Jennie Igielski
Mr. Reuter
Economics
3 Jan 2016
New Year’s Resolutions
Everyone wants to start the New Year off right. We all make our New Year’s resolution to improve something about ourselves. Whether it is to volunteer more and help others, go to college or find a job in someway we make a promise to ourselves to improve.
One of the most popular resolutions is to get fit. The first step to getting in shape is to work out and to do this many people decide to get a gym membership. In January of every new year, it is estimated that this is when about 30-40% of new gym memberships begin. Because of these resolutions the second week of January is the busiest time of the year for gyms.
Since getting in shape is in demand, workout facilities need to make sure that they have all the equipment needed to supply to the people. While many people have resolutions like this to get fit, in many cases they actually don’t follow through and end up dropping out be the end of February. This cases a spike on the demand side but then quickly it lowers again. When there is a quick demand, gyms invest money into improving the equipment but it doesn’t take long before people end up ending their membership. 
In the end, with everything there is always an opportunity cost. When someone makes the resolution to get fit but they need up wasting their money on a gym membership they don’t use. On the other hand, when someone signs up for the facility, the gym then feels they have money to invest but really once the people with new memberships drop out, they will lose money as well.
Works cited
"What Percentage of New Gym Members in January Stop Coming after February?" - Quora. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
Feature, Neil Osterweil WebMD. "New Year's Resolutions: In One Year, Out the Other." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 04 Jan. 2016.
This is a humorous topic to talk about, since so many people attempt to achieve the goal of getting fit, but they drop out so quickly. The monetary supply from the consumers to the gym increases a massive amount at this time, but when this happens, do the gyms really feel they have the money to invest more into their business? The business might be getting more money, but the owner would probably end up wanting to keep most of their revenue instead of the chance of investing in something that will become essentially obsolete the next month when all the resolution drop-outs quit the gym.
ReplyDeleteTo me New Years resolutions are just a hype. If you really want to make an impact on yourself or on others you shouldn't wait for the new year to come around. You should want to do it right away and be on top of it at all times. But I agree most people don't have the time to keep up with them and the opportunity cost is too high so they just drop their resolution and end up with the hope of picking it up again next year.
ReplyDeleteMoney is and will always be the deciding factor in most decisions made. 'how much will that cost?' or 'Is it worth spending that much?' are things people always consider, 'this is a good thing for me'... but good things always comes at a price. Resolutions these days are only successful if they have no materialistic component.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy how many people think that by buying a gym membership alone will help them get in shape, but in order to actually work out they actually have to go to the gym. For the fist few weeks some people make the effort of going to the gym, but they will not succeed at getting in shape if they don't go more than a couple of times. Gyms probably make enough money in January alone more than they do for the rest of the year combined which is good profit for the gyms and they get so much profit because they are in high demand.
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ReplyDeleteThis was a good topic because many people do make that their New Year's Resolution, and do not end up achieving it. In the short term, businesses have to spend more money to up their supply, since the demand will be very high, but in the long run, they are going to have a surplus in supply, because the demand as dropped so much, due to the fact that people have given up their New Year's Resolution, and stopped going to the gym. Also Boy's Basketball Game @ Greendale, Friday January 18th, 7:30. (10-0)
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how immensely the demand for gym memberships spikes in January. I always knew that more people committed to being fit in January, however, I didn't realize that 30-40% of new memberships begin in January. I also think that demand for workout clothes, healthy food, and sports drinks most likely increases due to the increase in gym memberships because those are all complements of gym memberships. On the other hand, desserts, sodas, and other unhealthy foods are substitutes of healthy foods, so their demand would decrease with the increase in gym memberships.
ReplyDeleteI believe anyone could attest to this if they have ever been to a gym ever. early in the year you get tons of people but then the reality of what is really important to them comes around then they quit. If you notice gyms advertise a lot more around this time and also have a lot more deals. This fairly annoying for the people that are there year long because you get a random influx of more people trying to get in the gym and usually the gym will be more packed. This will bring in people such as old men wearing dress clothes that fall asleep on the leg press machine who will most likely not be back the following month because he realized why he wasn't in a gym the last 11 months of the previous year resulting in a loss of sale.
ReplyDeleteI believe anyone could attest to this if they have ever been to a gym ever. early in the year you get tons of people but then the reality of what is really important to them comes around then they quit. If you notice gyms advertise a lot more around this time and also have a lot more deals. This fairly annoying for the people that are there year long because you get a random influx of more people trying to get in the gym and usually the gym will be more packed. This will bring in people such as old men wearing dress clothes that fall asleep on the leg press machine who will most likely not be back the following month because he realized why he wasn't in a gym the last 11 months of the previous year resulting in a loss of sale.
