The relationship between serious leisure ...

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The relationship between serious leisure characteristics and recreation involvement: a case study of Taiwan’s surfing activities a

Tien-Ming Cheng & Sheng-Hshiung Tsaur

a

a

Graduate Institute of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan Available online: 12 Jul 2011

To cite this article: Tien-Ming Cheng & Sheng-Hshiung Tsaur (2012): The relationship between serious leisure characteristics and recreation involvement: a case study of Taiwan’s surfing activities, Leisure Studies, 31:1, 53-68 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2011.568066

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Leisure Studies Vol. 31, No. 1, January 2012, 53–68

The relationship between serious leisure characteristics and recreation involvement: a case study of Taiwan’s surfing activities Tien-Ming Cheng and Sheng-Hshiung Tsaur*

Downloaded by [National Taiwan University] at 16:10 14 February 2012

Graduate Institute of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, National Chiayi University, Chiayi, Taiwan (Received 18 August 2010; final version received 28 February 2011) Taylor and Francis RLST_A_568066.sgm

2011 Leisure 10.1080/02614367.2011.568066 0261-4367 Article 0Taylor 00 Professor [email protected] 000002011 &Studies Francis Sheng-HshiungTsaur (print)/1466-4496 (online)

This study explores the relationship between serious leisure and recreation involvement by treating the former as a type of personal characteristic. Questionnaires were distributed to 434 Taiwanese surfers, and a structural equation model was used to examine the causal relationships among the variables. Research results show that a higher level of serious leisure characteristics leads to higher levels of recreation involvement for recreationists. Findings of the relationships between dimensions show that a higher level of perseverance leads to a higher level of attraction, self-expression and centrality-to-lifestyle; a higher level of career pursuits in their endeavours and a strong identity with their activities lead to a higher level of attraction and centrality-to-lifestyle; and a higher level of unique ethos leads to a higher level of attraction and self-expression. Managerial implications of this research, with respect to operators of water recreation activities, are subsequently discussed. Keywords: serious leisure characteristics; recreation involvement; surfing activities

Introduction Surfing is one of Taiwan’s most popular leisure activities participated in by recreationists as a result of rising demand for increased diversity of leisure pursuits. As a nation surrounded by the sea, Taiwan is a highly suitable location for surfing activities. Due to the fast waves in the north and the heavy but slow waves in the south, the different wave conditions have lured international and even world-class athletes to participate in surfing activities. The related research is sparse, but goes in two directions. One involves the technical issues of surfing activities (Waitt & Warren, 2008; Yang & Greenstreet, 2006), and the other pertains to the recreational experience and behaviour of surfers (Diehm & Armatas, 2004; Farmer, 1992). In addition, while several studies have discussed the recreation involvement (RI) of different activities (Hwang, Lee, & Chen, 2005; Kyle, Absher, Hammitt, & Cavin, 2006; Kyle, Graefe, Manning, & Bacon, 2003), only a minority focus on surfing activities. According to Stebbins (1982, p. 262; 1996, p. 948), surfing is a serious leisure (SL) activity and participants of surfing activities mostly present SL traits. However, do all surfing

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] ISSN 0261-4367 print/ISSN 1466-4496 online © 2012 Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2011.568066 http://www.tandfonline.com


