Emotions in physical activity and their relationship with other variables such as satisfaction, the quality of the service, future intention and the perceived value by the user of the sports centres every day takes on greater role within the area of sport management (Biscaia, Correira, Rosado, Maroco & Ross, 2012; Martín, O’Neill Hubbard & Palmer, 2008; Pedragosa, Biscaia & Correia, 2015). The majority of disciplines study emotions from the areas of psychology and the neurophysiology-biology, whose fields of study relate to psychological mental processes and the physiological motor responses with the emotions generated in the human being (Andreu, 2003; Belmonte, 2007; Chóliz, 2005; Izard, Kagan y Zajonc, 1990; Punset, 2010; Punset, 2014 and Valderrama & Ulloa, 2011). Defining what an emotion is is complex. Chóliz (2005) defines it as: "an affective pleasant or unpleasant experience which represents a characteristic phenomenological quality and which comprises three response systems: cognitive-subjective, behavioural-expressive and physiological-adaptative". In addition, Punset (2010) points out that emotions could be reprogrammable, since the emotional reactions associated to the perceptual stimulus are learned by our brain, which opens up a world to discover in the field of sports marketing. Belmonte (2007) adds that we must keep in mind that the parts aware of the emotions (known as feelings) are immediate and individual neurophysiological change responses that alter brain waves and produce stimulation in the limbic system, establishing a process that begins in the hippocampus where emotional experiences are generated, expressing them through the hypothalamus and autonomic nervous system and producing vegetative and motor reactions in the emotion in the body, translating them into the final behavior of the person. However, recent research such as Albán (2013), Alvarado (2008); Fernandez, and Dufey & Mourgues (2007); López (2009) agree that the mood of the user, motivations and prior experience understood as an accumulation of feelings, intuitions and emotions, positive or negative, will drive the user to decide to buy the product (or not). Hence, the stimulus-response may not be equal in all users. Thus, coinciding with Richins (1997) on the difficulty in measuring degrees and forms of excitement at the time of expressing feelings and emotions since each person interprets, encodes and expresses emotions differently. This complexity in measuring behaviors, previous experiences, and the motivations of people has opened up an extensive debate on the classification of emotions without having reached a consensus (Belmonte, 2007; Checa, 2012; Chóliz, 2005; Ekman, 2003; Fernández et al., 2007; Izard, 1977; Levav, 2005; Palmero, Guerrero, Gómez and Carpi, 2006; Valderrama & Ulloa, 2011). However, experts in the field agree that there are some basic emotions but without agreeing on the number of them. Palmero & Martínez-Sánchez (2008) and Checa (2012) presented Ekman's proposal on six emotions. Knowing the behavior of an emotion, where and how it develops and to what extent it influences the sport is crucial in the most current research. Especially from the point of view of marketing and understanding that to be an exchange relationship between two social units on a voluntary basis (Mundina, 1996 and Kotler, Lane, Cámara & Mollá, 2006) and considering this two-way relationship, we find the need to respond and adapt management to the needs of the user. In this context, and specifically in sport, sports marketing has drawn its lines of research around two exchange relationships. On the one hand, participatory sport consumers and on the other hand, spectator sport consumers. Therefore, sports marketing, understanding sport to be a product, must generate value, elicit desires in the consumers and enhance economic development allowing the organization to position itself and set itself apart from the competition (Bacca & Barreto, 2007). In this way, Mullin, Hardy and Sutton (2007) suggest that innovations in the marketing of sport will be correlated with social trends in sport creating a marketing – sport relationship that is inherent and also dependent on social factors and the organization, developing emotions in the consumption and the transmission of psychologically healthy and pleasant aspects in order to awake the sensory channels of the consumers (Andreu, 2003; López, 2009 and Molina & Aguilar, 2003). Here is where finding out how to influence the emotional experiences of our sports users in relation to other variables such as satisfaction or quality of service will allow us