Photo: mRGB
Just for a moment, pretend you don’t ski. If you don’t, then this will be all the easier. Now consider the question: why don’t you ski? How would you respond? Is it too dangerous? Does it cost too much? Or, are you simply not interested?
A recent survey conducted by Gregg Blanchard of Slope Fillers asked this very question to a group of 223 non-skiers — or, more accurately, not so attractive. But before sending out the survey, Slope Fillers made their own predictions as marketers to measure how their thoughts would match up with that of the sample.
Marketers’ predictions.
As seen in the graph, they estimated that cost would be the biggest driver. And with skiing known for expensive equipment and tickets, it seemed a solid hypothesis.
But this hypothesis proved wrong.
Non-skier survey responses.
Despite a small sample size, the results are still noteworthy — instead of cost being the largest inhibitor for non-skiers, interest proved to be the most prevalent reasoning for not skiing.
Though the survey did not yield more detailed answers, it certainly opens the conversation up to longer, more in-depth discussions and studies.
Comparison of marketers’ predictions to non-skier responses.
So, why does this all matter? Well, from an business standpoint, data collection is incredibly useful for tailoring products and/or services to better meet the needs of customers. And with snowboarding declining in popularity, this is definitely worth measuring and, in turn, considering. Moreover, surveys as such could prompt further statistical analysis in other action sports.
