American consumers spent $627.2 billion on leisure and entertainment goods in 2002, an increase of 5.6 percent over 2001, according to a new report by Unity Marketing. The research found five distinct market segments with different motivations for leisure.
American consumers spent $627.2 billion on leisure and entertainment
goods in 2002, an increase of 5.6 percent over 2001, according to a new
report by Unity Marketing. The research found five distinct market segments
with different motivations for leisure.
In the latest survey among 1,000 U.S. consumers found that the typical American spends almost $2,000 on entertainment goods.
Books, magazines and newsletters (purchased by 74 percent of shoppers in the past year), prerecorded media (62 percent), and toys, dolls and games (50 percent) were the most widely purchased categories among a total of 11 entertainment and recreational products.
Commenting on the findings, Pam Danziger president of Unity Marketing and author of Why People Buy Things They Don't
Need noted that the total spend was "almost 50 percent more than we spend on apparel and accessories and more than the entire GNP of
Canada, powered by a feeling of entitlement, Americans bring a unique achievement orientation to how we 'recreate.' We want to accomplish something meaningful and measurable through our leisure pursuits."
"For more Americans, particularly affluent consumers, the goal of leisure and entertainment is to achieve greater self-actualization," Danziger continued. Psychologist Abraham Maslow placed 'self-actualization' at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of human needs, to be satisfied only after the basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. According to Maslow, self-actualization refers to "man's desire for fulfillment...to become everything that one is capable of becoming."
Marketers and retailers that sell entertainment and recreation products primarily serve consumers' self-actualization needs, as their products have no practical purpose other than to provide emotional satisfaction.
The research identified five distinct leisure groups:
- 'Bored Betty' needs more meaning in her life and finds that through entertainment. Reducing boredom and stress is the prime motivator for Betty, who is more likely to be a low-income woman living alone.
- 'Fantasy Fred,' on the other hand, finds meaning in his life by connecting with other places and times. This consumer, a highly educated, married baby-boomer with a $75k plus income, uses entertainment to expand his mind through new ideas and to express different aspects of his personality.
- 'Entertainment Alex' is the most active buyer of entertainment media and spends the most in the category. But Alex's lower income and younger age means he spends a significant amount of his disposable income in the category.
- 'Frugal Francine' finds entertainment in shopping for bargains, and is more involved in buying entertainment media than using it. An active consumer, Frances is more likely to be an upper-income married woman aged 25-to-54 years old with children.
- "Finally, 'Coach-Potato Carol' is the least active entertainment consumer. Equally divided between male and female, this consumer is older, often retired, and is not particularly motivated by fantasy fulfillment, self-expression, relieving boredom or stress or media as an enhancement to the quality of life," Danziger concludes.
To understand these categorizations, a review of the literature is
insightful. Kuentzel (2000) asks whether leisure is a life-space to work
out new emergent identities in the face of change, or rather, whether
leisure enables people to anchor themselves in pre-established
self-narratives in the face of change.
In essence, do consumers choose an entertainment to suit their life
style at any particular moment in time, or does their chosen leisure
activity define them?
For more information on this new report, Why People Buy Entertainment and Recreation Products, 2003, visit this link:
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/entertainment/
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Kuentzel, W. F Self-identity, modernity, and the rational actor in leisure research. Journal of Leisure Research, 2000, Vol.32, No.1, pp.87-92, 17 ref.