to know the causes and how they interact, enabling us to influence the positive aspects to create a direct impact on future intention, reinforcing and improving the assessment of our users (Biscaia et al., 2012; Calabuig, Crespo & Mundina, 2012; Jiang and Wang, 2006; Martín et al., 2008; Mohiyeddini, Pauli & Bauer 2008; Ries & Sevillano, 2011). In the context of directed activities, there is hardly any research connecting emotions to variables such as satisfaction, the quality of the service or future intent, although Pedragosa et al. (2015) and Silla, Calabuig & Añó (2014) are starting to analyse emotions in directed activities as a variable of interest to get to know the sports context that encompasses these activities. They also try to respond to how emotions have an impact on this context, there being a field of study to explore. This is one of the reasons for which the following research is carried out. Introduction to the problem Interest in this research arose out of a series of questions about the extent to which emotions are affecting the pillars of sports management in Premium and Medium-type sports fitness centres in Spain (Madrid) and Lithuania (Kaunas). Hence, the problem posed in this research has been to analyse and identify the influence of variables in the field of sports management and how they relate to each other, variables such as perceived quality, satisfaction, future intentions (loyalty), commitment, trust, corporate image, perceived value, emotions (positive or negative) in directed activities. Knowing the scope, and the positive or negative relationships between different variables, will help complete the different models that have been developed in recent years. Models where research in fitness centers in relation to emotions and variables of sports management are becoming more important with the goal of increasing loyalty and at the same time offering programs that respond to the needs of the target audience. In this way, sports managers who want to stay in the market, will need to adapt to the changes in this new form of loyalty using emotions. Using this approach, it is intended to outline the type of user who attends the different activities grouped according to their characteristics with greater or lesser intensity. In this way, the manager can try to set up and guide the different programs or even develop market proposals that can respond to the expectations of the target audience. All of this is intended to contribute to the world of sport management in fitness centers, providing information that can complete, orient and guide the sports manager in their work. Bearing in mind this proposal, we have formulated some general objectives, the main objectives being the specific objectives of the research. General objectives 1. Find out the performance of the sports service through the assessment of quality, perceived value, and satisfaction and future intentions. 2. Determine the reliability of the service through the assessment of trust, commitment, corporate image and identity. 3. Validate the scale of positive and negative emotions for the kinds of directed activities in fitness centers. 4. Find out about the positive and negative emotions experienced by users in directed activities. Specific objectives Determine the behaviour of the performance variables (quality of service, perceived value, satisfaction and future intentions), according to the type of facility, gender, age, frequency of attendance, type of directed activity and how long they have been going to the centre. 2. Find out if there are differences in the assessment of trust, commitment, corporate image and identity according to the type of facility, gender, age, frequency of attendance, type of directed activity and how long they have been going to the centre. 3. Find out if there are differences in the assessment of emotions (negative and positive) in relation to the groups according to the type of facility, gender, age, frequency of attendance, type of directed activity and how long they have been going to the centre. 