The new skier: Who is she? Who is he? This year, our coverage of the annual National Ski Opinion Survey (NSOS) will focus on this group, since so much of the focus of our industry’s marketing effort is directed to developing it. The 1990 NSOS contains a wealth of information that clearly differentiates that new skier from the general skier market.
First, though, an overview of the whole. As always, NSOS presents a mass of valuable data on the profile and characteristics of the market. Now in its fifth consecutive year, the detailed interviews of 7,375 skiers at 14 ski areas across the country represents bedrock fact-gathering from the people actually skiing. They’re not projections or extrapolations: they are the live, on-the-hoof skiing customers, interviewed at the ski areas where they are skiing, not fantasizing about it.
The new data should occasion no surprises; the profile of the active skier changes a little over the years, but in ways that commonly known demographic trendlines can predict. For instance, in the 1988 survey, 14.4 percent were over 45 years of age; in the 1990 survey, that figure grew to 17.3 percent.
NSOS wisely attempts to explore new territory, and the last two studies asked a lot of questions in which the respondent rates the facilities, services and performance of the ski area where interviewed, and evaluates the importance of these factors in the choice of that ski area to ski at on that day. These findings, when fully analyzed, may be explored in these pages in a later issue, for the subject is a vital one: our marketers should be just as interested in keeping their existing customers happy as they are in trying to create new ones.
| New Skiers (%) | All Skiers (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Under 19 | 15.6 | 12.4 |
| 19-34 | 53.8 | 44.3 | |
| Sex | Male | 41.0 | 55.8 |
| Female | 58.6 | 43.6 | |
| Marital | Single | 54.6 | 45.7 |
| Education | College grad or higher | 41.8 | 55.7 |
| Income | Under $50K or student | 60.9 | 45.5 |
| Over $50K | 29.8 | 44.5 |
New Skier Profile
The difference in profile between a new skier and the whole skier universe is fairly predictable, except, perhaps, to the degree the difference exists.
First, the basic demographics: they are younger, more likely to be single, have had less education and have less income. These data are compatible with earlier studies, and are interesting in the context of new data from NFO Research (the firm retained by USIA to evaluate the national marketing effort) which shows that 43 percent of identified first-time skiers were under age 18.
An aside on this: our industry and its researchers have not been very clear-headed about counting and studying the under-18 skier market. There is almost always a cut-off (adults 18 and over, skiers 12 and over, skiers 7 and over), but little standardization, and so no way to compare and project. The 1990 NSOS shows that over 40 percent of all skiers started skiing at 17 or under, so an understanding of the dynamics of that segment is sorely needed. It represents, and always has, the future. This is especially so because other data clearly show that the early starter is overwhelmingly more likely to make a lifetime commitment to the sport than the late bloomer. Furthermore, most of those early starters show up through their lifetimes as skiers in the frequent skier catagory. It is not unreasonable — indeed it may conservative — to hypothesize that a skier who signs up at age 12 would, on average, log 400 skier visits before “hanging them up,” and in the process introduce countless other friends and family to the sport. Yet, we know little about the segment, because we are preoccupied with showcasing our adult market to potential booze, cigarette, automobile and bankcard sponsors.
Rating the Ski Experience
When asked to answer, “What best describes your overall experience at this area?” the first-year skier is very clearly differentiated, and it is sobering. Scoring ranged from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent), and showed that, whereas the average rating by all skiers was 7.7, the average for new skiers was 6.7. That new skier rating was by far lower than the lowest of any other segment. The highest ratings came from the more experienced and more active skiers: 8.5 from the 55-plus age group, 8.1 from the most advanced skiers and 8.0 from the most frequent skiers. (Of course, many of the respondents are in all three segments.)
To emphasize this disparity, 61.7 percent of all skiers chose one of the top ratings (8, 9 or 10), compared to 46.9 percent of new skiers. Concomitantly, only 3.2 percent of all skiers chose one of the bottom three rating scores, while an embarrassing 16.9 percent of new skiers did — five times as many.
