A Segmentation of Welsh Regional Rugby Supporters
Alison Kidd and Peter Williams
The Prospectory
February 2004
We suggest that there are 4 types of supporter at Welsh Regional matches and their proportions vary from match to match:-
- Hard Core Supporters
- Habitual Supporters
- Big Match Traditionalists
- Occasional Theatre Goers.
This 4-way segmentation is based on a combination of our research to date and the available literature. We have not properly tested it so it must be treated as hypothetical for the time being. Like most market segmentations, it’s neither watertight nor comprehensive – some supporters will fit more than one category, and others won’t fit any of them. Nevertheless, we think it covers most people in a live rugby match crowd, albeit roughly.
We believe this segmentation model of the actual and potential customer base offers 3 things:-
- An explanation of how regionalisation has affected and continues to affect rugby support in Wales.
- A way of more accurately predicting how and why crowd sizes vary.
- A way of identifying the most promising growth segments and sources of additional revenue from these segments.
In this essay we describe the typical supporter in each segment in terms of: (a) what being a supporter means to them (b) attendance behaviour (c) threats to their commitment (d) effect of regionalisation (e) demographic profile (f) proportion of a live match crowd they represent and (g) population and revenue growth potential. Each description is of a “typical” representative of each segment. In reality, of course, the supporters we would place in a particular segment will exhibit differing degrees of its defining characteristics.
Hard Core Supporters
What being a supporter means
Hard Core Supporters have a strong emotional identification with their team. Being a supporter is highly significant to their identity as individuals and their self-esteem can vary wildly with the team’s success or failure on the pitch.
Attending matches (in order to support the team) is therefore one of their top life priorities (if not the top one!) and, as far as they are concerned, you are not a true supporter unless you attend all the matches, rain or shine, win or lose.
For this segment, winning a match is much more important than any objective entertainment value of rugby played. Supporting the team is more important to this segment than supporting Wales, because it offers closer affiliation and a more exclusive identity. Hard Core Supporters feel a strong sense of rivalry with competing (local) teams and their supporters because the latter represent the greatest threat to their own self-esteem and status.
What matters most to Hard Core Supporters
Supporting their team by their physical (and vocal) presence is what matters most to a Hard Core Supporter and they organise the rest of their life, relationships and resources to that end.
Attendance pattern and behaviour
Hard Core Supporters attend every home match they possibly can and every away match they can afford. Match attendance is a top priority in terms of time and spending.
They are the most passionately involved and vocal members of any crowd – they contribute most to match atmosphere and their contribution may well affect player performance (both home team and opposition). A team with a large Hard Core Support has an advantage both home and away, through an emotional and psychological feedback loop that can benefit team performance. Research shows that even physiological indicators such as testosterone levels among Hard Core Supporters closely match those of the players during the match!
Hard Core Supporters are most likely wear team merchandise, to emphasise their identification with the team. They are the most likely to seek out team information between matches and be active on Internet discussion groups etc.
Hard Core Supporters are easy to identify outside the match day context. They are also the people most likely organise and populate supporters’ clubs. They buy a season ticket if they can possibly afford one and see their purchase as a symbol of commitment/membership rather than an economic choice.
Threats to match attendance/commitment
Of all the segments, Hard Core Supporters are the least affected (attendance wise) by: team performance, match significance, opposition, the weather, the travelling distance and the time of match. Tickets and team merchandise and memorabilia are, however, “essential” purchases for this segment of the support base, so it would be wrong to assume that they don’t resent high prices.
Hard Core Supporters are the most affected by any change to team identity, because this is also their identity. Even the loss of players to other teams has a strong emotional effect.
Effect of regionalisation
Regionalisation has had a traumatic effect on the Hard Core Support of merged sides because it hit at the core of how they identified themselves. For example, the Hard Core Supporters of Newport RFC refused to support their regional team unless “Newport” featured in its name. 6 months on, many of them are still intent on ensuring that the Dragons are Newport.
