According to a report from the Tennis Industry Association, more than three-fourths of frequent tennis players have become more strategic in how they buy things, thinking more about how their purchases will fit into their lives.
The 2011 Tennis Consumer Reports, recently released by the Tennis Industry Association, measure consumer trends among frequent tennis players (21+ play occasions per year). The report showed mixed results for the tennis industry. This year's study was compiled from feedback from an online survey completed by nearly 1,800 frequent tennis players and results were weighted by age and gender to match the overall profile of the nearly 5 million frequent tennis players in the United States.
The overall sentiment among frequent tennis players in regard to their 2011 spending and projections for 2012 spending is reserved optimism.
“With the fragile economic environment and personal discretionary spending being trimmed down by households – luxury/leisure purchases are being scrutinized much more carefully than in the past and it has had an impact on the tennis industry,” says TIA Executive Director Jolyn de Boer.
For example, the percentage of frequent players who indicated putting off new racket purchases is up to 38 percent in 2011 from 32 percent in 2010. However, frequent tennis players do expect 2012 to be fairly similar or slightly better than 2011, leaving room for positive results for the industry in 2012. For instance, 32 percent of frequent players expected an increase in household expenditure in the 6 months following the survey period, which is up six percentage points versus the 2010 survey period.
Frequent tennis players are no different from the general consumer with the ever growing and emerging trend of mobile digital information consumption. According to this year's consumer reports 65 percent of frequent tennis players are using a mobile web browser on their mobile phone and nearly 60 percent use their mobile phone to download applications. When asked “what kind of tennis specific activities would you like to engage in on your mobile phone,” nearly 50 percent of frequent players indicated they would like to check professional tennis scores and 45 percent indicated they would like to find a tennis partner to play with.
“As an industry we have to respond to the consumer demand for digital information consumption and usage by staying at the forefront of emerging technologies and providing tools to connect players with each other and tennis information as evidenced by our efforts with the upcoming consumer launch of PlayTennis.com,” adds de Boer.
