The Outdoor Industry Association published the results of an industry-wide consumer survey today, providing a great insight into consumer buying decisions. Are you a bite-size outdoor sports enthusiast or a fully-committed one sports person?
What outdoor sports and activities do you do?
Respondents claimed to regularly participate in outdoor sports and activities. These include:
- 91% – recreational walking
- 29% – road cycling
- 22% – mountain biking
- 15% – mountaineering
- 14% – snowboarding
- 13% – off-road running
- 13& – climbing
Bite-sized outdoor activities
Increasingly, it is understood that more and more people are taking up a wider variety of outdoor sports. This makes great sense as it provides a different activity for different energy level, motivation, adrenaline needs, and season.
Some may say that it is also a reflection of the culture that we live in – searching for quick kicks, and variety in our day-to-day lives. And we believe this is a great thing!
Economic change and environmental awareness
The growth of family camping is more than likely to be attributable to the economic climate, but also due to people’s increasing awareness of their impact of flights on the environment, in addition to an increasing desire to appreciate the environment that we live in.
As many as 67% of those questioned in the consumer survey claimed to buy environmentally friendly products (this does not mean just outdoor products), and 78% believe they are more expensive as a result. Of those respondents 51% said they would pay more nonetheless. Interesting stuff for outdoor gear manufacturers I’m sure.
The Respondents Profile
10,000 people were interviewed for this consumer survey, of which a total 61% of respondents were male and 38% female, and…
- 25%, 35-44 years,
- 25%, 45-54 years
- 22%, 55-64 years
- 15%, 25-34 years
- 7%, 65 and over
- 3%, 16-24 years
…providing a really interesting profile of the outdoor industry as a whole. More to come on this very soon!
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