title: Attendance Behavior of Ex-members in Fitness Clubs: A Retrospective Study Applying the Stages of Change.
abstract: The transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM) is often used to understand and predict health-related behavior. The objective of this study is to apply the TTM's stages of change to examine patterns of attendance behavior at fitness clubs. A retrospective study was performed to study the later stages of change, using attendance data of members who cancelled their membership in 2012 in two European fitness chains, including 259,355 ex-members of 267 clubs. A sample of 400 was selected at random for analyses, M age = 32.1 yr. (SD = 10.9; 64% males) and 34.7 yr. (SD = 11.0; 51% males) for BasicFit and HealthCity. Regular attendance behavior was defined by at least four visits per month. In the past, all ex-members had purchased a membership and by that were considered to have entered the preparation stage, but 19.5% had never attended the club in 24 months. Of the ex-members, 10% demonstrated regular attendance behavior for six months, and 2.3% had regular attendance for 24 months. 49% did not attend the club for one full month but started regular attendance again. Significant positive correlations were found in attendance behavior between the 6th and 12th months (r = .61), and the 12th and 24th months (r = .45), suggesting that ex-members who attended for more than six months were more likely to have maintained their attendance behavior. With only 10% of the members demonstrating regular attendance behavior, it is evident that appropriate strategies have to be developed to improve attendance behavior and facilitate exercise behavior in fitness clubs.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands jan@hddgroup.com.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Middelkamp
authors.affiliation: Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maaike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Rooijen
authors.affiliation: Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steenbergen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009938:Organizations; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adherence; adoption; drop out; fitness; maintenance