Abstract

This thesis is concerned with how customers seek value in public health and fitness clubs. Although the study of value takes many discursive avenues, value as practices are investigated in the present research. To establish the value seeking practices of public health and fitness club customers, data was collected via an ethnographic study. This involved the researcher attempting to view the practices of the public health and fitness club customers through their lens. Therefore, the researcher immersed himself in the study context for a period of five months as a participant observer. In addition, twenty in depth interviews with public health and fitness club customers where conducted. This combination of methods provided rich and detailed data for analysis. The data was viewed from an interpretive perspective and was subsequently coded using open, axial, and selective coding principles. The findings led to the identification of three key themes: practices concerning customers joining and committing to the health club, practices relating to the facilitation of customers performances within the health club, and the customers own visible performance practices. Within each broad theme, many sub-practices are identified and explained. The empirical data suggests that customers seek particular practices that give them value however these do not always match the provider’s requirements. It is further suggested that disjuncture’s between the customers and the providers practice could be viewed as the customer proposing practice for service development. Overall, the thesis extends existing research by providing new insights into customer’s value seeking practices in public sector health and fitness clubs and proposes a new model of value practice as a means of service development.