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participants with SL traits also reflect the high degree of involvement in surfing? This is a topic that warrants further investigation. Stebbins (1982) noted that the attitude of SL participants is different from that of casual leisure participants. When participants are engaged in an activity, they begin to develop an interest in the pursuit and actively plan for it. Furthermore, they develop stable and consistent demands for the activity, strongly identify with it, and dedicate significant effort to it. Through participation in the activity, they acquire skills, knowledge and experience in order to attain perceived benefits. The above are the basic six characteristics proposed by Stebbins (1982, 1992). Gould, Moore, McGuire, and Stebbins (2008) then put forward the first SL scale to distinguish SL from casual leisure. The scale can be used to measure individuals’ leisure activity traits and is not limited to specific activities. In other words, if SL is considered as a variable of leisure traits, it can be treated as an independent variable, similar to personal traits or demographic variables. Ewert and Hollenhorst (1989) proposed three major factors influencing RI, including personal traits, activities and situations, in which the former refers to an individual’s sense of value, personal needs, interests, demographic variables and the individual’s knowledge as well as experiences of activities. Discussions in previous studies regarding the effects of personal traits on RI are diverse, such as demographics and level of involvement (Fesenmaier & Johnson, 1989; Wiley, Shaw, & Havitz, 2000), participation rates in activities (Gahwiler & Havitz, 1998), participation experiences (Havitz & Howard, 1995) and past experiences (Havitz & Howard, 1995; McIntyre & Pigram, 1992). Stebbins (1982, 1992) asserted that SL is a form of ethos and trait that recreationists present in activities. Recreationists with SL traits demonstrate active belief and attitude toward the activity and are willing to dedicate more time to participate in the activity or related matters. Therefore, they present a higher level of RI. SL characteristics can be viewed as an individual’s leisure trait variable and also a person’s value and belief in the worth of the activity. Accordingly, this study proposes SL traits as the antecedents of RI. SL demonstrates the recreationist’s spirit and traits when engaged in the activity (Stebbins, 1982, 1992), while RI denotes the recreationist’s level of attention and dedication toward the activity (Havitz & Dimanche, 1999). Previous studies showed that higher levels of the recreationist’s SL traits lead to a higher level of recreation specialisation (Tsaur & Liang, 2008). Moreover, one of the dimensions of recreation specialisation, namely centrality-to-lifestyle, is a dimension of RI (Kyle et al., 2003; McIntyre & Pigram, 1992). Scott and Shafer (2001) suggested that RI implies different levels of specialisation. According to the above, this study postulates that recreationists with SL traits will attach higher attention and dedication (RI) toward the activity, and present three behaviours, namely recreationists will be deeply attracted by the activity, treat the activity as the foundation of their self-expression and centrality of life. In other words, the recreationists with SL traits might demonstrate high level RI. The highly involved recreationists are likely to be heavy users of related recreation goods and services. How to identify this critical segment is crucial for recreation managers. Examination of the relationship between SL and RI can assist recreation managers in identifying their target customers by applying ‘special leisure traits’. However, the issue so far has not been explored, in spite of its theoretical and managerial significance. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationships between SL and RI of surfers.


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Literature review Surfing activities Despite the limited volume of literature on surfing activities, past studies have mainly taken two directions. The first deals with the technical aspects of surfing activities and examines fluid dynamics, wave heights and surfing techniques (Waitt & Warren, 2008; Yang & Greenstreet, 2006). The second direction involves the discussion of surfers’ recreational experience and behaviour (Diehm & Armatas, 2004; Farmer, 1992). Diehm and Armatas (2004) viewed surfing as an adventurous recreational activity. They also discussed the risk-taking and sensation-seeking nature of surfing. Findings have showed that surfers possess a high level of sensory pursuit and intrinsic motivation, and are complete risk-takers. Farmer (1992) examined the relationship between surfers’ motivation, values and culture. Study results showed that surfers’ higher motivation is associated with intensified engagement in surfing. In other words, very little literature explores surfing from the perspectives of SL or RI. Serious leisure The concept of SL was first proposed by Stebbins (1992) as: The systematic pursuit of an amateur, a hobbyist, or a volunteer activity that participants find so substantial and interesting that, in the typical case, they launch themselves on a career centred on acquiring and expressing its special skills, knowledge, and experience. (p. 3)