ReplyDeleteGyms don't usually need to buy new equipment unless they are going to expand, or new equipment has come on the market. Gyms usually always have more than enough workout machines to satisfy their clientele, and if not they can wait till the machine opens up. New years causes the gyms to give out discounts and specials for their new members because of competition between gyms. That's why January is the best month to get a membership because there are so man deals.
ReplyDeleteNew Years resolutions are always funny because no matter what goals we set for ourselves, plans we make, or changes we try to implement in our lives, it never seems to follow through. Although we would like to think that we can make these promises to stay fit as you said many people tend to do around New Years, it is only carried out for a few weeks. Sad, but all too true. Only the extremely motivated can overcome laziness and procrastination. As for the rest of us, there's always next year, right?
ReplyDeleteTake in account when someone makes a new years resolution to go to the gym and buys a membership. When they do this they usually sign a contract for a year or more. Then they are stuck paying for a gym membership they most likely do not even use in the first place. Certain times of the year make people more likely to spend and make decisions that they would not usually make in a different time of the year. These kind of choices influence the economy and are actually somewhat of importance.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is an interesting topic coming into the New Year. It is very common for people to want to become more fit and healthy with the start of the year however I never realized how dramatic the demand shifted in the month of January. Making the demand of work out clothes and shoes to increase along with the purchase of healthier foods. However this leads to the question of what month has the biggest decline of memberships, when do people give up?
ReplyDeleteWas just discussing this with a friend actually, and how she got a new gym membership for this year. It's funny to know after a month people will soon cancel their membership. I feel working out and getting in shape for a "new year" is the most ridiculous and false thing I ever heard. No one is going to stick with that resolution for awhile. I bounce back and forth to Golds Gym and I have been with them since they opened in waukesha. They had a much smaller room to start off with. It was about the size of Anytime Fitness and now has a row all the way down full of different exercise machines. It evaluated and has become very popular, but they won't go bigger I feel because the amount of people always differs.
ReplyDeleteNew years resolutions are a great way to get people back on track or to remind people of goals that they want to achieve. Although I think that writing down the resolution somewhere you would come across everyday and think about it, until it becomes second nature.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an interesting point that is very evident, especially in a society where getting in shape is "in". You definitely convince us that demand spikes because of the New Year and resolutions but why do people stop going to the gym when February rolls around? This is where an analysis of costs and benefits come in. At the beginning of the year people see getting in shape as a main priority and the best use of their time. However, as the year goes on and schedules become more filled people prioritize differently. They begin to think that an extra hour of free time or in the office is worth more than the hour spent at the gym. This cycle continues until next year's wake up call arrives and everyone heads back to the gym.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see just how many people join a gym only for the first few months of the year. It seems that new years resolutions are destined to fail because if they truly wanted to get fit, they would do it without waiting for a new year as motivation. It may be worth while to see exactly how many people make the same mistake and join the gym again the next year, only to drop out once again after the first few months. Maybe after a while they will find a program that they like and continue with, but it seems that the thing that accomplishes these type of goals is discipline, not new years motivation.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to realize how many people sign up for gym memberships in January in comparison to other months. The resolution probably occurs after the holidays, and thus it is interesting that many people do not follow through with their resolutions. I think that a further analysis of gym memberships in other months would have been insightful to figure if certain holidays correlate with fluctuations in gym memberships. I think that this would have added to your analysis of demand for gym memberships. Overall, however, I thought that your post was very interesting and that your economic terminology was sound. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI recently witnessed the sudden increase of people in my cycling class on the 2nd of January. The sudden increase of people wanting to get in shape could potentially increase the amount of members at a gym, which would increase their revenue because of the demand. But, with the decrease of motivation for the New Year's Revolution I believe that gyms find more people canceling their memberships a few months into the new year. Although some people may stick with their gym memberships, I believe that the change in demand for the gym is very inconsistent throughout the year, but also repeat a cycle that the owners can prepare for in order to maintain profitable.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is completely relevant considering how in just the past few weeks the amount of flyers I've received in the mail from various different gyms has dramatically increased. I think that gyms lower prices at the beginning of the year along with peoples' hopeful resolutions drives up demand for memberships. On that note, I wonder if there are any trends with what types of gyms people are joining? Are they places like Gold's and Planet Fitness, or more deluxe places like Westwood? Regardless, the gym will be cleared out within a month from now so the revenue increase will be short but sweet.
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ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see the dramatic increase of gym memberships during this time. I knew it was increased but I had no idea the extremity of it. I wonder if businesses like these make people commit to contracts for a minimum amount of time? It would be interesting to compare the amount of business that companies like that get versus the ones that only make a monthly commitment. Overall great post!
