Structural relationship between market demand and member commitment associated with the marketing of martial arts programs

Abstract

PurposeThis study was conducted to ensure that the selected antecedent concepts, including market demand and psychological factors, were fully focused and studied in detail and depth. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework that specifies direct and indirect relationships among market demand, perceived benefits, perceived constraint, perceived value, consumer satisfaction and member commitment in martial arts programs.Design/methodology/approachResearch participants (n=595) were martial arts school participants, who resided in the USA. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the measurement model and the proposed model was tested by conducting structural equation modeling analyses.FindingsFindings of this study indicated that perceived benefits and perceived constraints partially mediated the relationship between the market demand factors and perceived value, which in turn influenced member satisfaction and commitment. Economic Condition Consideration was found to be the most critical predictor of market demand.Originality/valueGenerating what-to-do and how-to-do implications that were specific to martial arts school and marketing practices were the priority of the investigators of this study. Administrators of martial arts programs may consider adopting the resultant theoretical framework as a general guide in their marketing efforts to recruit and retain program participants.