The
increasing
awareness
of
health
problems
that
are
a
consequence
of
obesity
and
a
sedentary
lifestyle
as
well
as
the
snowballing
popularity
of
the
concern
with
aesthetics
have
been
contributing
to
the
growth
and
development
of
the
Health
and
Fitness
Industry
worldwide.
Portugal
is
no
exception
and,
especially
due
to
the
contracting
economy,
new
opportunities
are
emerging
for
this
market.
Moreover,
in
the
past
few
years,
motivations
towards
physical
activity
have
shifted
and
the
fitness
centers
have
to
adapt
to
this
change
in
the
customers’
preferences
and
attitudes.
Ginásio
Clube
Português
(GCP)
requested
a
consulting
project
that
involved
the
development
of
recommendations
for
the
Services
Marketing
Plan
for
the
upcoming
year
that
counteracts
the
challenges
stated
above.
The
renowned
Gaps
Model
of
Service
Quality,
developed
by
Parasuraman
et
al.
(1985),
was
used
as
a
starting
point
for
this
analysis
to
support
future
recommendations,
by
assessing
the
gap
between
members’
expectations
and
perceptions
of
the
service
quality
of
GCP.
The
research
questions
that
emerged
to
respond
to
the
problem
in
hand
are:
(1)
how
do
GCP
members
perceive
the
quality
of
this
health
club
and
what
do
they
expect
of
such
an
institution,
(2)
what
is
the
general
opinion
on
the
practice
of
physical
activity,
especially
in
the
context
of
gyms
and
health
clubs,
and
(3)
how
can
GCP
attract
new
members
while
retaining
the
existing
ones.
The
methodology
adopted
to
answer
these
questions
involved
the
combination
of
three
different
research
techniques:
in-‐depth
interviews,
mystery
shopping
and
questionnaires
