Perceived quality of group activities fitness instructors: a comparative study across stakeholders, demographics, and club contexts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v76.117168Keywords:
Perceived instructor quality, fitness group activities, gender, group age, club attendedAbstract
Introduction: the perceived instructor quality (PIQ), in fitness group activities (GA), plays a vital role in users’ satisfaction, motivation, and long-term engagement with fitness services.
Objective: this study aimed to assess and compare PIQ from both user and instructor perspectives, and to analyze how user perceptions vary according to gender, age group, and club attended.
Methodology: a total of 270 users and 32 instructors from five clubs of a fitness chain in Portugal completed an adapted version of the QIF-AG questionnaire, assessing 10 IQ items. Statistical analyses included independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA, with Tukey post hoc comparisons.
Results: results showed that users consistently rated instructors more positively than the instructors themselves, with statistically significant differences in their communication, punctuality, and knowledge. Female users reported higher IQ scores than males, particularly in relational dimension. While age-related differences were not statistically significant, younger users tended to give higher ratings across most items. Significant variations were also found among the clubs, some showing more favorable ratings, especially in technical-pedagogical dimension.
Discussion: findings underscored the multidimensional and context-sensitive nature of users PIQ. Fitness professionals and managers are encouraged to implement targeted quality improvement strategies, considering the user profiles and club characteristics.
Conclusions: this investigation highlights the value of integrating multiple perspectives and contextual variables when assessing service quality in fitness.
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