These ratings get reflected in assessment of value: among all skiers, 58.4 percent found value to be excellent or very good; that compares to 51.8 percent among new skiers. At the lower end, the judgment is harsher: 10.6 percent of all skiers rated value as fair or poor, while among new skiers this was a third higher at 14 percent. Clearly, more must be done to understand the needs of, and please the new skier!
Influences For Skiing
How do new skiers come to be skiing at that area on the day of the interview? The age-old answer is still today’s: the factor of friends and family. Among 14 possible influences to cite (e.g. radio, magazine ads, ski shows), 76.7 percent of new skiers indicated friends and family. That compared to 29.9 percent among all interviewed skiers. The point was underscored when respondents were asked to choose the “most influential” factor. (See table.)
| New Skiers | All Skiers | |
|---|---|---|
| Myself | 18.3 | 42.8 |
| My kids | 5.3 | 5.1 |
| My parents | 5.3 | 5.1 |
| My friends | 53.1 | 29.9 |
| Travel agent | 2.6 | 1.2 |
| Advertising | 2.6 | 1.7 |
| Other | 14.8 | 15.8 |
| No answer | 1.4 | 2.7 |
When the question was asked differently — “Who introduced you to skiing?” — the results are similar. In looking over the influences, one has to be struck by the weak showing of the ski shop in the whole birthing process. It is puzzling and disappointing; it may also be correctible?
| New Skiers | All Skiers | |
|---|---|---|
| Friend | 60.0 | 41.2 |
| Family | 22.3 | 33.2 |
| Ski club | 1.4 | 4.0 |
| Ski shop | 0 | .2 |
| Decided to try on own | 12.0 | 15.9 |
| Other | 5.1 | 3.0 |
| No answer | 1.2 | 4.2 |
When rating the importance of various facilities and services “when you chose this area,” new skiers were appropriately different. For example, 46.9 percent of new skiers said the rental shop was “very important,” compared to 19.3 percent of all skiers. For ski school, 49.9 percent of new skiers chose “very important,” compared to less than half that number among all skiers. Nevertheless, it is discouraging to find that 20.9 percent of new skiers answered “not important.” There’s still a message to be sent by ski schools — a reputation to be gained.
Tentative Involvement
An interesting insight was gained into the frequency of skiing by new skiers. The question asked, “How many days do you plan to ski this season?” and clearly the new skier is not an instant enthusiast. While only 11.6 percent of all skiers ended up in the 1-3 day category, a disappointing 41 percent of new skiers so indicated. This probably reflects the relatively low satisfaction level shown above, and undoubtedly results in the low repeat visits by first-time skiers. Interestingly, it mirrors the discouraging statistic from USIA’s research that shows that more than half (54 percent) of new skiers went only the one time.
| Days | New Skiers | All Skiers |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 41.0 | 11.6 |
| 4-5 | 20.1 | 13.3 |
| 6-10 | 16.6 | 22.9 |
| 11-15 | 5.7 | 13.7 |
| 16-20 | 2.2 | 8.1 |
| More than 20 | 7.1 | 19.2 |
| No answer | 7.3 | 11.4 |
We obviously need more tracking. We need to know how many first-time skiers never return. And why? We need to know whether we are fishing for new skiers in the right ponds. For instance, in the NSOS study the new skier is clearly not an active sportsperson, whereas we know conclusively that the established skier is extremely active in sports other than skiing.
Compared to all skiers, the new skier profile as a sportsperson is not encouraging: fewer of them play golf (24.3 vs 33.8), sail (15.7 vs 23.1), play tennis (23.8 vs 33.9), bicycle (32.3 vs 40.4) and board sail (3.8 vs 9.3). On the other hand, more of them report lying on the beach (59.6 vs 56.8) and going on historic tours (23.0 vs 17.8).
Copies of the complete NSOS study, when printed, will be available through the USIA offices in McLean, Virginia.
