Gender Differences in Consumer Preferences: Empirical Analysis of the Fitness Services Market in Russia

Past researches have shown that gender plays a significant role in the study of various issues, such as attitudes to the use of technology for learning, risk-taking, competitiveness, and differences in other areas of life and preferences. Moreover, this applies to the attitude to sports, and in particular to fitness and the choice of a place to practice. At the moment, only a few scientific papers consider exactly what the consumer's preferences on the market of fitness services depend on, especially, what factors influence the choice of a place for fitness classes. It also seems that no study has looked at the gender differences that affect the discussed choice. The purpose of this paper is to study gender differences in consumer preferences on the fitness market in the Russian Federation. The study employed a survey methodology, as well as statistical tests were conducted and a multinomial model was built. In conclusion, it is planned to get significant results regarding the fact that men prefer large fitness clubs with classic weight training programs, while women visit fitness boutiques with a more delicate approach to the client and other types of training. This study raises the following research question: “Are there gender differences in the choice of modern consumers (from 14 to 35 years old) between a large sports center, a fitness boutique or home classes?”.