As we head into summer, some of us decide to make a late dash to the gym or leisure centre to try and get that body in shape for the beach or even just a pair of shorts. However, there is a small group who have already been feverishly working away at getting that perfect look.
The proportion of adults who go to a gym or make use of leisure centre facilities more than once a week stands at 8% of adults in the Republic of Ireland – a figure which has remained largely consistent over the past few years (it was 7% in 2012), according to data from Kantar Media’s TGI study of consumer behaviour and attitudes.
These hardcore fitness fanatics are of particular interest to marketers, exposed as they often are to plenty of in gym/health centre advertising and generally being interested in anything that supports their health and fitness.
TGI data reveals that this group are over twice as likely as the average adult to be vegetarian, 78% more likely to say they spend a lot of money on toiletries and cosmetics for personal use and 64% more likely to say they choose wine or spirits because they are less fattening than beers.
Their attitudes also reveal a great deal about how they can best be engaged with media. They are over twice as likely as the average adult to say they tend to buy products from companies who sponsor radio programmes, over twice as likely to assert that celebrities influence their purchase decisions and just under twice as likely to agree that pop up ads help them to find interesting things on the internet.
TGI data also reveals that they are 77% more likely than the average adult to be amongst the heaviest fifth of consumers of cinema and 35% more likely to be amongst the top fifth of consumers of magazines.
Youth is generally on the side of these fitness fanatics. Half are aged under 35 and they are 86% more likely than the average adult to be aged 15-24. They are also great socialisers, 41% more likely to go to a pub or bar for a drink once a week or more and 85% more likely to frequent nightclubs.
There are thus plenty of opportunities to engage this distinctive target effectively and many services and products that might appeal to them.
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