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Rock Climbing Sub-Worlds: a Segmentation Study

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Rock Climbing Sub-Worlds: a Segmentation Study View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Texas A&M Repository ROCK CLIMBING SUB-WORLDS: A SEGMENTATION STUDY A Thesis by BRANDON WAYNE RAPELJE Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE August 2004 Major Subject: Recreation, Park & Tourism Sciences ROCK CLIMBING SUB-WORLDS: A SEGMENTATION STUDY A Thesis by BRANDON WAYNE RAPELJE Submitted to Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Approved as to style and content by: ______________________________ ______________________________ David Scott Joseph O’Leary (Chair of Committee) (Head of Department) ______________________________ C. Scott Shafer (Member) ______________________________ Robert B. Ditton (Member) August 2004 Major Subject: Recreation, Park & Tourism Sciences iii ABSTRACT Rock Climbing Sub-Worlds: A Segmentation Study. (August 2004) Brandon Wayne Rapelje, B.A., Western State College of Colorado Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. David Scott Rock climbing participation is growing throughout the United States. Information on the participation patterns and preferences of groups of climbers can be used to help mangers make better informed decisions, allowing them to cater to the specific interests of climbing participants, ensure participant satisfaction and encourage continued patronage. This study explores variation in participant characteristics across segments of the climbing population. Because an individual’s level of specialization will align him with other like- minded participants, an understanding of a participant’s stages of involvement and level of specialization assists in understanding the social world's views and behaviors toward the resource and toward other participants. Information on participants' level of experience, level of commitment, and demographic dimensions can be used to better understand and manage climbers. This study aimed to identify differences among groups of climbers. The study measured across 484 participants. The participants were described by iv various dependent variables, which included demographic factors, level of specialization, motivations for climbing, types of conflicts and constraints experiences, and setting preferences. Measuring the climbers' participation patterns identified participant sub-world groups. The four groups of climbing participants, as identified by this study, were: infrequent climbers, frequent outdoor climbers, frequent indoor climbers, and avid climbers. While demographics are not significantly descriptive of climbing sub-world affiliations, this study found that there were differences among sub-world affiliates in terms of specialization level, motives, conflicts, constraints, and setting preferences. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This master’s thesis came to fruition thanks to the insightful suggestions and feedback of a constellation of scholarly mentors. I am extremely grateful to my thesis committee chair, Dr. David Scott, for his extensive time, effort and encouragement throughout the course of this project. I would also like to thank the other members of my thesis committee, Dr. Scott Schafer and Dr. Robert Ditton, for their astute commentary and mentoring. I would also like to thank the graduate students from the department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences, especially Kathy Harris, Sandy Harris, Linda Ingram, Sang-Kwon Lee and Courtney Smith, for their encouragement and assistance throughout the process. Finally, I would like to recognize the extreme sacrifices made by my wife, Nik Rapelje, to allow me the opportunity to accomplish this degree. Her encouragement and assistance in editing, formatting, and research were instrumental in this study’s completion. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem and Objectives........................................... 9 Justification for the Study................................................................... 10 Definition of Terms............................................................................. 11 Organization of the Study.................................................................. 13 II LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................ 14 The Evolution of Climbing................................................................. 15 Social Worlds....................................................................................... 20 Socio-demographic Characteristics................................................... 24 Serious Leisure.................................................................................... 25 Recreation Specialization Framework............................................... 27 Motives ................................................................................................ 28 Summary ............................................................................................. 36 III METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 37 Site Information and Sampling Technique....................................... 37 Method of Data Collection................................................................. 41 Independent Variables ....................................................................... 43 Dependent Variables .......................................................................... 43 Analysis ............................................................................................... 48 vii CHAPTER Page IV RESULTS....................................................................................................... 49 Results of Cluster Analysis ................................................................ 49 Demographic Characteristics............................................................. 52 Research Question 1............................................................................ 54 Research Question 2............................................................................ 58 Research Question 3............................................................................ 62 Research Question 4............................................................................ 64 V DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION............................................................ 67 Summary of the Results ..................................................................... 67 Discussion and Contribution of the Study ....................................... 70 Suggestions for Future Research ....................................................... 75 Limitations of the Study..................................................................... 76 REFERENCES............................................................................................................ 79 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................. 84 APPENDIX B.............................................................................................................. 88 APPENDIX C.............................................................................................................. 90 VITA ......................................................................................................................... 92 viii LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page 1 Number and Percentage of Participants in Different Climbing Activities ... 4 2 Population Characteristics of Climbing Participants...................................... 5 3 American Rock Climbing Grading System for Identifying Difficulty of Climb ....................................................................... 18 4 Results of Cluster Analysis of Rock Climbers............................................... 50 5 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents............................................... 51 6 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents by Climbing Group ............ 53 7 Mean Level of Skill by Rock Climbing Groups............................................. 55 8 Mean Behavior Scores by Rock Climbing Groups ........................................ 57 9 Mean Commitment Level by Rock Climbing Groups .................................. 58 10 Factor Analysis of Motivation Items .............................................................. 60 11 Mean Motivation Scores by Rock Climbing Groups .................................... 62 12 Mean Setting Scores by Rock Climbing Groups............................................ 64 13 Mean Conflict Scores by Rock Climbing Groups.......................................... 65 14 Mean Constraint Scores by by Rock Climbing Groups ................................ 66 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1 Participation Rates in Rock Climbing and Outdoor
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