Stebbins also identified six characteristics of SL, namely perseverance, career pursuits in their endeavours, significant personal effort, durable individual benefits, unique ethos and strong identity with the activity. The majority of subsequent researches adopt Stebbins’s (1992) definition (Brown, 2007; Gibson, Willming, & Holdnak, 2002; Jones & Symon, 2001; Stephen, Fick, & Oppliger, 1997; Tsaur & Liang, 2008). Stebbins (1982) classified leisure activities into SL, casual leisure and projectbased leisure (Stebbins, 1982, 1992, 2001, 2005, 2007), and defined SL as the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist or volunteer activity. Some classic case studies showed that participants identify with the activity as they gain special techniques, knowledge and experience, and even centre much of their lives on the activity (Stebbins, 1982, 1992). Later, Stebbins (1996) proposed the concept of casual leisure. Casual leisure, though immediately and intrinsically rewarding, is by contrast a relatively short-lived pleasurable activity, requiring little or no special training to enjoy it, such as taking a stroll, watching TV, attending a dinner, etc. In 2005, Stebbins put forward the concept of project-based leisure, defined as a short-term, reasonably complicated, occasionally creative undertaking conducted in free time. Project-based leisure activities usually occur during leisure times or free time outside of volunteer activities, such as planning for a surprise birthday party for a friend. Since projectbased leisure is voluntary and obligatory in nature, it also includes attending competitions and special festivities (Stebbins, 2007). Past studies on SL have taken mainly two approaches. The first involves using the six SL characteristics to explore the nature of an activity (Brown, 2007; Gibson et al., 2002; Gillespie, Leffler, & Lerner, 2002; Kane & Zink, 2004; Shen & Yarnal, 2010). Kane and Zink (2004) discovered that backpackers engaged in adventure travels possess ‘career pursuits in their endeavours’ trait. Brown (2007) studied the activity

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of dancing and found that friendship support is the key factor in order for SL participants to dedicate time and stay committed to the dancing activity. The second approach involves the examination of SL characteristics and the relationship with other variables. For example, Stephen et al. (1997) suggested that spousal support can alleviate the negative effect of SL on ‘leisure-family conflict’. Tsaur and Liang (2008) studied bird watchers and investigated the relationship between SL traits and recreation specialisation. In addition, Misener, Doherty, and Hamm-Kerwin (2010), in a study of volunteers for the elders in community sports organisations, explored volunteer experience from the standpoint of SL. Though past research has investigated various recreation activities, no attention has been paid to surfing. Recreation involvement Most conceptual definitions and operations of recreation or leisure involvement appearing in leisure literature have been borrowed from the consumer behaviour literature (Havitz & Dimanche, 1997). The concept of involvement stemmed from the social judgement theory, which mainly discusses an individual’s conceptualisation of social incidents, attitudinal change and judgement process (Kyle, Absher, & Norman, 2007). Havitz and Dimanche (1990) defined RI as an unobservable state of motivation, arousal or interest toward a recreation activity or associated product, which is evoked by a particular stimulus or situation, and has drive properties, namely importance, symbolic value, delight value, risk and risk perception. Havitz and Dimanche (1997) then simplified the definition of RI as an unobservable state of motivation, arousal or interest toward a recreation activity, evoked by a particular attraction. This definition is widely applied to leisure literature. Meanwhile, Kim, Scott, and Crompton (1997) classified involvement as behavioural involvement and social-psychological involvement. Behavioural involvement is defined as the time and/or effort expended in pursuing a particular activity (Stone, 1984), while social-psychological involvement is a state of motivation, arousal or interest with regard to a product, activity or object, and an internal state variable that indicates the amount of arousal, interest or drive evoked by a particular stimulus or situation (Havitz & Dimanche, 1999). Many subsequent scholars discussed RI from the profile of mood states (Dimanche, Havitz, & Howard, 1991; Havitz & Dimanche, 1997; McIntyre & Pigram, 1992; Wiley et al., 2000) and measured RI through three constructs: attraction, self-expression and centrality-to-lifestyle. Past RI studies have discovered that higher levels of involvement generate two consequences: recreationists’ positive emotions and affirmative attitudes toward the activities or activity sites. First, the recreationist’s higher level of involvement is associated with more positive emotions, such as well-being (Hassmen, Koivula, & Uutela, 2000; Resnick, 2000; Ruuskanen & Ruoppila, 1995) and flow experience (Havitz & Mannell, 2005). Second, the recreationist’s higher level of involvement is associated with a higher level of satisfaction toward the activity (Green & Chalip, 1997; Laverie & Arnett, 2000), commitment (Gahwiler & Havitz, 1998; Iwasaki & Havitz, 2004; Kim et al., 1997; Kuentzel & McDonald, 1992; Kyle, Graefe, Manning, & Bacon, 2004), loyalty (Kim et al., 1997; Kyle et al., 2004; Park, 1996) and place attachment (Gross & Brown, 2008; Kyle et al., 2003). Discussions of involvement in specific activities include hiking (Kyle & Mowen, 2005; Kyle, Absher, Hammitt, & Cavin, 2006; Kyle et al., 2003), kayaking and fishing (Kyle, Bricker, Graefe, & Wickham,

