Fitness and sport are the most important factors of maintenance and strengthening of human health, improvement of their physical culture; moreover, it represents the way of communication and active leisure that is an alternative to addictions and bad habits in the modern society. At the same time, sport and fitness intensively influence the economic sphere of life of the state and society; in particular, they affect the quality of labor, the structure of consumption and demand, the behavior of consumers, the foreign economic relations and other indicators of the economic system and society, in general. The extensive increase of the demand for fitness services caused by the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and physical beauty in the world is the incentive for the activation of the marketing activity of the enterprises, which provide sport services, at present. In fact, fitness is the trend of the 21st century that is actively gaining its popularity all over the world. A trend represents the general tendency that is developing for some period of time and preserving its relevance for a long time. The purpose of the current paper is to identify and analyze the growing trend of fitness in the marketplace and to reveal the tendencies of its development in the global perspective.
Fitness as the World Trend
The world fitness market started to develop around thirty years ago and nowadays it represents a real boom. According to the experts, the fitness industry is ranked second in the world just after the high technologies. Moreover, the investments into the health and beauty are the most profitable. The active demand for fitness from women is almost four times higher that the demand of men. In fact, the people in the age group of 20-32 years represent the most active customer audience of fitness. At the same time, the recent tendencies show the formation of the new age group of consumers. Actually, the fitness services for the senior people will prevail in the following decade.
The interest to this type of service is expressed not only by the youth but also by the business people, who seek to be fit and to lead a healthy lifestyle. In fact, such a trend causes further prospects for the development of the fitness services market. The rapid growth of the fitness services testifies to it. After establishing stable positions in the markets of big cities, the largest players use the carpet tactics by opening the fitness centers in regions by franchising. Globally, the fitness industry gains the strength due to the attraction of various resources, in particular, by the means of the organization of fitness exhibition and festival projects.
The fitness institutions that provide the widest range of additional services have the greatest popularity at present: they provide the services from the group programs and personal training programs up to the unique techniques of an organism strengthening. From this point of view, the huge fitness centers are less attractive to customers, while the popularity of the boutique gyms increases at present. At the same time, the clubs with the flexible price policy focus on demand.
Nowadays, both the network centers and single sports clubs are present in the U.S. market of fitness services. As a rule, the fitness clubs are located in shopping centers, business centers, hotels, sports complexes, separate buildings, etc. What concerns the tendencies of the fitness market development, it is necessary to mention the rapid spread of boutique gyms.
IHRSA research shows that studios are expanding into smaller towns that normally would not sustain larger health club facilities, because boutiques have lower overhead. Among those reasons are a population of consumers, who is more informed about health and wellness, a focus on convenience, and a desire to connect with the instructors who give the sense of being deeply marinated in what they’re doing.
Despite the fact that the majority of analysts predicts that the further development of fitness will completely depend on the large players, such a phenomenon as the boutique gyms persists and gains the popularity among the American population. The undoubted advantages of such studios include their proximity either to the place of work or the residence place of the clients. In fact, such studios can be located in various areas, either remote from the center or the suburb, where the rent prices are much lower. In practice, these clubs are often located in small rooms, which have not been adapted for the fitness classes initially, but thanks to the efforts of their owners, they are comfortable and convenient for the chosen sports activity. The other undoubted advantage of boutique gyms is represented by their atmosphere and connection. The feeling of happiness and comfort attracts the clients and presents the perception of the future successful development
While analyzing the demand for the fitness services, it is necessary to mention the issue of seasonality. Actually, this issue considers the fact that the number of clients varies considerably during different seasons of a year. The peak number of customers fall for autumn, winter and spring, while there is an essential outflow of the consumers of fitness services in summertime. In order to compensate the decrease in demand for the fitness services during the summer period, when many potential and real customers are on vacation and travel, fitness clubs use the annual subscriptions sales. In fact, the customers lower the commercial risks of the fitness services providers, increase their profitability and stability of their work by paying the annual cost in advance or by installments.