Post regionalisation, many former Hard Core Supporters have chosen to continue to follow their pre-regionalised identity (Newport RFC, Neath RFC, Pontypridd RFC) because maintaining continuity of identity is more important to them than the standard of rugby they watch. It is also not clear that a Hard Core Supporter can be equally emotionally committed to two sides (e.g. premier and regional) – one or other will gain their primary emotional allegiance. This could give rise to the phenomenon of a Hard Core Supporter of a premier side either offering no support at all for his regional team (because Hard Core Support is the only kind he can give) or effectively belonging to a different support segment altogether with respect to his regional team.
For obvious reasons, it is difficult to create Hard Core Support from scratch, because it is so dependent on a clear identity for the team.
Demographic profile
Research in both soccer and rugby support in England has established an inverse relationship between emotional commitment/identification with the team and socio-economic class. In other words, wealthier supporters are (in general) less likely to be hard core.
Our own research suggests that most Hard Core Supporters are literally “born and bred” to it! There will be a regular (if small) trickle of converts from other segments of the support population.
Proportion of crowd
We think that Hard Core Supporters make up a relatively small proportion of the total support base although they will always be strongly represented in any crowd. Their numbers don’t change as much from match to match or season to season as other segments. They may constitute as much as 25-50% of the home support in a small crowd but only 10% of a sell-out crowd. They make up, maybe, 80% of the away support in a small crowd.
Business implications
Rugby sides naturally feel a huge loyalty to their Hard Core Support. They will tend to give most attention to this segment because they encounter it the most and it is the most vociferous. From a commercial point of view, however, it is important to recognise that: (a) the Hard Core has quite different needs from the rest of the support, and is not the easiest segment to grow, and (b) as a group, the Hard Core Support may be the most tolerant of venue, time, price and quality of match day experience, factors to which the other segments are most sensitive.
However, the Hard Core Support contributes more than any other segment to the quality of the match day experience for everyone else, i.e. it is an integral part of the product offered to other segments, and for that reason, it is vital to nurture and resource it. A passionate, entertaining and welcoming Hard Core is worth its weight in gold in terms of brand image, marketing and welcoming new supporters.
Growing the Hard Core Supporter segment
It is difficult, however, for the commercial management of an established side to grow this segment actively. Fortunately, there will always be a slow trickle of converts from the other segments.
For a newly established team, it’s important to quickly establish a Hard Core Support, if only to draw in the other segments. To that end, it is essential to create a new and separate identity for the region (name, colours, badge, culture etc) and then watch for, encourage and resource fledgling Hard Core Support who start to gather around that new identity.
It is important to recognise that it is the Hard Core Support itself, rather than the team management, who will create the meaning, passion and culture around the new identity and help establish its distinctive brand. This delicate phase requires strong co-operation between team management and supporters. Drama on the field helps (e.g. knife edge matches and unexpected victories) by creating emotional bonding among those sharing the drama and the shared history on which any shared identity has to depend.
We’re not sure how much it is worth the new regional teams persevering in trying to convert the former Hard Core Support of premier sides into the Hard Core Support of the new teams. This is because Hard Core Support is founded on identity, and the only realistic way to migrate hard core support is to preserve identity. Identity is necessarily exclusive. For example, to maintain its own identity, the Hard Core Support of Neath RFC needs to continually distinguish itself from and, indeed, assert its superiority to Swansea RFC. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the same group to constitute the Hard Core Support for the Ospreys.
Growing the revenue from this segment
Hard Core Support, once established, is endlessly hungry for new ways to express its identification with the team, e.g. through clothing, flags, hats, duvets, wallpaper, car stickers, etc. It is also hungry for information about or contact with the team, e.g match DVD’s, calendars, SMS messaging services, etc.
