Stages of change and regulation in users of sports services. Relationship with satisfaction and loyalty

Abstract

Physical activity and regular practice help to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. Sport organization leaders are to understand the behaviour of current and potential users to establish strategies for promoting and consolidating physical activity. The objective of this project is to discover whether sports service users find associations between stages of change and types of regulation, as well as different levels of satisfaction, loyalty and amount of physical activity practices completed out in relation to the stages of change. The population under study was 4236 users registered in municipal public sports centers in Monterrey (Mexico). The average age is 19.30±12.65, with 55.7 %males. Several instruments were used for the research: the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire, Stages of Change Questionnaire, four items from EPOD2, and four items from a scale of future intentions of users of sports services. All of them had the necessary validity and reliability. Mean comparison tests, contingency tables and correlations were performed. The results show that there is a partnership between stages of change, regulation, satisfaction, loyalty, average session time and weekly frequency of practice, which those responsible for organizations, programs and sports activities, should be aware of and use to increase rates of physical activity practice and the consolidation of habit among different population groups. It is the users who are in the stages of action and maintenance the most satisfied, the most loyal and the ones that perform the most physical activity.