Recreation Specialization and Participant Preferences among Windsurfers: An Application of Conjoint Analysis

Abstract

This study uses recreation specialization to analyze windsurfers' preference behaviors in the participation decision making process. Specialization is a concept that helps to explain the developmental process of behavior patterns whereby participants acquire knowledge and skills, and progress to higher stages of involvement in a leisure activity over time. Findings based on this framework are useful for understanding the behavior characteristics of each subgroup in terms of participants' expectations and desires. The purpose of this study is to investigate behavioral differences in the preference structure among windsurfer specialization subgroups using conjoint analysis. Specialization posits that recreationists can be arranged along a continuum from the general to particular and progress to higher stages of the developmental continuum. Specialization has been a useful segmentation approach to explore differences in conflict, depreciative behavior, crowding, motivations, preferences, and substitution decisions. Data were collected through simultaneous semi-structured interviews (n = 64) and participant observation of windsurfers in Sumiyoshihama Resort Park, Japan. Conjoint analysis was used to examine windsurfers' preferences. Three attributes - wind velocity (weak, middle, strong), season (spring, summer, winter), and crowding (no, light, high) - were considered in the 3x3x3 conjoint design (shown on 9 cards and asked to rank). Participants were segmented according to their windsurfing specialization in terms of skill, frequency of participation, and types of activity. Four types of leisure and sport participants were identified by the researcher ranging from low to high specialization: (1) occasional windsurfers, (2) social windsurfers, (3) competitive windsurfers, and (4) pleasure windsurfers. Occasional windsurfers and social windsurfers were types of social participants; competitive and pleasure windsurfers were types of serious participants (similar terminology as Scott & Godbey's bridge studies). Results showed that "season" (most prefer summer) was the most influential factor in preferences for occasional and social windsurfers, "season" and "wind velocity" were important for the competitive windsurfers, and "wind velocity" was most important for the pleasure windsurfers. Occasional and social participants prefer "middle" wind, whereas competitive and pleasure windsurfers prefer "strong" wind. No subgroup was perceived as "crowding sensitive" in windsurfing situations. Contrary to past research (e.g., Graefe et al, 1985; Tarrant et al, 1997), all subgroups do not prefer no or few people; instead they prefer crowded conditions and seeing more people. This finding suggests that perceived crowding is not an influential factor in participant preferences for Japanese windsurfers, many of whom enjoy interchange and conversation with their friends in the activity spaces. This study suggests that differences in preference behaviors between social and serious participants in windsurfing vary in stages within a specialization continuum. No attempt has previously been made to examine preference structures using conjoint analysis and a conceptual framework of recreation specialization. The results indicate that the application of conjoint analysis enhances understandings of preference behaviors in leisure / sporting activities. Unfortunately, this study is fraught with methodological concerns (e.g., small sample, using quantitative analysis on qualitative data, generalizing to the population from a small sample, researcher-defined specialization groups, etc.).