Shifting Activity Patterns

Shifting Activity Patterns

Canadian Recreational Spending - shifting to home based

Frances Kremarik, published 'The Changing Recreational Spending Patterns of Canadian Families' in Canadian Social Trends (Spring 2002).  The data (1982 to 1999) reflected a period with two recessions where average after tax income was only 4% higher at the end of a 17 year period.  Income growth did not keep pace with spending increases as average household expenditures increased by 10% of the period (compared to 4% increase in income).  Spending on recreation increased by almost 40% over the period.

While some of the shifts within the recreation category can be attributed to increasing costs of products or services, and others to the onslaught of the digital age; what is perhaps most significant is the obvious shift towards spending on home-based recreation and leisure.  Spending on recreation fees and athletic equipment increased only 8% in each sub-category - much less than the overall 39% increase.  Event admissions were the only non-home based sub-category to increase faster than this overall rate - at 47%. 

Note the huge influence of increased computer expenditure on the overall trend optics.

   Average annual $ spent by all Canadian households

Recession Leisure - The New Wave?

The 2008/2009 recession has brought measureable change to North American leisure behaviours and patterns.  Perhaps more significantly, recession related adaptations mirror longer term trends that have been observed over the past couple of decades.  We may well be seeing a permanent, rational shift that will influence leisure decisions and markets for decades.

An overview of the changes:

• Less - a tighter personal or household economy pushes current trends towards voluntary simplicity, downward mobility, small indulgences.  People are simply spending less on stuff and using what they already have more. Many recent reports and studies have shown that those who have moved away from rampant materialism are happier, more satisfied, and less stressed.
• More Time at Home -  The White Hutchinson Leisure eNews notes that a March 2009 study by Informational Resources found that 67% of Americans reported spending more time at home with their families than in the past - and 67% are eating more family meals together.  They also point to a July 2009 Technomic study that found that over one-third of consumers (36%) report they are entertaining at home more with 40%.  And to Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve Fall 2008 research finding that 72% of consumers reported "spending a good deal more time at home entertaining themselves and others." 
• Investing in your own 'entertainment assets' - consumers are more than ever understanding that they can save by investing in technology and other leisure related equipment.  Even in a recession environment, households of all income levels are increasing the percentage of total income spent on home entertainment electronics and related services.  Sales of fitness equipment and related digital instruction remain high.  Sales of board games increase even as the overall toy market declines. 
• Socializing OnLine - the expense of going out to socialize is not as necessary in this age of digital social networking, online shared gaming, and informal video conferencing.
• Valuing Experience over Commodities - leisure consumers continue to value a quality experience over yet another mass produced program.  And they are finding that the best value is created by a peer group, a community of interest that gradually understands member needs and collectively customizes the leisure opportunty accordingly. A number of recent studies demonstrate that there is more satisfaction derived (and happiness generated) by the experiential purchase than from material accumulation.
• The Staycation - tourism is in fact simply recreation away from home.  Today's consumer is less willing/able to put a travel vacation on the credit card and unable to save in advance.  The trend is to seek out more affordable leisure experiences near to home while on holiday.  Local tourism also allows for warm-up visits and follow-through in the months after the holiday.

Alberta Recreation Trends - 1988 to 2008

Alberta has condected the Alberta Recreation Survey every four years since 1981. The tables below are taken from two documents, 'A Look At Lesiure' No. 55 (http://tpr.alberta.ca/recreation/ars/surveypdf/LL55_trends.pdf) and the recently released 2008 Survey (http://tpr.alberta.ca/recreation/ars/default.aspx).

The top 15 activities, in terms of percentage of Alberta households participating, have remained relatively constant. The majority of participation rates have declined over the 20 year period - with the notable exception of video gaming, aerobics/fitness, golf and day hiking. In addition, the majority of these activities are individual or with a couple of 'friends' and relatively easily scheduled.

Top 15 Activities - % Household Participation 1988 to 2008

ranked in order of 2008 popularity

Activity	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008
Walking for Pleasure	88.8	87.3	88.9	91.3	93.0	79.3
Gardening	70.4		57.6	74.9	72.1	64.8
Attending Fair/Festival					56.7	62.4
Sports Spectator	63.7	58.7	57.2	62.3	60.0	59.1
Crafts/Hobbies	67.7	54.3	58.8	67.9	63.8	54.3
Video/electronic games	36.9	39.9	47.2	53.9	53.0	54.1
Visiting museum/art gallery	65.4	47.3	52.3	71.5	50.9	51.4
Bicycling	63.9	59.2	61.2	59.9	56.0	48.3
Swimming (in pools)	60.4	55.0	52.8	55.0	54.1	47.1
Fitness Programs	34.4	30.4	32.2	35.9	43.9	44.0
Attending Live Theatre					51.9	44.7
Golf	39.7	41.0	44.0	46.6	44.9	43.6
Overnight Camping	51.1	45.8	46.3	47.6	45.3	39.7
Swimming (lakes, rivers)	40.7	37.3	33.8	33.9	32.6	37.8
Day Hiking	30.5	30.9	36.1	38.3	35.8	37.0

The majority of group or team activities (generally sports) that require lots of organization are declining. Soccer is the one activity that maintained its overall participation level over the 20 year period, but has shown a significant decline in the last decade.

