Background/Purpose The quality of service has been the major subject of interest for business and academia. The aims of this study were to investigate the service quality of fitness clubs in Hong Kong and Guangzhou and to examine the underlying factor structure of the Service Quality Assessment Scale (SQAS; Lam, Zhang, & Jensen, 2005) in the Chinese context.
Method The research was conducted at two fitness centers located each in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The SQAS-C consisted of questions related to expectation on a fitness club's services and facilities, customers' satisfaction level, and demographic information.
Analysis/Results Participants were male(N=81) and female(N=90) club members from Hong Kong(50.9%) and Guangzhou(49.1%). Using the alpha extraction method in exploratory factor analysis, six factors were identified. Sixteen items had a loading less than .30 or loaded on more than one factor and were discarded. After this refinement, the SQAS-C included 26 items: Staff (4 items), Program (3 items), Locker (3 items), Physical Facility (5 items), Workout Facility (3 items), and Childcare (6 items), which explained 52.84% total variance. Cronbach's Alpha of the factors were .718, .652, .687, .778, .700, and .848, respectively. Overall, members had high expectations on "Safety in locker room" and "Shower cleanliness" while unsatisfied with "Individualized attention from instructors” and "Availability of parking.”
Conclusions The SQAS-C (shorten-version) could be applied in the Chinese context. Meanwhile, this study provides specific information for the management to improve service quality in the fitness clubs and to design appropriate marketing strategies for the target markets.
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