Two groups of participants were included in Study 1: (a) the participants for the
initial scale construction and (b) the participants for the pilot study of the initial
scale. The participants included in the initial scale-construction phase were varied
and represented various personnel in the health–fitness industry. First, field observations
were made in 10 fitness clubs. In each club, a focus group (n = 7) was
formed, including 2 health–fitness club administrators and 5 members with different
club-membership types and different sociodemographic backgrounds, to gain
additional information. Health–fitness club members (n = 15) from various clubs
and various activities were interviewed individually. Finally, 15 top management
people (e.g., owners, executive directors, general managers, program directors,
etc.) who had been in the health–fitness industry for at least 5 years participated in
a Delphi method to determine the content-relevance of the newly developed items