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Fitness is BS.
  • Woman checking her gym Instagram feed on her phone in a dark gym
    Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing | Social Media

    Keep Your Gym’s Instagram Feed Consistent, Not Its Stories

    ByRay Smith August 13, 2026August 13, 2026

    A 2026 study indicates that a consistent Instagram feed significantly enhances engagement, while varying content in stories keeps viewers interested. Visual cohesion aids brand recognition, whereas fresh narratives in stories draw attention. A successful strategy combines a fixed aesthetic for posts with dynamic storytelling to optimise overall engagement.

    Read More Keep Your Gym’s Instagram Feed Consistent, Not Its StoriesContinue

  • Gym member with a hard to read gym ad
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing

    Why Hard-to-Read Ads Cost Gyms the Sale

    ByRay Smith August 5, 2026August 13, 2026

    A forthcoming study in the Journal of Consumer Research, eleven experiments with more than 9,000 people, points to a reason even a clean, single-offer ad can lose the sale: hard-to-read ads change how people decide, not just how much they like the look of you. Shahryar Mohsenin and Kurt Munz tested what a hard-to-read font…

    Read More Why Hard-to-Read Ads Cost Gyms the SaleContinue

  • Confident new members quit first
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing | Fitness Sales

    Why Confident New Members Quit First

    ByRay Smith July 26, 2026July 26, 2026

    Your keenest new members often quit first. A 2026 overconfidence study points to why: when results are slow, the most confident members are quickest to decide the goal isn’t reachable for them. What that means for retention, and the week-six conversation that helps

    Read More Why Confident New Members Quit FirstContinue

  • Gym challenge leaderboard and near-empty class, illustrating gym challenge retention after the challenge ends
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing

    Gym Challenge Retention: Why Members Quit After It Ends

    ByRay Smith July 16, 2026August 13, 2026

    A 2026 study tracked real attendance before and after a gym challenge. Why members quit once it ends, and the retention move that keeps them training.

    Read More Gym Challenge Retention: Why Members Quit After It EndsContinue

  • Woman resting with a water bottle beside a giant red zero, illustrating gym bundle pricing and why 'free' beats '$0'
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing | Fitness Sales

    Why ‘Free’ Outperforms ‘$0’ in Pricing

    ByRay Smith July 12, 2026July 13, 2026

    You bundle things. The membership comes with an intro PT session, the 10-class pack throws in a nutrition consult, the upgrade tier includes a programme review you’d otherwise charge for. One of the most important decisions you make is how to approach gym bundle pricing. At some point you decided how to write that second…

    Read More Why ‘Free’ Outperforms ‘$0’ in PricingContinue

  • Group strength training class used to illustrate novelty bias and BODYPUMP relaunches
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Group Fitness

    Why BODYPUMP Still Feels New: Using Novelty Bias to Revive a Gym Class

    ByRay Smith June 28, 2026June 28, 2026

    BODYPUMP has stayed relevant for more than 30 years without becoming a different class. Recent research into novelty bias helps explain why quarterly releases work and why relaunching a fading class may be smarter than replacing it.

    Read More Why BODYPUMP Still Feels New: Using Novelty Bias to Revive a Gym ClassContinue

  • Auto renewing member enjoying her gym session
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing | Fitness Sales

    Science Behind Turning an Auto-Renewing Member Into a Loyal One

    ByRay Smith June 14, 2026August 13, 2026

    Auto-renewal makes your retention look healthy, but a renewal only tells you a member hasn’t cancelled. Here’s what behavioural research says actually turns an auto-renewing member into a loyal one, and the two onboarding mistakes that cost you both.

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  • How Gym Win-Back Emails Trigger Inaction Inertia In Lapsed Leads
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing | Fitness Sales

    How Gym Win-Back Emails Trigger Inaction Inertia In Lapsed Leads

    ByRay Smith May 17, 2026August 13, 2026

    Tykocinski, Pittman, and Tuttle’s research on inaction inertia shows that individuals often reject slightly less attractive offers due to the regret of missing a better deal. Their findings suggest that gym marketing strategies should reframe offers from loss-focused to gain-oriented messaging, enhancing conversion rates by alleviating regret about past missed opportunities.

    Read More How Gym Win-Back Emails Trigger Inaction Inertia In Lapsed LeadsContinue

  • Person scrolling through marketing emails on a phone, illustrating the inbox behaviour behind gym newsletter open rates
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Emails | Fitness Marketing | Fitness Sales

    What 31,812 Marketing Emails Reveal About Why Your Gym Newsletter Gets Ignored

    ByRay Smith May 9, 2026August 13, 2026

    Research indicates that traditional gym marketing emails, often using urgent and capitalised subject lines, actually result in lower open rates than simpler, straightforward approaches. Notably, Apple’s minimalistic emails outperform loud ones, as consumers develop a mental filter for typical marketing language, leading to higher rates of ignored emails when they follow common patterns.

    Read More What 31,812 Marketing Emails Reveal About Why Your Gym Newsletter Gets IgnoredContinue

  • Woman reviewing gym membership options on laptop — choice architecture gym membership
    Behavioural Economics | Cognitive Biases | Fitness Marketing | Fitness Sales

    How Gym Membership Pages Lose Sales to Price

    ByRay Smith May 6, 2026May 6, 2026

    The order you present gym membership options determines what prospects decide with. Research shows price wins by default — not because it should.

    Read More How Gym Membership Pages Lose Sales to PriceContinue

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© 2026 Fitness is BS. ray.smith@fitnessisbs.com

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