EuropeActive Retention Report 2016: Adherence factors of group fitness

The purpose of the EuropeActive Retention Report 2016 is to study the topic of group fitness. For many decades, the fitness industry has been debating member retention, and often it is stated that group fitness will retain more members then other types of programmes. It is clear that this is of importance in many ways in terms of exercise adherence, but also in membership retention (and predictability of payments). Until now, a systematic review on this topic has never been undertaken.It should be mentioned that the association itself is more complex than it seems at first hand. Questions such as, what is a group? And, how big should a group be? Or, if groups show higher rates in member retention, why is that? In other words, which systems or principles “do the job”? The fitness industry should not search for black and white answers. It should identify key drivers that are of influence to apply them in all situations and contexts to maximize member retention in fitness clubs. This can also positively affect for example small group training, boot-camp programmes, et cetera. This study is the first to give an extended overview of related scientific research, and is guided by the following research question: What is known in existing literature on adherence factors of group fitness in fitness clubs and factors related to group fitness and exercise behaviour in general, and which recommendations can be selected to increase the adaption and maintenance of group exercise behaviour?