Some Hard Core Supporters are forced by job or domestic circumstances to live too far away (e.g. Australia!) to travel regularly to games. Exiled Hard Core Supporters value the emotional link with the team and their home roots extremely highly. It may be possible to sell them a `digital season ticket’ which entitles them, say, to a match day programme and DVD.
Habitual Supporters
What being a supporter means
For the Habitual Supporter, going to their local rugby match is what Saturday afternoons means to them and it’s the basis for some of their long-standing friendships. It’s what they do at the weekend and how they like to spend time with particular friends.
Habitual Support is by definition loyal but, unlike hard core support, doesn’t define who people are but how they spend a portion of their leisure time. Other interests (e.g. family, church, bowls, work or whatever) and other friendships might be equally important to habitual supporters at other times of the week or weekend.
Winning is slightly less important to Habitual Supporters than the entertainment value of both the rugby and the pre or post-match association with their friends. They like to attend matches but do not believe it is what defines them as supporters – they are happy to watch the team on TV if something interrupts their attendance habit. Habitual Supporters may be more likely to see supporting their club and supporting Wales as of equal importance.
What matters most to Habitual Supporters
What matters most to Habitual Supporters is the regularity of match-attendance and socialising with their rugby friends. In principle, they could even change the team they support if that preserved the remaining pattern of activities and friendships (e.g. walking to the match, drinking in a particular pub with particular friends and always sitting in the same seat or standing in the same area of the terrace).
Attendance Pattern and behaviour
Habitual Supporters attend home matches (or at least the ones held at a regular time). Most of them do not go to away matches, except perhaps on 1 or 2 planned trips each year with their social group. They have a clear routine for attending a match, i.e. the time they leave home, how they get there, who they go with, where they drink, where they sit or stand, etc.
They may or may not wear club merchandise, and may show no particular interest in the team outside of match day. They are also less easily identified outside the match day context.
Habitual Supporters buy season tickets both as an economy measure and to reserve a seat among their friends. A season ticket is not the same symbol of commitment for this segment as it is for Hard Core Supporters.
Threats to match attendance/commitment
Of all our segments, the match attendance of Habitual Supporters is most affected by changes to match times (e.g. Saturday afternoons to Friday night), unpredictability of match times, change of venue or changes to social group (e.g. a friend moves away). In other words, anything which interrupts or threatens match day habits will affect attendance behaviour.
Habitual Supporters are more sensitive than the hard core to price changes, because rugby is not their top priority – it competes with other commitments and interests for their resources. Habitual Supporters are also more emotionally distanced from (and therefore potentially critical of) the team and management (both on and off the pitch!).
Habitual Supporters are happier than Hard Core Supporters to watch the game on TV instead of going to a match, particularly if they can do that in the company of their friends.
Effect of regionalisation
Unlike former Hard Core Supporters, Habitual Supporters can cope with changes to the identity of the team, provided they are assured of good rugby which fits their attendance habits in terms of time and day, travel, friendships and venue.
In the process of regionalisation, this segment has been hardest hit by teams playing in a different venue from the one they are used to and at a different time. So, for example, for many Pontypridd or Neath supporters going to rugby means walking from their home to the pub (after lunch) and then on to the ground with their friends – the idea of travelling to another town to watch a rugby match on a different day is an alien and disruptive experience! It would mean developing new habits, new drinking haunts and maybe even new friends. As a result, many Habitual Supporters, whilst having nothing in principle against regional rugby, have opted to continue to attend their old Premier matches because this fits their familiar and enjoyable habits.
Demographic profile
Habits evolve over very long periods, so the traditional Habitual Rugby Supporter may be a male over 50, born locally and continuing the habits, not just of his own lifetime, but of his father and grandfather before him.
However, other social habits arise and decay over very short periods of time, particularly among the young (see below). The high profile of the recent Rugby World Cup has made rugby, and watching rugby, more popular, which will with luck create new habitual supporters who have recently discovered watching rugby as a social group and leisure habit.
