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Sports & Leisure Research Group E-Newsletter | January 2016

Join Us for Sports Illustrated Golf Group's Annual Market Outlook Breakfast and at PGA of America's Main Forum Stage at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show

You are invited to join Sports and Leisure Research Group President Jon Last for two dynamic presentations based on brand new consumer research at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando Florida:

Wednesday January 27th: SI Golf Group Insights Breakfast Features Golfer Utilization Preferences for Online Golf Videos Jon will again keynote the SI Golf Group breakfast with a presentation including the findings of Sports and Leisure Research Group’s annual Golf Consumer Outlook Study as well as brand new research that looks into consumer behavior utilization and preferences for golf-related online videos. Sports Illustrated Golf Group’s breakfast will be held in OCC Room W331b at 7:30am on Wednesday January 27th. This is a new location from previous years. We’ll again share the latest forward looking golfer attitudes and perceptions about golf retail, the economy and participation in the year ahead, from a study just fielded among over 1,000 core and avid golfers. In addition to highlighting golfer attitudes, perceptions and behavioral expectations in the equipment retail categories, this year’s presentation will reveal insights about the impact of various production elements, identify preferred content and reveal consumer consumption across online golf videos, drawn from SIGG and SLRG’s new golfer research. SI Golf Group will be sending invitations, and those readers of this newsletter interested in attending, can reach out to Alannah Fay (Alannah.Fay@golf.com) at Time, Inc., to confirm attendance, as seating is limited.

Thursday January 28th: PGA of America Education Program– A new context for business golf: SLRG President Jon Last, will highlight new research conducted with the PGA of America, that reveals new insights and identifies untapped opportunities for golf facilities to grow revenue by understanding the new dynamics of business golf. The research will identify the magnitude of the opportunity, provide insight on how to build the right golf environment to facilitate the optimal golf business experience, and how to strengthen business golf relationships between organizations and local golf facilities. As part of the presentation, Last will also moderate a lively panel discussion featuring Troon Golf CEO Dana Garmany, PGA of America Secretary Suzy Whaley and Whirlpool executive Deb O’Connor. The session is open to all PGA Merchandise Show attendees and is scheduled for 3:30PM at the main forum stage. You can learn more about the program and register for the PGA Show at the of official PGA Merchandise Show website, here.

We hope to see many of you at the show and invite you to reach out to us via our website or via email for more information on either of these presentations or to schedule an appointment at the show.


Results of Winter 2016 SLRG Sports Omnibus Study to Release in February

Sport fans

More than 1,000 U.S. Sports Fans weigh in with their opinions and attitudes on everything from sports participation, media viewership and contemporary issues like off- eld player conduct, league reconfiguration and the use of instant replay in the latest Sports and Leisure Research Group fan tracking study. The report will be posted on our web site, this February. You can view results of previous reports, here.


SPEAKERS CORNER: NGCOA CEO Karen, SLRG's Last Keynote New England Golf Course Owners Association Annual Meeting

NGCOA Logo

SLRG President, Jon Last, and new National Golf Course Owners Association CEO Jay Karen were the guest speakers at the New England Golf Course Owners Association Annual meeting in Boston on Wednesday, November 4th. Last spoke about golf marketing trends to look for in 2016; including how golf facilities can best embrace families, women, and the millennial generation. Last also spoke to the future of private clubs, and adapting to new realities. To read more of the presentation, here.


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POV: Listening isn't enough — The Growing Importance of Watching Consumers

Traditional qualitative research has always relied upon conversations and probing consumers for deeper understanding of the “why” behind various beliefs, perceptions and behaviors. Whether it is in depth interviews, focus groups or discussion boards, the qualitative branch of marketing research has often benefited from the deployment of projective techniques to try to get what is truly important from consumers. In this era of big data, we certainly can add to the researcher's tool kit by adding behavioral data that helps describe the transactions, the what. Whereas qualitative can tell us more about the why. But our recent work has fueled a stronger belief in the added value of observational research to augment and enhance the qualitative tool kit. Read more.


RECENT SLRG RESEARCH OF INTEREST:
The flip phone projective--what resonates in creative product design and packaging?

Cell Phone image focus group moderator relying upon the respondent to help him make a purchase decision about a product that the moderator was not able to see in store

A lot of times, qualitative research is utilized to try to understand which concepts are most compelling to consumers. Digging deeper, it's often critical to understand the specific design elements that are most captivating and important to target consumers. Whether you are testing ad creative, product design, packaging or visual display, it is sometimes limiting, when probing directly for what people like and dislike. By forcing a respondent to more carefully consider specific creative elements, a researcher risks moving the consumer further from their comfort zones and beyond how they might react to visual stimuli in a traditional environment. Read More.





SLRG IN THE NEWS
Marketing Sports

Media Post's Marketing Sports: Sports: ‘Big Data’ Vs. ‘Traditional Marketing’ Research In The Sports Industry

In his October 2015, Media Post column, SLRG President Jon Last suggests that recent controversy surrounding daily fantasy sports sites are overblown. Read it here.


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Research Industry Predictions for 2016

As part of RFL Media’s annual “Predictions Issue”, SLRG President Jon Last shared his perspectives on what the marketing research industry can look to in the year ahead. Read it here.


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