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2004) and bird watching (Moore, Scott, & Moore, 2008). However, little RI literature has studied surfing as an activity. Serious leisure and recreation involvement Stebbins (1992) suggested that the ‘profit hypothesis’ can be used to explain continued engagement in SL activities. To pursue a perceived reward, recreationists develop SL attributes and continued engagement behaviours. Persistent immersion into one’s leisure activity world due to its rewarding benefits is the embodiment of being attracted and committed. This phenomenon seems to suggest an ongoing involvement, displaying what Havitz and Dimanche (1999) claimed were the features of RI, namely attraction to an activity, reflection of self-expression and centrality of life. Iwasaki and Havitz (1998) noted that the pursuit of personal benefit is a key to raising the level of RI, which agrees to the assertion of Stebbins (1982) that SL recreationists obtain continued personal benefits from engaging in leisure activities. Many scholars stated that RI is affected by participants’ continued interest, passion and concern (Green & Chalip, 1997; Havitz & Howard, 1995; Kyle & Chick, 2004; Laverie & Arnett, 2000; McIntyre, 1989), which Stebbins (1982) termed ‘identifying strongly with an activity’. In addition, the concept of unique ethos coincides with the view of Havitz and Dimanche (1999) that the major cause of RI is the individuals’ subjective value system. On the other hand, a recreationist showing significant personal effort and perseverance attributes would also present durable concern, involvement and dedication traits, as suggested by Havitz and Dimanche (1999). Moreover, Iwasaki and Havitz (1998) noted that personal traits are antecedents of RI. This study conceptualises that there is a relationship between recreationists’ participation behaviours and their personal attributes. Recreationists with SL attributes would establish a relationship with the leisure activity through a sustained development process, which progresses from low to high. According to the above, this study proposes the following hypothesis: H1:

A higher level of serious leisure traits leads to a higher level of recreation involvement for recreationists.

According to the definition of SL proposed by Stebbins (1992), the recreationist who possesses any of the SL traits will be able to perceive the importance of the activity, achieve a sense of pleasure from it and strongly identify with the attractiveness of the activity. In other words, the recreationist has achieved the basic level of RI. When the individual possesses the traits of ‘perseverance’ and ‘significant personal effort’, the recreationist would dedicate a vast amount of time and effort to the activity (Stebbins, 1992), and acquire related knowledge, training and techniques in order to acquire identification and self-actualisation. Further, the recreationist would seek the opportunity to achieve RI’s ‘self-expression’ dimension. The recreationist who possesses these two traits would continue to participate in the specific activity, seek out self-expression opportunities and show their centrality to others by participating in the activity. In other words, the recreationist has reached the second level of RI. The recreationist who possesses the traits of ‘have careers in their endeavours’, ‘perseverance’ and ‘unique ethos’ would seek long-term participation in the activity, treat it as a career pursuit, conquer difficulties and persevere in the leisure activity (Stebbins, 2001, 2007). Such an achievement stems from the long-term involvement in the activity. Under such a circumstance, involvement in the activity would gradually blend in with the recreationist’s life and become the centre of life. McIntyre

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(1989) defined the ‘centrality of life’ dimension of RI as ‘the position of leisure activity in an individual’s overall life’, which reflects the recreationist’s lifestyle or social network as well as their integration with the leisure activity (Kyle et al., 2003). According to the aforementioned, these SL characteristics would affect the development of RI toward the highest level. Therefore, we posit the following hypothesis:


H2:

Serious leisure dimensions positively and significantly affect recreational involvement dimensions.

