Segmenting Fitness Center Customers: Leveraging Perceived Ethicality for Enhanced Loyalty, Trust, and Word-of-Mouth Communication

Katerina Paschalidou, Efi Tsitskari (), Kostas Alexandris, Thomas Karagiorgos and Dionisios Filippou
Additional contact information
Katerina Paschalidou: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Democritus University of Thrace, 69100 Komotini, Greece
Efi Tsitskari: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Democritus University of Thrace, 69100 Komotini, Greece
Kostas Alexandris: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Thomas Karagiorgos: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Dionisios Filippou: Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Democritus University of Thrace, 69100 Komotini, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-19

Abstract: In an era marked by a growing emphasis on business ethics and sustainability, fitness centers face a compelling need to align their practices with their members’ perceived ethical values. To explore the role of ethics in the fitness industry’s expanding business landscape, this study draws upon established theories in consumer-perceived ethicality (CPE), business ethics, and customer segmentation strategies. The paper’s objectives were to adapt and validate the CPE scale for the Greek context and categorize fitness center members based on their perceived ethicality and to examine the impact of perceived ethicality on loyalty, word-of-mouth communication, and trust towards fitness centers. The research involved 286 fitness center members who completed a questionnaire measuring CPE, loyalty, trust, and word-of-mouth communication. Utilizing clustering analysis, two distinct consumer segments emerged, each demonstrating unique patterns of perceived ethicality. Intriguingly, both the high- and low-CPE groups assigned considerable importance to word-of-mouth communication, followed by trust and loyalty. These findings provide valuable insights for businesses in the fitness industry seeking to enhance their ethical reputation and bolster customer retention. Furthermore, the translated CPE scale holds the potential to contribute significantly to the ongoing discourse on consumer behavior regarding business ethics and sustainability within the fitness sector.

Keywords: business ethics; consumers’ perceived ethicality; segmentation strategies; loyalty; word-of-mouth-communication; trust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/16131/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/22/16131/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:22:p:16131-:d:1283966

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().