ReplyDeleteColin Marks
ReplyDeleteThis topic was well timed with the new year just beginning, I was already aware of the gym membership spike, coinciding with new years resolutions. I was surprised by how much. It would be interesting to see if different gyms have different trends, for example maybe people who get memberships at Golds Gym usually end their membership after 2 months but maybe people who get memberships at Westwood keep their memberships longer.
I find this very interesting because I didn't realize how many people actually joined the gym. I knew that it was a very popular resolution for people to join the gym, but I didn't know that many people actually followed through on it. Although many people do get a membership in the beginning of January, I am not surprised by the fact that so many people end up leaving the gym in February. In order to show this better, you could have looked at specific gyms and shown their decrease in clients from January to February. Overall, I thought you chose a topic very relevant to the time period as well as including economic terms into the post.
ReplyDeleteI like your topic Jen! I would think that a lot of people joined gyms in the beginning of the year but never knew how quick it dropped off like shown in your picture. I am not surprised that a lot of people do drop out but not to the extent that they do. Your picture was a great representation to go along with your claim. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThis is really an interesting topic since it's so true. Every New Year, I know at least one person who's New Year resolution is to either lose weight or to just work out more, and every year they give up before March comes around. So I can definitely see why the memberships drop in February. I do wonder just how much gyms spend on equipment versus how much money they get from the memberships in January. Are they losing money?
ReplyDeleteI agree with this topic because a lot of people make a new years resolution to get fit but not a lot of people follow through with it. They still have that laziness in them and they don't have that motivation to become fit and go to the gym.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great time to be talking about this topic, as the new year has just begun. These new years resolutions to get in shape are definitely an economic benefit to gyms as more and more people are enrolling in them to attempt to get in better shape. It would be interesting to see how long people actually continue to workout consistently after joining the gym, if they continue to go or stop after a month or two.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting and I had never thought about that fact. I generally don't make resolutions because I can never think of any that will greatly improve anything or that I really feel the need to follow through with.
ReplyDeleteRelevant topic considering New Years Resolutions is a very popular trend and will always be important as each year comes to a close. It is surprising that so many people do actually make a resolution to go to the gym more, personally I thought it was more of a joke and a stereotype of New Years Resolutions. However it is very believable that so many people don't uphold their resolutions to better their lives as one by one they begin to give into temptations.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting and I had never thought about that fact. I generally don't make resolutions because I can never think of any that will greatly improve anything or that I really feel the need to follow through with.
ReplyDeleteThis trend is also reflected by holidays as people plan to spend more money so the demand for goods and services goes up. This impacts gyms in a big way as people are determined at first to get fit but as shown in the picture there is still a large amount of people spending money at the gym compared to the time before New Years.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic because at first you don't pay much attentions or even really notice the number of people who actually join a gym. Joining a gym or getting fit is something that is very obvious that people would or want to do because its something that people think oh im going to do it this year im going to get buff or im gonna get super skinny or im going to be my goal weight by the end of this year. When in reality they go set up the gym membership and waste there money because that's what a majority of the people do. They go there at first oh this is nice or all pumped ready to work out but then you get to the first machine and its like i don't even want to do this but they do anyways. Many people waste the money because they think at first they like it then eventually end up quitting.
ReplyDeleteThe demand for gyms and other places to exercise definitely increases after the New Year as more people are motivated to change their lifestyles. It is appealing to lose weight and gyms have gotten better at advertising a fun, fitness experience that will have members losing weight in no time. Increased commercials for franchise gyms like Anytime Fitness have boosted this demand going into the New Year.
ReplyDeleteI think it's fascinating how gym the amount of gym memberships increases by as much as it does. One thing that concerns me. Because most likely a lot of people end up leaving their new years resolutions behind after a while. Once the amount of gym memberships decreases again is the money made enough to pay off the new equipment they bought.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see so many people getting gym memberships and willing to spend money each month, but then just end it right away. Gym memberships can be pricey however the people might just lose motivation to get up and go to gym everyday. And especially living in Wisconsin where winters here can get extremely cold, people aren't as willing to go out in the cold where as in the summer time the weather is always nice. Money plays a big factor when it comes to gym membership, but also the person willingness to commit to it.
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting that almost half the amount of gym memberships are purchased in January. I would not have thought it would have been so high. Another reason for the joining of members could be do to cold weather conditions people are less active and need to find a place to be more active in the colder months. The increase in gym memberships also help increase the revenue to the business and during this time the gym will be able to purchase more equipment or update items.
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