4. Establish the predictor variables of perceived value 5. Find out the background of the users satisfaction 6. Figure out the predictors variables of future intentions Methodology The research is framed within the paradigm of positivist, making use of a questionnaire. Through this, it will allow us to get to know and pass from the level of how things seem up, to the level of how things actually are (Sparkes, 1992). The design of the questionnaire has been supported by existing literature within the theoretical field available in the area of sport management, the psychology of emotion and neuroscience. The main steps carried out in the preparation of the doctoral thesis consist in reading, extracting and organizing content from existing literature allowing us to contextualize the research and adapt it in order to reproduce the same and extrapolate conclusions in the context of directed activities. The research will take place at European level, under the international major from doctoral programe 3161 Physical Education and Sport in the following countries in the framework of the European Union: Spain and Lithuania. The main reasons why we have selected these countries lie in the level of sociocultural and emotional importance that is experienced in the use of emotions in directed activities in these countries. The target audience will be one which attends sport centers classified as Premium or Medium (as either private or privately run public ones) The questionnaire is composed of different areas, with the exception of the socio-demographic area, the rest are measured variables from a Likert-style scale of 5 points where 1 means "Completely disagree" and 5 "Completely agree”; following the measurement structure from similar publications. The questionnaire was always passed around at the end of the session and in the same place, informing them 5 minutes before the end of the activity on the completion of the questionnaire to avoid influences in the development of activity and under strict confidentiality. The instrument was set up in 11 areas. These include the variables of yield (perceived quality, overall quality, satisfaction, perceived value and future intents) then other areas such as corporate image, identity, confidence and commitment, an area of emotions (positive and negative) and the socio-demographic area. The instrument was translated into three languages, Spanish, Lithuanian and English. The process of translation and verification was conducted by native experts of sport in each country and with higher education in Physical Activity and Sports. The research focused on two countries, Spain (Madrid) and Lithuania (Kaunas and Vilnius). In both countries, we collected data in different sport centers. On the one hand, centers with a Medium-type service and others with a type of service assessed as Premium. The objective of the research lies not in its comparison between centers but in knowing the influence of emotions on directed activities in relation to the analyzed variables and groups created from the sociodemographic variables of the research. The selection of sport centers was based on interviews with the managers of the facilities with these types of services. Finally, after allowing us access to the facility, we proceeded to carry out the collection of data. The researcher had the opportunity to have a stay longer than three months in Lithuania, where in person they could have performed the data collection. The wide variety of directed activities in sport centers, forced researchers to select sport centers by the similarity of directed classes. In this way, after collecting data, the activities total was grouped into five groups, the groups being configured with cardio activities, muscle toning activities, choreographed activities, water sports, and body and mind activities. This classification is connected to the format and characteristics of the activities. In addition, to make the analysis easier, they were grouped according to consumption in METS, in vigorous activities, moderate activities and light activities. After an explanation of each activity and the measurement scales of the instrument, we then showed the deadlines for research and data analysis. This analysis was carried out using the SPSS statistics package version 20.0 with a license from the University of Valencia. After the analysis of the validity and reliability of the measurement scales used in the questionnaire, it was shown that the measurement scale best assessed by the users is corporate identity, followed by the perceived quality and commitment and trust. Then, groups were made using the sociodemographic variables. The type of centers, gender, age groups, the frequency of attendance, the type of activity and how long the users had been going to the centers are the groups with which the investigated variables are compared. These comparisons reveal relevant and significant data in the research in relation to the sport centers with directed activities with an instructor.Las emociones en la actividad física y su relación con otras variables como la satisfacción, la calidad del servicio, la intención futura y el valor percibido del usuario