Recreation specialization reexamined: The case of vehicle‐based campers

Abstract

Measurement of recreation specialization has been limited to the observation and recording of behaviors associated with activities and has ignored, to a large extent, individual affective attachment to participation. This article reports on the development of a construct called recreation involvement, which includes measures of both prior participation history and affective attachment (enduring involvement). In recognition of the multidimensional nature of the construct, a cluster‐analysis procedure was used to differentiate four subgroups of vehicle‐based campers, each of which showed different recreation involvement profiles. Subsequently, evidence is presented to show that variation in the focus of recreation involvement, as demonstrated by the profiles, influenced attitudes of campers toward management strategies and character of facility provision in the study area.

Keywords:

• specialization
• involvement
• cluster analysis
• management