instructors, what make the situation worse is the lack of nutria-

tionist and masseurs. Lack of management professionals and

coaches and low-level management have impeded the devel-

opment of the club and the improvement of the operation qual-

ity.

The Disorderly Price Competition

In order to occupy the market, the disorderly “price war” is

inevitable, which would surely hinder the development of the

fitness industry. Meanwhile, influenced by the financial crisis,

the consumption on sports decreased to some extent, the club

must make new marketing plans cater to the current develop-

ment, to avoid disorder price war (Table 6).

Conclusion

As shown in Figure 2: the analysis of the S (strengths) of the

Qingdao Impulse Fitness Club shows that the rapid economic

development, good social and cultural environment, and envi-

ronmental characteristics of the population all provide objective

conditions for the carry-out of the fitness club.

The analysis of the W (weaknesses) of the Qingdao Impulse

Fitness Club indicates that the market share of the club is not

high according to an annual membership statistics, members are

with obvious occupational characteristics, and voluntary par-

ticipation of consumer awareness is not high. Small club and

simple fitness programs will impede the development of the

club. Lack of deep investigation and service tracking to the club

members, and fuzzy target market are the stumbling blocks for

the long-term development of the club.

The analysis of the O (opportunity) of the Qingdao Impulse

Fitness Club shows that the two main advantages are: 1) the

Table 3.

March 2010 curriculum of Qingdao impulse total fitness club (Hong Kong Road Branch).

Time MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN

10:30-11:30 Aerobic dance Fit-dance Fit yoga Aero-B.D Fit-Pilates

16:00-17:00 Super spins Body balan ce Super spins Fit yoga Super spins Body balance Supe r spins

17:15-18:15 Aero-steps Super spins Fit yoga Super spins Muscle conditioning Fit ball Fit yoga

18:30-19:30 Super spins Body attac k Super spins B ody balance Super spins

19:45-20:30 Fit yoga Muscle condition Fit-Pilates Aero-Hi/lo

Table 4.

Overall evaluations to the service quality of the club.

Very satisfied Satisfied Ok Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied

Number 1 10 15 2 2

% 0.03 0.33 0.5 0.07 0.07

J.-D. CHANG, M. YANG

Table 5.

Statistics of the professionals in Qingdao impulse fitness club.

Name of the professional certificate Number

Asian Senior Private Coac h Certificate 8

National Fitness Instr u ctor 12

National Fitness Instr u ctor (Level 1) 12

Australia and I nternational Private Coach Certificate 1

US AFAA group fitness certification 1

International redistricted senior nutritionist 1

Psychology counselor 1

Nutritionist 2

Masseur 1

Table 6.

Qingdao impulse fitness (urban clubs) 2007-2009 price.

Year Common card (Yuan) Luxurious card (Y uan)

2007 2280 5880

2008 2000 4880

2009 1250 4000

Development strategies of Qin gdao impul se fitness club

Combination one: SO—Rely

on advantages, use the oppor-

tunity

Implement the marketing strat-

egy in membership growth:

Build a Qingdao fitness brand,

set up brand effect.

Combination two: WO—Use the op-

portunity, overcome the disadvan-

tages

Implement reversed marketing strat-

egy in sports industry, make use of the

great potential advantages of the

Olympic Games and the fitness mar-

ket, expand the scale of the club,

optimize the product strategy, and

alter the service from undifferentiated

market to differentiate.

Combination three: ST—Rely

on advantages, avoid threats

Implement defensive marketing

strategy: im

lement effective

price marketing, adjust reason-

able industrial structure in fit-

ness club.

Combination four: WT—Reduce

the weakness, avoid threats

Implement diversified marketing strat-

egy: focus on the introduction and

cultivation of the professionals, opti-

mize the industrial structure, and

diversify the fitness service.

Figure 2.

Qingdao impulse total fi tne ss club SWOT strategy matrix.

opportunities of the “all-round well-off society” which is pro-

posed during the 16th National People’s Congress of the CPC;

2) the opportunities that brought by the Beijing Olympic

Games.

The analysis of the T (threats) of the Qingdao Impulse Fit-

ness Club indicates that the club must overcome the threats

while in the process of advantageous development. The threats

the club faced are: lack of professionals, disorderly price com-

petition among clubs, and the simple management programs

could not attract consumer enthusiasm.

Recommendations

Change the sports marketing concept of the physical fitness

in differentiating service, which is the pre-condition of building

a good sports fitness market.

The core task of the fitness club is to improve the quality of

the service, which is the foundation of the marketing campaign.

Pay attention to the image-building, which is the base of

building fitness brand.

Take note of the flexibility and associability when formulate

the marketing strategies.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Humanities and Social

Science Research Youth Foundation of the Ministry of Educa-

tion in China (Grant No. 12YJC880005) and “the Fundamental

Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No.

SWU1309230)” and “the Fundamental Research Funds for the

Central Universities (Grant No. SWU1309231)”.

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