Proportion of crowd
We believe there are significantly more Habitual than Hard Core Supporters and that they constitute the bulk of season ticket holders. However, because Habitual Supporters do not consider attending every match an essential element of their support, their numbers will vary match to match depending on the profile of the game, the opposition, the time and day of the match and, perhaps most particularly, whether their friends are going. We think Habitual Supporters may constitute 40% of a small crowd and around 30% of a sell-out crowd.
Business implications
Growing this segment
We believe the most promising opportunities to grow this segment may come from targeting different demographic groups and providing the necessary `hooks’ for them to create new habits and new social groupings around match day attendance. For example,
Some regions have successfully introduced child-friendly activities, zones, seating areas and ticket packages to attract whole family groups to start regularly attending matches together. The key is to provide entertainment and facilities for the whole group.
Research last year at Newport RFC showed that single mothers had started coming regularly to Rodney Parade as it offered an entertainment they could take their kids to but also a place where they could meet other single mums (and `single’ men!) in a safe and relaxing environment.
There are indications at some grounds that young teenage groups are attracted to evening matches – seeing it as an exciting social place to meet up with friends and enjoy themselves. Teenage girls, in particular, are obviously attracted to the players on the field, and parents of young teens consider rugby grounds a safer and more wholesome gathering place for their youngsters than town centres.
In each case, regions can target particular demographic groups to kick start the process of socialisation. For the young, regions need to create a perception that a rugby ground is the happening place on, say, a Friday night. But, to grow these new Habitual Supporter segments, the following factors are key:-
relaxing, attractive areas of the ground for different demographic groups to enjoy socialising before and after matches. Exclusive, male-dominated bars are no use to families or groups of teenagers.
for habitual supporters, regular matches at a regular time slot and in a single, regular venue are key. These supporters will come (or not) because of their newly acquired social habit, not (primarily, anyway) because of the game.
The good news from a marketing point of view is that social groups (particularly teenagers and women), once established, can grow themselves through natural “network marketing”.
Growing the revenue from this segment
Growing the revenue from this group is best achieved by growing its size as outlined above.
Big Match Traditionalists
What being a supporter means
Big Match Traditionalists are looking for the buzz, drama and social ramifications of attending high profile rugby games between the best players, e.g. internationals, cup finals, games against top (preferably English!) opposition, pool deciders and traditional derbies. The views of this segment tend to reflect the general view of media and rugby pundits about which matches are exciting and worth attending.
Big matches are an important feature of the annual calendar of the Big Match Traditionalist. In-between, they don’t necessarily think about rugby very much. They may see themselves as supporters of the team they come to watch but do not identify strongly with the team. The particular game is the focus of their interest.
They don’t get excited about “bread and butter” matches and lose interest when there are no stars playing. Big Match Traditionalists are most likely to put their support for Wales (`bigger side playing bigger matches involving bigger stars) ahead of their support for any regional or club team. Top rugby performance is a key part of the entertainment for them.
What matters most to Big Match Traditionalists
What matters most to Big Match Traditionalists is that the match is BIG! They get excited about the matches which the media and the general public are excited about. If another team is playing in a bigger match than their own, they may even go and watch that instead.
Attendance Pattern and behaviour
Big Match Traditionalists attend when (and only when) there is a big match.
Threats to match attendance/commitment
If a team is not successful and plays no big matches, Big Match Traditionalists have no reason to support it. If the stars aren’t playing, they won’t come. If crowds are poor and the media are not excited about the match, they won’t come.
On the other hand, Big Match Traditionalists are the least sensitive of all the segments to price, because match attendance is an occasional one-off expense for them. Some even buy season tickets simply to ensure they can obtain tickets easily for the big matches.
Effect of regionalisation
Of all the segments, regionalisation has been of most benefit to the Big Match Traditionalists; indeed, arguably it was designed for (and some would say, by) them – creating fewer higher profile sides with higher proportions of top players and thus a larger number of higher profile matches. The recent Warriors versus Wasps game at the Brewery Field was a good example. It looks as though the Big Match Traditionalists (from across South Wales including the Big Match Traditionalists of other regions) turned out in force for this one.
