Volume 24, Issue 6: December, 1997

Abstract

A SIMPLE REINFORCEMENT STRATEGY FOR INCREASING ATTENDANCE AT A FITNESS FACILITY

Kerry S. Courneya, PhD, Paul A. Estabrooks, MSc, and Claudio R. Nigg, MSc

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of a previously untested reinforcement strategy (i.e., one month's free membership) on attendance at a fitness facility. Participants were paying members of a fitness facility randomly assigned to control (n=100), placebo (n=100) and reinforcement (n=100) conditions. The control condition received no intervention, the placebo condition received a letter by mail, and the reinforcement condition received the same letter by mail except that it included an additional paragraph instructing them that they could earn one month's free membership if they attended the fitness facility at least 12 times in the next months. Attendance was monitored for one month baseline and postintervention using the facility's computer system. Analysis of variance, t-test, and chi-square analyses all revealed that the reinforcement condition had the best attendance record during the intervention period. These preliminary results shed some light on increasing attendance at a fitness facility. Discussion highlights the practical implications of the findings and offer directions for future research.