Title
Collaborative consumption in the Treasure Valley: Marketing implications for ski and snowboard industries
Document Type
Student Presentation
Presentation Date
4-15-2013
Faculty Sponsor
Trina Sego
Abstract
Effective marketing of winter sports activities must understand and incorporate the motivations behind why individuals in the greater Treasure Valley area rent, lease, swap, trade and lend or participate in the collaborative consumption of ski and snowboards equipment and accessories. The goal of this project was to gather valuable information about why people chose to collaboratively consume as opposed to purchasing new, with the intent that the information would lead to marketing implications that could be used to target the segments identified. This information was gathered through face-to-face interviews, short surveys and in-person observations of the quality of equipment and behavior involved in the collaborative consumption of ski and snowboard equipment. Knowing the motivation behind the consumer behavior provided information on several implications for marketers. The five themes identified through this study were price consciousness, the type of gear enthusiast one is, trends with various equipment, storage and disposal, and the social relationship aspect of the sport. This information led to the recommendations that marketers should put together ski and snowboard packages that include not only the skis or snowboards, but also the accessories or travel accommodations that go with them. Marketers should take advantage of this commonality to reach both market segments of price consciousness and social avenues. Additionally, while for different reasons, quality is important to both types of gear enthusiasts, this similarity can be used to target both segments effectively. Finally, a need for an effective storage system for ski and snowboard equipment was discovered.