Effect of service experience, engagement and satisfaction on the future intentions of customers of a sports services

This research proposes a management model for a sports centre, through the variables of customer experience, satisfaction, engagement and its influence on the loyalty of its users. This work is carried out with the aim of providing sports managers with information that will enable them to improve the viability of their service. A sample of 378 customers of the sports service was used, 208 men and 170 women from a private sports centre. First, the psychometric properties of the scales used were obtained by means of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), followed by an analysis of their reliability and validity, and then the model fit was established using structural equations. Finally, the Sobel test was used to determine whether user satisfaction was mediated. Significant direct relationships between the constructs were found to exist, as well as an indirect effect of satisfaction within the model analysed. This model presented a goodness of fit, as well as the reliability analyses of the scales presented results supported by the literature. The results of this research demonstrate the mediating effect of satisfaction on the relationship between service experiences and customers' future commitment and intentions. It is important to know the experiences of customers through the sports service as it allows managers to develop precise strategies and actions to improve these experiences and raise the levels of commitment to the service, and consequently to strengthen the loyalty of customers for a long time.