Method Sample selection and data collection Due to diversified demands for leisure in Taiwan in recent years, surfing has become one of the most actively pursued leisure activities. Taiwanese surfers were sampled for this study. This research selected Southern Taiwan’s Kenting Jialeshuei Coast and Northern Taiwan’s Ilan Northeast Coast as the survey locations, and a convenience sampling of recreationists on site was chosen using the next-to-pass method. The method was used to select respondents. With this method the surveyor simply selects and approaches the next group or person to pass the survey site after a questionnaire has been started by someone else (Ritter, Rendle, & Coughlin, 2002, p. 4). Further, only one surfer within the same group was selected for our sample. Moreover, this research chose recreationists equipped with surfing gear, and excluded tourists engaged in non-surfing activities. The researchers waited at the public facility area to conduct the survey when surfers came to wash up after surfing. A total of 445 surveys were distributed in the two survey locations. After removing 11 incomplete surveys, valid responses totalled 434, or a response ratio of 97%. The majority of the respondents were male (79.7%), and single (88.8%). The biggest age group (34.6%) was between 21 and 25. There were 37.3% of respondents who had a university or junior college degree. Just over 27% (27.4%) of the participants were students. About a quarter of the respondents had an annual income between US$ 12,000 and US$ 15,000. The majority of the respondents resided in northern Taiwan (36.2%), followed by eastern Taiwan and offshore islands (23.5%), and southern Taiwan (22.6%). About 30% of the respondents did surfing once a week; just over 47% of respondents spent three to five hours. Measurement SL was measured by referencing the six SL dimensions of Stebbins (1982) and the scale developed by Tsaur and Liang (2008). With respect to the six dimensions of perseverance, have careers in their endeavours, significant personal effort, durable individual benefits, unique ethos and strong identity with the activity, the dictions on some items were modified to be compatible with the context of surfing activities. In order to measure RI, this study adopted the scale developed by Kyle and Mowen (2005). In pre-testing, 100 surveys were distributed, with 95 valid questionnaires returned. After conducting item analysis, all SL items were retained. For RI, one item from each of the attraction and self-expression dimensions was removed; therefore, the SL scale contained 21 items and the RI scale contained nine items. These items were measured using a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree.


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Measurement reliability and validity analysis This study conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the reliability and validity of the effective sample. The descriptive statistics and CFA results of each construct are presented in Table 1. Results show that Cronbach’s α and construct reliability are above 0.74, meeting the basic requirements of internal consistency (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998). All items were incorporated into the original theoretical constructs, with factor loadings ranging between 0.71 and 0.90, and showing significance (p < 0.001). Fornell and Larcker (1981) recommended calculating the average variance extracted (AVE) for a construct as an indicator of convergent reliability (CR). The AVE for all constructs exceeded the 0.5 threshold recommended by Fornell and Larcker (1981). To test discriminant reliability, the squared pairwise correlation between factors and the AVE for each factor was compared. As shown in Table 2, all average variances extracted in the analysis are larger than the squared pairwise correlations for all constructs, suggesting discriminant validity of the factors. Results Serious leisure and recreation involvement To assess measurement effects between the latent variables and the observable variables, as well as to reveal causal effects between the two latent variables, this study tested the SL and RI models by structural equation modelling. Parameter values were estimated using maximum likelihood, and model revision was conducted according to the tests of standardised residuals and suggestions of the modification index (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988). Results of the revised model show the following indicators: χ2 = 42.04 (p = 0.00, df = 23); χ2/df = 1.83; GFI = 0.97; AGFI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.06; CFI = 0.99. All data reached the required parameters (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1984), indicating that the structural model provides a reasonable overall fit. Among the six dimensions of SL, have careers in their endeavours (λ2 = 0.93, p < 0.001), unique ethos (λ5 = 0.89, p < 0.01), and strong identity with the activity (λ6 = 0.89, p < 0.01) are the stronger indicators. Among the dimensions of RI, attraction (β1 = 0.94, p < 0.01) is the best indicator, followed by self-expression (β2 = 0.89, p < 0.01). In addition, for the structure model, the structure parameter estimate is statistically significant (γ = 0.93, p < 0.01, R2 = 0.87), which indicates that SL is positively and significantly related to RI. Thus, H1 is supported. The results of the structural equation are as depicted in Figure 1. Note: 0.93 is a standardised ( p < and 0.01) and others are factor loadings ( p < 0.01). FigureValue 1. Hypothesised model of parameter serious leisure recreation involvement.