en centros deportivos cada día cobra mayor protagonismo dentro del área de gestión deportiva (Biscaia, Correira, Rosado, Maroco y Ross, 2012; Martín, O’Neill Hubbard y Palmer, 2008 Pedragosa, Biscaia y Correia, 2015). La mayoría de disciplinas estudian las emociones desde las áreas de la psicología y la neurofisiología-biología, cuyos campos de estudio relacionan los procesos mentales psicológicos y las respuestas motoras fisiológicas con las emociones que se generan en el ser humano (Andreu, 2003; Belmonte, 2007; Chóliz, 2005; Izard, Kagan y Zajonc, 1990; Punset, 2010; Punset, 2014 y Valderrama y Ulloa, 2011). Definir qué es una emoción resulta complejo. Chóliz (2005) la define como: “una experiencia afectiva agradable o desagradable, que supone una cualidad fenomenológica característica y que compromete tres sistemas de respuesta: cognitivo-subjetivo, conductual-expresivo y fisiológico-adaptativo”. Además, Punset (2010) apuntará que las emociones podrían ser reprogramables, ya que las reacciones emocionales asociadas al estímulo perceptivo son aprendidas por nuestro cerebro, lo que abre un mundo por descubrir en el campo del marketing deportivo. Belmonte (2007) añade que habrá que tener en cuenta que los componentes conscientes de las emociones (conocidos como sentimientos) son respuestas de cambio neurofisiológico inmediatas e individuales que alteran las ondas cerebrales y producen una excitación en el sistema límbico, estableciéndose un proceso que se inicia en el hipocampo donde se generan las experiencias emocionales, expresándolas a través del hipotálamo y el sistema nervioso autónomo y produciendo las reacciones vegetativas y motoras de la emoción en el organismo, traduciéndolas en el comportamiento final de la persona. Sin embargo, investigaciones recientes como las de Albán (2013), Alvarado (2008), Fernández, Dufey y Mourgues (2007) y López (2009) comparten que el estado de ánimo en el que se encuentra el usuario, las motivaciones y la experiencia previa entendida como un cúmulo de sensaciones, intuiciones y emociones positivas o negativas, impulsarán al usuario a decidir la compra (o no) del producto. De ahí que, el estímulo-respuesta pueda no ser igual en todos los usuarios. Coincidiendo así, con Richins (1997) en la dificultad para medir los grados y formas de excitación en el momento de expresar los sentimientos y emociones ya que cada persona interpreta, codifica y expresa las emociones de forma distinta. Esta complejidad para medir los comportamientos, las experiencias previas y las motivaciones de las personas ha abierto un extenso debate en torno a la clasificación de las emociones sin llegar a un consenso (Belmonte, 2007; Checa, 2012; Chóliz, 2005; Ekman, 2003; Fernández et al., 2007; Izard, 1977; Levav, 2005; Palmero, Guerrero, Gómez y Carpi, 2006; Valderrama y Ulloa, 2011). Sin embargo, expertos en la materia coinciden en que existen algunas emociones básicas pero sin acuerdo en el número de ellas Checa (2012) y Palmero y Martínez-Sánchez (2008) presentan la propuesta de Ekman de seis emociones. Conocer el comportamiento de una emoción, dónde y cómo se desarrolla y hasta qué punto influye en el deporte está siendo capital en las investigaciones más actuales. Sobre todo desde el punto de vista del marketing y entendiendo éste como una relación de intercambio entre dos unidades sociales de forma voluntaria (Kotler, Lane, Cámara y Mollá, 2006) y considerando esta relación bidireccional encontramos la necesidad de responder y adaptar la gestión a las necesidades del usuario. En este contexto y específicamente en el deporte, el marketing deportivo ha trazado sus líneas de investigación en torno a dos relaciones de intercambio. Por un lado, los consumidores deportivos participantes y por el otro, los consumidores deportivos espectadores. Por tanto, el marketing deportivo, entendiendo el deporte como un producto, deberá generar valor, provocar deseos en los consumidores y potenciar un desarrollo económico que permita a la organización posicionarse y diferenciarse de la competencia (Bacca y Barreto, 2007). De esta forma, Mullin, Hardy y Sutton (2007) sugieren que las innovaciones en el marketing del deporte estarán correlacionadas con las tendencias sociales en el deporte creándose una relación marketing-deporte inherente y también dependiente de factores sociales y de la organización, desarrollando las emociones en el consumo y la transmisión de aspectos psicológicos saludables y agradables con el objetivo de despertar los canales sensitivos de los consumidores (Andreu, 2003 y López, 2009; Molina y Aguilar, 2003). He aquí donde conocer cómo influyen las