Moreover, there are a lot of technological innovations, which are widely applied in the fitness industry. The wearable technology represents the fitness-trackers, smart watch, heart rhythm monitors and GPS-navigators. In fact, the fitness programs for the senior people compose a new growing direction of the fitness industry. Thus, the senior people have the possibility to engage in fitness and keep healthy. The programs of body weight reduction are among the trendy directions of fitness, as they combine the physical activity with the balanced nutrition. In addition, yoga is popular among both the young people and the senior population.
Effects on Product Categories
In fact, the fitness industry greatly influences different products and services. Moreover, the fitness highly affects the sales of the sports supplements, such as fat burner, protein cocktail, amino acids, etc. Moreover, sports nutrition includes the production of different food supplements that aim at the growth of the muscle mass or the loss of weight. As the people engage in fitness, they start to buy the sports supplements because they believe that the supplements make regular fitness effective. Moreover, the sports nutrition is becoming more popular, mainly thanks to the increasing popularity of fitness.
Moreover, fitness affects the industry of fast-food. In fact, the popularity of fast-food has been steadily decreasing over the previous decade. As the food of fast cooking contains high level of fats, carbohydrates, sugar and salt, it provides a lot of calories but no nutritional value. Often, the consumption of fast food leads to the gain of extra kilograms. Actually, fitness industry decreases the consumption of fast-food that reduces the sales rates in the fast-food industry.
The application of robotics in the fitness industry presents the perspective for the future. The robots will interact with people and fulfill the role of the coaches that substitutes the human work and reduces the additional expenses. The interactive reality will also receive the future development in the fitness industry. Moreover, the cycling devices will be connected to the virtual reality that will allow the users to feel the real cycling in real geographical conditions with the help of an interactive screen and the choice of the city for cycling.
The Ethical Implications of the Fitness Trend
In fact, fitness positively affects a human organism. Firstly, fitness strengthens a body, as the regular physical activities allow gaining the muscle bulk, getting rid of extra kilos and becoming fit. Secondly, fitness reduces stress and improves mood as it stimulates the production of serotonin. Besides, people breathe more deeply during fitness exercises, which lead to the better saturation of the blood with oxygen. In addition, the fitness lessons allow forming the harmonious personality, developing the communicative abilities and independence in decision-making.
Fitness Trend Development in the Global Perspective
The fitness industry is expected to continue its steady growth both in the short-term and in the long-term perspectives. The major factors of the market growth include the paying ability of the population, the prestige of the fitness directions, the increase of the population’s attention to health, etc. Moreover, fitness clubs expand beyond being only the centers of sport. In fact, they transfer their activities into the membership clubs, the centers of free leisure communication, the centers of active development of children and boutique gyms.
In the following years, the fitness industry will begin to play a more significant role - the sports clubs will represent one of the main anchor tenants both in business centers and in shopping malls. The inclusion of fitness clubs or boutique gyms into the infrastructure of business centers becomes the widespread action of their developers and designers. The location of a gym or a fitness center in one building with the place of work is a very attractive option against the background of transport traffic jams in the city. However, only big office centers can afford to have such a tenant as a business center. Actually, the rent of a fitness club or a gym is often planned at the initial stage. The need of such an early planning is explained by the need to consider the features of the operation of a fitness center, the existence of a separate entrance for the business center workers and fitness center visitors, the need for the engineering systems design, etc.
Recently, the fitness industry has experienced the positive development thanks to the increase in the level of the income of the population. The demand for fitness services increased, as the people tend to be fit and lead a healthy way of life. Moreover, the niche of fitness for senior people experiences an increasing popularity that provides an opportunity for the fitness centers to develop special programs for the seniors. Besides, the boutique gyms aim at competing with the fitness centers by attracting people by the happy atmosphere and connections. Moreover, the development of robotics and virtual reality will affect the future perspectives of the fitness industry. Thus, the analysis of a fitness trend has proved that fitness industry has wide opportunities in the long-term perspective.
About the author: Juliette Patioson is a bachelor in English philology and sociology at California University. She is currently working as one of the best writers at the place where you can find academic title generator She also studies feminine psychology.
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