Serious leisure and recreation involvement dimensions This study further tested the hypothesised model containing the six dimensions of SL and three dimensions of RI. The following parameter values show that the structural model provides a reasonable overall fit: χ2 = 56.93, df = 21, χ2/df = 2.71, GFI = 0.97, AGFI = 0.88, RMSEA = 0.079, CFI = 0.99. Results demonstrate that perseverance significantly and positively relates to each dimension of RI (attraction, self-expression and centrality-to-lifestyle); have careers in their endeavours positively relate to attraction and centrality of lifestyle; unique ethos positively relates to attraction and selfexpression; and strong identity with the activity positively relates to attraction and centrality of lifestyle. In this model, the R2 values for all three RI variables are high, especially for centrality-to-lifestyle and attraction. In addition, only SL’s perseverance exhibits a significant relationship with all three dimensions of RI. Empirical results of the structural model are as presented in Figure 2.

Confirmatory factor analysis of dimensions and items.

Serious leisure Perseverance I would participate in surfing even though I’m very busy I would participate in surfing even though I’m very tired I would participate in surfing even though I’m feeling down I persevere in surfing to conquer difficulties Have careers in their endeavours To me, surfing is an important part of life Without surfing, my life would be boring I’m willing to engage in surfing activities for the long-term Significant personal efforts I dedicate significant time and effort to surfing I’m willing to spend time and money in training for surfing techniques I’m willing to purchase surfing books and video tapes to enhance my surfing techniques Durable individual benefits I have the opportunity to achieve self-actualisation by attending surfing activities I achieve pleasure and satisfaction by attending surfing activities I achieve a sense of fulfilment by attending surfing activities I meet many friends by attending surfing activities I enhance my physique by attending surfing activities Unique ethos I share a sense of trust and value with my colleagues in surfing In private, I will attend activities and gatherings with my surfing friends In private, I can discuss everything with my surfing friends

Measured variables and dimensions

Table 1.

0.78** 0.81** 0.86**

0.79** 0.84** 0.75** 0.79** 0.77**

0.89** 0.86** 0.45**

0.88** 0.81** 0.85**

0.88** 0.90** 0.71** 0.78**

Factor loading


0.86

0.89

0.79

0.88

0.89

CR

0.68

0.62

0.58

0.72

0.68

AVE

0.89 78% 81% 51% 61% 0.88 78% 66% 72% 0.74 79% 73% 20% 0.91 63% 71% 57% 63% 59% 0.89 61% 66% 77%

R2

Cronbach’s α

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(Continued).

**denotes statistical significance at α = 0.01.

Identify strongly with the activity I believe no other leisure activities can replace surfing I enjoy watching TV programmes on surfing I like to discuss interesting things about surfing with others Recreation involvement Attraction To me, surfing is very important Surfing is one of the activities that I feel most interested in Surfing is my favourite activity Self-expression When engaged in surfing, I can fully express myself In surfing, I can let others know my style Engaging in surfing allows me to gain a better understanding of myself Centrality to lifestyle I find that my life is intricately connected to surfing Surfing plays a central role in my life I love to discuss surfing with my friends

Measured variables and dimensions

Table 1.

0.84** 0.76** 0.77**

0.90** 0.86** 0.87**

0.83** 0.89** 0.82**

0.76** 0.87** 0.75**

Factor loading


0.78

0.87

0.85

0.84

CR

0.64

0.78

0.74

0.63

AVE

0.84 68% 80% 66% 0.88 82% 74% 75% 0.78 70% 58% 59%

0.82 58% 75% 56%

R2

Cronbach’s α

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5.46 5.48 5.42 5.75 5.41 5.30 5.39 5.56 5.57 5.64 5.46

Serious leisure 1. Perseverance 2. Have careers in their endeavours 3. Durable individual benefits 4. Significant personal efforts 5. Unique ethos 6. Identify strongly with the activity

Recreation involvement 7. Attraction 8. Self-expression 9. Centrality to lifestyle

1.26 1.34 1.27 1.41

1.21 1.31 1.42 1.15 1.56 1.39 1.35

SD

0.76 0.71 0.74

(0.82) a 0.77 0.74 0.67 0.73 0.73

1

0.79 0.77 0.72

(0.84) 0.75 0.75 0.82 0.83

2

0.75 0.72 0.65

(0.79) 0.69 0.76 0.79

3

Inter-construct correlation is shown off the diagonal 2, p < 0.001. Note: 1. Square root of average variance extracted (AVE) is shown on the diagonal of the matrix. a not defined.