experiencias emocionales en nuestros usuarios deportivos en relación a otras variables como la satisfacción o la calidad del servicio permitirá conocer las causas y cómo interactúan entre ellas, permitiéndonos incidir en los aspectos positivos para crear un impacto directo sobre la intención futura, reforzando y mejorando la valoración de nuestros usuarios (Biscaia et al., 2012; Calabuig, Crespo y Mundina, 2012; Jiang y Wang, 2006; Martín et al., 2008; Mohiyeddini, Pauli y Bauer 2008; Ries y Sevillano, 2011). En el contexto de las actividades dirigidas no existe a penas investigaciones que relacionen las emociones con variables como la satisfacción, la calidad del servicio o la intención futura, aunque Silla, Calabuig, Año (2014) y Pedragosa et al., (2015) comienzan a analizar las emociones en las actividades dirigidas como variable de interés para conocer el contexto deportivo que engloba estas actividades, además intentan dar respuesta a cómo influyen las emociones en este contexto, existiendo un campo de estudio por explorar. Este será uno de los motivos por los cuales se desarrolla la siguiente investigación. Los objetivos principales de la investigación fueron conocer el rendimiento del servicio deportivo a través de la valoración de la calidad, el valor percibido, la satisfacción y las intenciones futuras. Determinar la fiabilidad del servicio a través de la valoración de la confianza, el compromiso, la imagen corporativa y la identidad. Por otro lado, la intención será analizar el rol de las emociones en la evaluación de los usuarios de actividades dirigidas y finalmente conocer en qué medida son experimentadas. La investigación se enmarca dentro del paradigma positivista, haciendo uso de un cuestionario. A través de éste, nos permitirá conocer y pasar desde el nivel de cómo parecen las cosas, hasta el nivel de cómo son las cosas (Sparkes, 1992). El diseño del cuestionario se ha apoyado en la literatura existente dentro del campo teórico disponible en el área de gestión del deporte, de la psicología de las emociones y de la neurociencia. Los principales pasos llevados a cabo en la elaboración de la tesis doctoral radican en la lectura, extracción y organización de contenidos de la bibliografía existente permitiéndonos contextualizar la investigación y adaptarla para la reproducción de la misma y extrapolación de conclusiones al contexto de las actividades dirigidas. La investigación se llevará a cabo a nivel europeo, bajo la mención internacional del programa de doctorado 3068 Educación Física y Deporte en los siguientes países del marco de la Unión Europea: España y Lituania. Los principales motivos por los cuales se han seleccionado estos países, radica en el nivel de importancia a nivel sociocultural y emocional que está experimentando el consumo de emociones en las actividades dirigidas en estos países. El público objetivo será aquel que asiste a centros deportivos catalogados como Premium o médium (ya bien sean privados o de concierto público de gestión privada) El cuestionario está compuesto por diversas áreas, a excepción del área sociodemográfica, el resto son variables medidas a partir de una escala estilo Likert de 5 puntos donde 1 significa “Totalmente en desacuerdo” y 5 “totalmente de acuerdo”; siguiendo la estructura de medición de publicaciones similares. El pase del cuestionario se realizó siempre al finalizar la sesión y en el mismo lugar, informándoles 5 minutos antes del final de la actividad sobre la cumplimentación del cuestionario para evitar influencias en el desarrollo de la actividad y bajo estricta confidencialidad. Para llevar a cabo este análisis se hizo uso del paquete estadístico SPSS versión 20.0 con licencia de la Universidad de Valencia. Tras conocer el análisis de la validez y fiabilidad de las escalas de medida utilizadas en el cuestionario, se extrae que la escala de medida mejor valorada por los usuarios es la identidad corporativa, seguida de la calidad percibida y el compromiso y la confianza. Seguidamente, se realizaron grupos a partir de las variables sociodemográficas. El tipo de centro, el género, los grupos de edad, la frecuencia de asistencia, el tipo de actividad y la antigüedad en el centro serán los grupos sobre los que se comparan las variables investigadas. De estas comparaciones, se extrajeron datos relevantes y significativos en la investigación en relación a los centros deportivos con actividades dirigidas. Por último, se llevó a cabo modelos de predicciones con el objetivo de conocer de qué manera podrían influir las variables estudiadas en relación al valor percibido, la satisfacción y las intenciones futuras.