Title: Mouth advertising, an effective tool for loyalty of sport customers, case study: women's health clubs in Mashhad

Authors: Bahareh Gholizadeh; Mahdi Talebpour; Mohammad Kashtidar; Hossein Abdolmaleki

Addresses: Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran ' Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran ' Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran ' Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of mouth advertising on loyalty with mediating variable of consumer purchasing behaviour of women's health clubs in Mashhad. The study was a descriptive-correlation research. The research population included all customers of 91 female health clubs in Mashhad, obtained through random sampling with appropriate allocation. To analysis of data, structural equation modelling was used in inferential statistics. The results showed that mouth advertising (β = 0.48, p < 0.05), the alternative choices (β = 0.14, p < 0.05), and commercial purchase (β = 0.13, p < 0.05) had a significant effect on loyalty, while the re-presence (β = 0.03, p < 0.67) had no significant effect on loyalty. According to the results of the research, managers and owners of clubs can be recommend to provide services to clients showing their best performance so that existing customers attract new clients by mouth advertising in the city.

Keywords: consumer purchasing behaviour; loyalty; mouth advertising.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLTM.2018.089224

International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 2018 Vol.6 No.1, pp.51 - 64

Accepted: 04 Aug 2017
Published online: 09 Jan 2018 *