Demographic profile
Big Match Traditionalists may be wealthier on average. Many may have moved away from their home towns to follow better paid careers, so their ability watch the game is limited to the bigger occasions.
Proportion of crowd
The proportion of Big Match Traditionalists is very high for big matches but effectively nil for bread and butter ones. Any survey of a large crowd or sell-out game is likely to find a disproportionate number of Big Match Traditionalists supporters (maybe 40%), but it would be a mistake to assume that the majority of potential rugby supporters want just what Big Match Traditionalists want. Indeed, in England, the majority (64%) of Zurich Premiership supporters rarely attend International matches and are not particularly concerned to do so.
Business implications
Growing this segment
You can’t really grow this segment, but you can try to encourage them to go to more matches! We can only think of 3 ways to do this:-
Concentrate on success on the field to qualify the team for more of the “big” matches.
Work with competition organisers and the media to turn more matches into `big’ ones: turning the Scarlets versus Ospreys match into a South Wales Evening Post cup competition is an excellent example.
If you can’t achieve high profile games, then it might be necessary to recruit star players in order to increase the media profile of the team because the Big Match Traditionalist, as we have noted, follows the media view. This unfortunately is an expensive measure and the effect on Big Match Traditionalists wanes as the `star’ becomes a regular in lesser matches.
A bigger stadium may attract proportionately more Big Match Traditionalists. Leinster Lions managed to grow the crowd of their Heineken Cup pool matches from 7000 to 18500 by moving from Donnybrook (7500 capacity) to Lansdowne Road. It is difficult to attribute this kind of growth to any other segment, and the move to a larger and more prestigious stadium may have had a self-fulfilling effect in this case.
However, we should remember that, by definition, the Big Match Traditionalist support will never attend all matches because they cannot all be big.
Growing the revenue from this segment
Wealthy Big Match Traditionalists can probably be encouraged to buy tickets well in advance for the games that are more or less guaranteed the high profile they seek!
Occasional Theatre Goers
What being a supporter means
Occasional Theatre Goers have only a passing interest in watching rugby. It is one of many leisure interests they pursue, and neither their identity, their leisure time nor their social life revolve around it.
Occasional Theatre Goers enjoy going to matches occasionally, just as they and other consumers might go to the theatre or cinema. The “occasion”, however, is as likely to be of their own making as it is to be an occasion for the club.
Occasional Theatre Goers may fairly weakly classify themselves as supporters of a particular side – but perhaps only in the sense that a cinema-goer might favour one `theatre’ over another, prefer a certain style of film or have favourite movie stars who they like to go and watch.
What matters most to Occasional Theatre Goers
What matters most to Occasional Theatre Goers is having a thoroughly entertaining day (or evening) out which all members of the party enjoy. If attending a rugby match doesn’t offer this, they’ll find something else which does.
Attendance Pattern and behaviour
Occasional Theatre Goers attend just a few matches per year as the mood takes them. They are different from Big Match Traditionalists in the sense that the media profile of the match is not paramount. The significance of the occasion is theirs not the club’s, e.g. it may be someone’s birthday or a visit from a relative or simply the time of year when they like to go to a rugby match with a particular group of friends. As a result, you find them, scattered throughout the season at every kind of match.
Threats to match attendance/commitment
Occasional Theatre Goers should not be particularly price-sensitive because, for them, attendance is infrequent. The biggest problem with this segment is that they are not otherwise connected with the team or the game as a whole, so probably need to see an advert or have some prompt to even think about choosing a rugby match as the entertainment for the day in question.
For Occasional Theatre Goers, the whole match day `experience’ has to compete with comparable leisure options (e.g. in terms of cost, entertainment value for the group, ease of parking, ease of acquiring tickets in advance, facilities at the game, restaurants etc). Further research might tell us what the main competing options for potential rugby supporters are.
