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That's how Planet Fitness sells gym memberships for $15/month. People are not good at predicting their future behavior. I don't like their gyms, but the busines

That's how Planet Fitness sells gym memberships for $15/month. People are not good at predicting their future behavior. I don't like their gyms, but the business model can make money. If movie pass owned the product they were selling they might have been able to pull it off.

raverbashing 8y ago
And they also make sure people who do actually want to exercise are discouraged to go (lunk alarm, free food, etc)
- Bartweiss 8y ago
  This is significant - it's not just that gyms want memberships from people who forget they're paying or get locked in, it's that they want low occupancy. If only 1% of your members want to use a squat rack at peak hours, you need gear and space for one rack per 100 members. But if 10% of your members are in squatting at noon on Saturday, you have 10x the capital and maintenance costs. And that's even before hardcore members create other costs like wanting unusual equipment most people won't use. The obvious answer is pricing discrimination - people who work out more care enough to pay more. But it's hard for one gym to sell tiered access to facilities, plus the different groups often don't want to work out together. Hence, Planet Fitness. It's hard for me to see what MoviePass could do in this vein. They have the same low-occupancy objective, but much less consumer optimism (who makes a New Year's Resolution to see more movies?) and much less ability to shape behavior; either you want to see a movie or you don't. The only option I can think of is horizontal integration - gyms target either high- or low-use consumers with open access, but MoviePass can more easily sell "x visits per month" for a range of X.
gambiting 8y ago
Nope, gym memberships work the way they do, because people feel like they should have a gym membership and cancelling one is considered a failure, plus actually going to a gym is not fun. I've had a membership for over a year and I haven't been once, but I would feel bad about cancelling. There is no expectation on anyone to own a cinema pass, and there is no reason not to use it if you have it. Right now the cinema is so expensive that I only go to see the biggest blockbusters - I might be interested in the smaller films but I can't justify paying to see a film I might not like. But with a movie pass? I'd go all the time.
- cheriot 8y ago
  There's more than one reason gym memberships work they way they do. Subscriptions, especially low cost ones, tend to run longer than if a person paid per usage. That's why there's so many subscription scams. PF has the lunk alarm. Netflix's dvd service use to give preference to its less active customers on new releases. If MoviePass owned their product they could play that game as well. Like price discrimination, but modifying the value.
- pavs 8y ago
  Another angle to look at it, I had netflix subscription for a long time, but I would very rarely use it but I also didn't want to cancel just incase I wanted to see something that might be interesting. Its an irrational way of thinking, because you can always sign up anytime you want, after closing your subscription. But I know quite a few people who do it. Netflix needs very little commitment to use, just a few mouse clicks and you are in. With moviepass you actually need to go to a movie theter and hope the sits are not full and needs your physical commitment to use their service. Like Gym membership, the first few months of every year people might jump into it but that not so much - but most likely will continue to pay for it. I am not saying moviepass will be a success but there are some solid logic to their business model and it just might work, as long as they have the fund for the initial loss from new users.
- lagadu 8y ago
  > plus actually going to a gym is not fun Going off-topic here but: you're doing it wrong. The gym is supposed to be fun; have you tried joining different classes or swimming? If you're not into working out solo (I'm usually not for example) there are usually group classes of all types available. Talk to them: they'll be happy to help you find something that you'll enjoy doing or alternatively just cancel the membership, if you find that embarrassing just don't mention it to anyone. Nobody would ever go to the gym regularly if they didn't find it to be a genuinely fun activity.
  - astura 8y ago
    I went to the gym regularly for for more than a decade. Throughout the years I did "tradition" workouts, classes, swimming, yoga, spinning, pilates, solo workouts, workouts with a friend, everything you could possibly think of I tried. Still not fun and was never fun. Working out while watching TV even makes TV unenjoyable. Even the activities I did as a kid weren't fun: soccer, dance, gymnastics (which I was good at). I did it for the same reason I clean the dishes, because it's something I "should" do and it improvedy quality of life.

raverbashing 8y ago

And they also make sure people who do actually want to exercise are discouraged to go (lunk alarm, free food, etc)

Bartweiss 8y ago
This is significant - it's not just that gyms want memberships from people who forget they're paying or get locked in, it's that they want low occupancy. If only 1% of your members want to use a squat rack at peak hours, you need gear and space for one rack per 100 members. But if 10% of your members are in squatting at noon on Saturday, you have 10x the capital and maintenance costs. And that's even before hardcore members create other costs like wanting unusual equipment most people won't use. The obvious answer is pricing discrimination - people who work out more care enough to pay more. But it's hard for one gym to sell tiered access to facilities, plus the different groups often don't want to work out together. Hence, Planet Fitness. It's hard for me to see what MoviePass could do in this vein. They have the same low-occupancy objective, but much less consumer optimism (who makes a New Year's Resolution to see more movies?) and much less ability to shape behavior; either you want to see a movie or you don't. The only option I can think of is horizontal integration - gyms target either high- or low-use consumers with open access, but MoviePass can more easily sell "x visits per month" for a range of X.

gambiting 8y ago

Nope, gym memberships work the way they do, because people feel like they should have a gym membership and cancelling one is considered a failure, plus actually going to a gym is not fun. I've had a membership for over a year and I haven't been once, but I would feel bad about cancelling. There is no expectation on anyone to own a cinema pass, and there is no reason not to use it if you have it. Right now the cinema is so expensive that I only go to see the biggest blockbusters - I might be interested in the smaller films but I can't justify paying to see a film I might not like. But with a movie pass? I'd go all the time.

cheriot 8y ago
There's more than one reason gym memberships work they way they do. Subscriptions, especially low cost ones, tend to run longer than if a person paid per usage. That's why there's so many subscription scams. PF has the lunk alarm. Netflix's dvd service use to give preference to its less active customers on new releases. If MoviePass owned their product they could play that game as well. Like price discrimination, but modifying the value.
pavs 8y ago
Another angle to look at it, I had netflix subscription for a long time, but I would very rarely use it but I also didn't want to cancel just incase I wanted to see something that might be interesting. Its an irrational way of thinking, because you can always sign up anytime you want, after closing your subscription. But I know quite a few people who do it. Netflix needs very little commitment to use, just a few mouse clicks and you are in. With moviepass you actually need to go to a movie theter and hope the sits are not full and needs your physical commitment to use their service. Like Gym membership, the first few months of every year people might jump into it but that not so much - but most likely will continue to pay for it. I am not saying moviepass will be a success but there are some solid logic to their business model and it just might work, as long as they have the fund for the initial loss from new users.
lagadu 8y ago
> plus actually going to a gym is not fun Going off-topic here but: you're doing it wrong. The gym is supposed to be fun; have you tried joining different classes or swimming? If you're not into working out solo (I'm usually not for example) there are usually group classes of all types available. Talk to them: they'll be happy to help you find something that you'll enjoy doing or alternatively just cancel the membership, if you find that embarrassing just don't mention it to anyone. Nobody would ever go to the gym regularly if they didn't find it to be a genuinely fun activity.
- astura 8y ago
  I went to the gym regularly for for more than a decade. Throughout the years I did "tradition" workouts, classes, swimming, yoga, spinning, pilates, solo workouts, workouts with a friend, everything you could possibly think of I tried. Still not fun and was never fun. Working out while watching TV even makes TV unenjoyable. Even the activities I did as a kid weren't fun: soccer, dance, gymnastics (which I was good at). I did it for the same reason I clean the dishes, because it's something I "should" do and it improvedy quality of life.