When sport becomes a way of life – a lifestyle market segmentation approach

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study was to segment endurance athletes according to their lifestyle adaption. To achieve this goal, an online survey targeting endurance athletes participating in South African events was conducted, with 498 questionnaires being collected. Lifestyle proved to be a favourable segmentation variable as it led to three distinctive market segments, each with specific demographic and lifestyle characteristics, namely the Serious, Opportunistic and Recreational Pursuers. Lifestyle can furthermore exert an influence on travel patterns, spending and participation frequency with all these constructs being directly related to one another. A lifestyle in which sport is the main priority will increase the event participation of different South Africans in the long-term, which would ultimately secure a sustainable endurance event sector. The study also supports the notion that the main aim of events and the government should be fostering a sport-related lifestyle among the youth in South Africa.

Keywords:

• Endurance sport participants
• lifestyle
• market segmentation
• South Africa
• tourism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Esmarie Myburgh http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7171-464X

Martinette Kruger http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6674-8498

Melville Saayman http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9991-0140

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) [grant number AEMD160525166212].