Group/Team Activities - % Household Participation 1988 to 2008

ranked in order of 2008 popularity

Activity	1988	1992	1996	2000	2004	2008
Bowling/Lawn Bowling	26.4	24.4	25.5	22.8	23.9	21.0
Soccer	17.4	14.6	18.5	23.0	19.3	17.7
Ice Hockey	22.4	19.6	20.6	18.0	16.9	14.2
Basketball	17.0	17.7	19.9	22.3	18.1	11.8
Softball/baseball	33.7	30.6	29.1	22.5	17.2	11.6
Volleyball	21.0	19.6	18.7	16.4	13.6	11.2
Curling	21.3	16.6	14.5	13.1	13.1	9.6
Football	10.6	10.1	11.3	9.1	7.7	7.0
Rugby	2.4	2.0	3.2	2.7	2.7	1.8
Ringette	1.6	1.3	2.7	1.7	1.0	1.1
Other Group Activity						2.5

Major Shifts in Alberta Recreation Participation (1981 - 2000)

The Province of Alberta has been conducting the Alberta Recreation Survey every four years since 1981. Between 1981 and 2000, 48 activities experienced decreases in participation, 7 activities remained the same, only 9 experienced increases. The table below lists the notable declines and the increases.

Notable DECLINES from 1981 to 2000	INCREASES from 1992 to 2000
tennis - 31% to 13% curling - 26% to 15% bowling - 43% to 23% baseball - 42% to 22% hunting - 28% to 9% fishing - 55% to 32% football - 24% to 9% x-country skiing - 31% to 17% ice skating - 58% to 17% ice skating - 58% to 34% ice hockey - 28% to 18% facquetball - 28% to 5%	visting museums/galleries - 47% to 72% crafts and hobbies - 54% to 68% video/computer games - 40% to 54% golf - 41% to 47% educational courses - 41% to 47% day hiking - 31% to 38% weight training - 27% to 33% soccer - 15% to 23%

Source: Alberta Community Development, 'Look at Leisure' (Bulletin #47)

Activity Category Trends: Canada (1986 - 2005)

Adian McFarlance and Lindsay Teds of the University of Manitoba have documented general leisure activity trends in their paper: 'Work, Rest and Play: Exploring Trends in Time Allocation in Canada and the United States'.
Data in the following tables indicate:

• a general increase in the hours spent in week at sport and walking/jogging
• reduction in time spent watching television and/or reading - an increase in computer use
• increases in informal recreation activities (hobbies, garden and pet care, games)
• reductions in time spent eating and personal care - increases in time spent sleeping at night or having naps.

Hours Per Week by Major Activity for Men: Canada

Activity	1986	1992	1998	2005	change ('86-'05)
Active Sport All sports computer use eating entertainment games garden/pet care hobbies night sleep/naps persona care reading socializing television walk/hike/run/jog	1.4 2.15 NR 9.83 0.88 0.60 0.29 1.90 55.55 17.07 3.19 6.19 15.52 0.37	1.59 3.08 0.20 8.83 0.72 1.03 2.00 2.35 54.87 15.10 2.76 6.69 15.62 0.87	1.89 3.35 0.79 7.40 0.79 1.43 1.64 2.51 55.29 13.76 1.96 7.43 14.47 0.88	1.73 3.08 1.71 7.18 0.93 2.00 1.59 3.51 57.33 13.44 1.28 6.83 13.89 0.75	0.33 0.93 1.51 -2.65 0.05 1.40 1.30 1.61 1.78 -3.63 -1.91 0.64 -1.63 0.38

Hours Per Week by Major Activity for Women: Canada

Activity	1986	1992	1998	2005	change ('86 - '05)
Active Sport All sports computer use eating entertainment games garden/pet care hobbies night sleep/naps persona care reading socializing television walk/hike/run/jog	0.72 1.18 NR 10.03 0.75 0.65 0.24 3.16 57.41 18.61 3.12 6.92 12.65 0.41	0.82 1.95 0.07 8.82 0.70 1.13 1.01 3.06 57.19 16.25 3.21 7.57 12.00 0.86	1.03 2.44 0.37 7.37 0.86 0.97 1.56 2.47 57.43 1.64 2.52 8.10 12.00 0.97	1.10 2.47 1.08 7.33 0.85 1.04 1.66 2.42 58.94 14.80 1.85 7.31 12.16 0.95	0.38 1.29 1.01 -2.70 0.10 0.39 1.42 -0.74 1.53 -3.81 -1.27 0.39 -0.49 0.54

http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4211/

Munich Personal RePEc Archive paper No. 4211, posted 07.November 2007