Effect of regionalisation
Regionalisation is (or could be) good news for Occasional Theatre Goers because:
There are now, effectively, 5 regional `theatres’ of roughly equal quality for them to attend. Facilities at regional grounds should be among the best available.
In theory, everyone in Wales now has a regional team representing them. The regional teams are no longer the exclusive province of club members, and ordinary consumers should feel more welcome at their regional team’s matches than might have been the case for the premier clubs that preceded them.
Unfortunately, bids by Hard Core supporters of clubs to “own” their regional team may make it difficult for regional teams to project themselves as being different from the former clubs, open to anyone and representative of everyone in the region. This not only excludes former supporters of other clubs, it could also create an exclusive and unwelcoming atmosphere that might deter Occasional Theatre Goers.
It probably doesn’t help that neither the WRU nor the regions have not so far any effort to explain to ordinary members of the public that they now have a regional side to represent them and make them feel welcome at their first ever rugby match. Most of the WRU and regional management attention has necessarily been devoted to pacifying and trying to retain Hard Core and Habitual Support.
Demographic profile
We think that this segment probably has the most varied demographic profile. Possibly the only common (but quite weak) characteristic they have is a residual interest in watching rugby.
Proportion of crowd
We currently have little idea what proportion of a rugby crowd consists of Occasional Theatre Goers. It could be around 20-30% for both small and big matches. The important point to remember is that, whilst the numbers of this segment attending may be constant, they are not the same individuals week to week.
Business implications
Growing this segment
This segment (along with the Habitual Supporters) may offer the greatest growth potential for regional rugby. For instance, it doesn’t matter as much to Occasional Theatre Goers how far they live from the regional ground because they only go occasionally and may be more inclined to make the trip an `event’ in its own right. In the case of the Scarlets, for example, North Wales region can deliver Occasional Theatre Goer support, where it is quite impractical to expect much Hard Core or Habitual Support to come from North Wales.
A recent Mori poll found that 38% of the Welsh population (~1.1 million people) have `some’ interest in rugby – that makes them potential Occasional Theatre Goers. It is startling to realise that if these 1.1 million potential customers could each be persuaded to go to just one regional match a year, they would by themselves deliver a crowd of 10,000 at each of the 5 regional games throughout the season!
We see 2 main challenges:-
We need to make the general Welsh population aware of their own region’s matches as public, easily-bookable, attractive entertainment for people of all ages and genders to try.
We need to evolve to satisfy the Occasional Theatre Goers’ need for a whole match day experience which competes with other leisure industries (e.g. advance ticket purchase, parking, restaurant facilities, off-field entertainment, etc).
Growing the revenue from this segment
Most of the revenue from this segment (apart from advance ticket sales for low-tariff games) comes from food, drink, parking and team merchandise at the ground. Occasional Theatre Goers are perhaps more likely to spend money on associated match day attractions because it’s an `event’ for them. Marketing attention should be focussed, however, on ways of attracting Occasional Theatre Goers in larger numbers, as outlined above. First we need to create awareness of future games and make it as simple as possible for them to buy tickets in advance.
Concluding comments and recommendations
Based on the analysis set out here, the figure shows how we think the 4 segments might contribute to the varying crowd sizes at 4 typical regional matches which occur in a season.
The points to note here are:-
Hard Core Supporters remain relatively constant in numbers across matches but their proportion drops significantly as the crowd grows larger: this segment is small and finite in number.
Habitual Supporters increase in number as matches become higher profile, but their numbers (at least for any one season) are also finite and probably reach their limit at a pool Heineken Cup match.
Big Match Traditionalists are not present at all at minor matches. They first appear in significant numbers for Heineken Cup pool matches (given the media attention on these) and their numbers can double again for even bigger matches. A larger capacity stadium, we believe, would attract even more Big Match Traditionalists for really big games. This segment can, in fact, be very large indeed for the right match, because it includes International supporters and supporters from other regions.
