The Influence of Persuasive Messages on Propensity to Purchase Selected Recreational Services from Public or from Commercial Suppliers

Abstract

The impact of persuasive messages on recreation choice decisions involving public and commercial services was investigated, while controlling for subjects' previously held attitudes toward the public and commercial sectors. An experiment was conducted which randomly assigned 60 subjects into one of three groups. Group 1 received a pro-public sector message regarding camping and aerobics opportunities. Group 2 received a pro-commercial sector message related to the same two opportunities, while Group 3 (control group) received messages which described the two sets of opportunities without sector bias. Subjects in all three groups reported positive attitudes toward the facilities and programs depicted in the videotapes. Analysis of covariance revealed that the positive influence of the camping videotapes on camping choice was significant at the.0015 level, while the positive influence of the aerobics videotapes on aerobics choice was significant at the.0543 level. The results suggested that persuasive messages can influence people's decisions to purchase a recreation service from a public or a commercial sector supplier, although the messages may vary in effectiveness depending on the activity (camping or aerobics) in question. Implications for managers, limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Persuasive Messages
• Experimental Design
• Attitudes Toward the Public and Commercial Sectors
• Aerobics
• Camping