Another dollar on the table
This paper (via Paul Kedrosky) examines people’s gym attendance. One of the main findings:
Members who choose a contract with a flat monthly fee of over $70 attend on average 4.8 times per month. They pay a price per expected visit of more than $17, even though a $10-per-visit fee is also available. On average, these users forgo savings of $700 during their membership.
As I’ve said before, I really think there’s money to be made in a “StickK” type gym plan that charges you a big fee up front and then pays a bit of it back to you every time you go and work out. I wonder if I can patent this idea and sell it to gyms …
(HT: Felix Salmon)
2 Comments
Gyms already do “StikK”-like payment schedule. It’s very hard to cancel a membership, so the monthly fee is largely sunk cost (even though it’s not paid up-front, it’s next to impossible to get out of). Although gyms don’t pay members for attending, but each additional visit to the gym does not cost anything extra.
jane: Getting a payback when you attend would be a much more powerful incentive to go to the gym than a flat monthly fee.