Occasional Theatre Goers may be present, we think, in significant numbers at every match. Their numbers increase for higher profile matches mainly because they are more widely publicised than other matches, and perhaps not because of the match itself. The key point to bear in mind is that the numbers of Occasional Theatre Goers in a crowd are different individuals for different matches, which is less true of the other segments.
Based on the analysis set out in this essay, we would offer the following recommendations to the regions:-
Don’t over-focus on the needs or demands of Hard Core Supporters in evolving and designing the product. They are too small a segment and not representative of the larger market.
At the same time, actively recognise and reward the crucial role this segment plays (alongside the players) in co-creating and maintaining the unique entertainment value of the product for a wider audience. Also, recognise and reward the part the Hard Core play in creating a compelling and distinctive consumer brand for the region with which high-profile businesses want to be associated.
Don’t waste time and energy attempting to win over Big Match Traditionalists to attend lower profile matches. They won’t. Exploit their huge numbers whenever you get a chance of a big match.
Grow the Habitual Supporter segment by providing hooks for new social habits to develop with new demographic groups, for example, entertaining pre-match areas for young families and attractive post-match socialising areas for teenagers. Pick a regular match time slot and, as far as TV schedules will allow, stick to that slot.
Grow the Occasional Theatre Goer segment by advertising regional matches outside of sports media circles. Make clear the date, time, location and prices and how to book tickets.
Evolve the whole match day experience as an attractive entertainment product in its own right for all members of the general public.
Further research
We need to conduct additional research to validate and refine this segmentation model and its business implications for the regions. In particular, we hope to:
Develop simple ways of quickly classifying supporters into our proposed segments.
Sample crowds at matches to determine the relative proportions of each segment at different kinds of match, i.e. test the model’s ability to predict variation in crowd sizes.
Develop a simple numeric model of crowd composition and the factors that appear to affect crowd size, which can be used to predict crowd size more accurately.
Investigate new Habitual Support (e.g. teenage groups) and identify the `hooks’ which help these groups to grow.
Establish the current level of awareness and motivation among the public at large (the 38% of promising Occasional Theatre Goers) of regional rugby matches and how one attends them.
Find out what aspects of `whole product experience’ are most critical to the Occasional Theatre Goer and what alternative leisure activities compete with watching regional rugby (in terms of facilities, pricing, accessibility and entertainment value).
Background research
The following research sources were used (directly or indirectly) to help develop this segmentation model:-
Williams, Peter, Survey of Welsh Rugby Support, December 2002.
Kidd, Alison `I was there’, The Psychology of Welsh Rugby Supporters, October 2002.
Survey of Season Ticket Holders at Llanelli Scarlets, September 2003.
Discussion Groups held at Scarlets Feeder Clubs, July 2003.
Wann D. et al, Sports Fans: the Psychology and Social Impact of Spectators’, London, Routledge, 2001.
Williams, John, Premier Rugby, National Fan Survey 2003, University of Leicester.
Tapp, A and Clowes, J, From Carefree Casuals to Professional Wanderers, Segmentation Possibilities for Football Supporters, European Journal of Marketing, 36 (11), 2002.
Hansen, H. and Gauthier, R. Factors Affecting Attendance at Professional Sport Events, Journal of Sport Management, 3, 15-32, 1989.
Lee, B. and Zeiss, C., Behavioral Commitment to the Role of Sport Consumer: An Exploratory Analysis, Sociology and Social Research, 64, 405-419 (1980)
Murrell, A. and Dietz, B., Fan Support of Sports Teams: The Effects of a Common Group Identity, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 14, 28-39, 1992.
Wann, D and Branscombe, N., Sports Fans: Measuring Degree of Identification with the Team, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 24, 1-17 (1993)
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