Marketing Mix during financial crisis : A case study of gyms and sport clubs in Balearic Islands

Abstract: The current financial crisis has stroke the World without leaving alone any sector, firmor household. Some sectors have been more affected than other ones. In the sport sector,gymnasiums and sport clubs have to adapt to the new situation while companies that didnot have been force to shut down or fire employees to stay afloat. According to Ferrell& Hartline (2002), if the company is not able to adapt, it will not be able to reach itsobjectives and by so, the company will no longer be profitable. The purpose of thisstudy was to examine how Balearic gymnasiums and sports clubs adapt their marketingstrategy focusing on their marketing mix to the renovated consumer buying behaviourduring the financial crisis. A quantitative method was used for this research, and the empirical data was gatheredfrom 76 gymnasiums and sports centres in the Balearic Islands. Primary data wasobtained though a survey via on-line to their respective emails. The results show that the different individuals analyzed have recognized a change intheir consumers’ behaviour and have applied different changes in their marketing mix.The findings can be of utility for similar companies that face a similar situation. It helpto understand how important is for a firm to have a proactive and flexible marketingstrategy to be able to adapt itself to the continuously changing environment in order toeither improve their position or survive on the market.