There has been an awful lot of conjecture and speculation that the current U.S. economic downturn portends trouble for recreational sports, travel and other leisure pursuits, particularly those at the higher end of the price spectrum. In fact, a recent report featured in the daily Media Post, showed that current conditions have been a boon for the motion picture industry, while other forms of leisure are suffering. One might say that this is reflective of a consumer mindset that is now favoring cheaper, “entertainment and diversion lite”. But based on research conducted by Sports and Leisure Research Group and others, we’re far from ready to throw in the towel.

Rather our supposition that many of the doom and gloom soundbytes getting daily coverage, is as much a reflection of increased competition brought about by recent supply build up than a condemnation of our leisure infrastructure. It’s no great secret that the greater part of the past decade has seen huge ramp ups in capacity of a variety of sports and leisure options. Whether it be available cruise ship berths, hotel rooms, luxury real estate communities or the proliferation of high end daily fee golf courses, until the last year or so, the prevailing mantras were that “bigger is better” and “choice is good”. This phenomenon alone created heightened competition and a further blurring of the lines in consumer perception as market followers created “me-too” offerings that often commoditized others and made it increasingly difficult for first movers to differentiate themselves. Couple this with the reality of rising unemployment across all stratas of the socio-economic spectrum, the rapid degradation of real estate values and stock portfolio valuations, and the perfect storm had ostensibly arrived.

Yet, just as work that SLRG principals conducted on the amenity real estate market in 2007 suggested that high end consumers were feeling persecuted and exploited in the ramp up of real estate valuations that had just peaked at that time, our early 2009 consumer sentiment work with a representative sample of golfers suggests that this market, at least attitudinally is looking for refuge from the pervasive negativity.

First a brief, but relevant digression. In the late Fall of 2001, the editors of Golf Digest commissioned us to examine the attitudes of their subscribers in light of the tragic events of September 11 and the mild recession that accompanied it. The major question to be answered was that in light of the gravity of these events, were golfers looking for alternate diversions, or turning away from the game given the perceived prevailing cultural sentiment. To the contrary, we found that a favorite activity like golf was even more valued in times of uncertainty and anxiety. Some of the respondents that we spoke with were so blunt as to suggest that if their time was limited, they might as well engage in valued activities with family and friends, while the opportunity presented itself. Less dramatic, and more prevalent was a sentiment that leisure pursuits like golf were an even more welcome diversion that provided a needed escape from the day-to-day problems of the world…a safe and coveted sanctuary, that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

So, it is within this context that we look at Sports and Leisure Research Group’s early 2009 attitudinal study as more of an affirmation that such sentiments are still quite prevalent in this latest bump in the road. We observed that nearly 93% of golfers planned to play the same or more golf in the year ahead. Similarly two-thirds or more of all surveyed strongly agreed that it was important to allow life to include a variety of unique experiences, to spend actively on useful pastimes and that the best years of their lives were still to come. Nearly 60% strongly agreed that they were spending more time with friends and family than in the past and that vacations should include an element of adventure. The second most strongly agreed upon response, generating top three box scores from some 70% of respondents was that “it’s important to try new things”.

Clearly there is opportunity for brands in the leisure space to differentiate themselves along these need states, and to leverage their marketing communications in ways that articulate these prevalent values. Of course, evaluative research can assure the resonance of specific marketing messages and leisure offerings. It’s our hypothesis that those with the greatest impact, will accentuate a brand’s ability to hear consumers’ outcry that they are demanding and finding value in those marketing propositions that offer a unique, valued and needed escape.