Means

Means, standard deviations and correlations of scales.

Variables

Table 2.

0.67 0.64 0.61

(0.76) 0.72 0.67

4

0.80 0.74 0.70

(0.85) 0.83

5


0.80 0.75 0.72

(0.79)

6

(0.92) 0.84 0.85

7

(0.93) 0.83

8

(0.88)

9

62 10 T.-M. Cheng and S.-H. Tsaur


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Figure 1. Hypothesised model of serious leisure and recreation involvement. Note: Value 0.93 is a standardised parameter (p < 0.01) and others are factor loadings (p < 0.01).

Figure 2. Hypothesised model of serious leisure and recreation involvement dimensions. Note: All demonstrated values are structure parameters (p < 0.05).

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Discussion and suggestion Implication This study explored the relationship between surfers’ SL characteristics and RI. Empirical findings show that unique ethos, strong identity with the activity, significant personal efforts and career pursuits in their endeavours are strong indicators of surfers’ SL characteristics; among the dimensions of RI, attraction and self-expression have the most impact. Generally, surfers with higher SL characteristics have a higher RI. In other words, SL attributes are the antecedents of RI. These results are congruent with that of Stebbins (1982), who suggested that recreationists with SL attributes would dedicate more time and economic commitment to explore knowledge and techniques in the activity. They demonstrate dedication and involvement in the activity, which coincides with the RI construct that individuals show enduring concern, dedication and attention when participating in an activity (Havitz & Dimanche, 1999). For the surfers with SL characteristics, surfing has become the activity which they are most interested in. They can freely express who they are and be themselves when engaging in surfing. Surfing is deeply embedded in their lives. Empirical findings of the relationships among SL and RI dimensions show that strong identity with the activity, perseverance, career pursuits in their endeavours and unique ethos are significantly associated with attraction. This result indicates that surfers with SL characteristics can strongly identify with the activity, demonstrate perseverance in the activity, and endeavour under adversity. In addition, they develop a unique ethos and would treat surfing activities as a long-term professional career. On the other hand, surfers with the above characteristics can fully understand the importance of surfing, and are therefore, deeply attracted by the activity. Specifically, the effect of unique ethos is the greatest on attraction. Since surfers with the unique ethos characteristic would frequently hold gatherings to share values and benefits, they are more likely to sense the importance and fun of the activity. Moreover, SL recreationists with unique ethos are more likely to treat the activity as an opportunity of self-expression. Haggard and Williams (1992) asserted that self-expression is the expression of one’s identity through activity engagement. Findings of this study show that surfers with SL attributes can more fully engage in self-expression by consistently participating in the activity and sharing their experiences with other surfers. Surfers having perseverance, strong identity with the activity and career pursuit in their endeavours are more willing to treat surfing activities as their centrality of life. In particular, the effect of strong identity with the activity is most significant. In other words, surfers with the aforementioned characteristics possess a strong sense of identification, are willing to persevere, and would easily grant their centrality of life with the leisure activity through planning the different stages of development, transformation and achievement. They enthusiastically participate in surfing-related communities and enjoy talking about and sharing surfing experiences with their friends. In short, surfing has become the focus of their leisure life. These phenomena are reflected in recreationists’ lifestyles or social networks (Kyle et al., 2003). The findings show that surfers with SL traits identify strongly with the surfing activity. They enjoy gathering with other surfers and more importantly, they would participate in the surfing activity for the long term. On the other hand, surfers with higher level of activity involvement can sense the attractiveness of surfing as well as achieve self-expression and self-identification. Overall, surfers with higher SL traits demonstrate a higher level of RI. However, an assessment of the relationship between the sub-dimensions of SL and RI reveals some interesting discoveries. The surfers


FigureAll Note: 2. demonstrated Hypothesisedvalues modelare ofstructure serious leisure parameters and recreation ( p < 0.05). involvement dimensions.


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with SL traits are strongly attracted by the activity and treat the activity as centrality of life. Especially, the significant RI predictors are perseverance, unique ethos, strong identity with the activity and career pursuit in their endeavours. In other words, the surfers with these traits significantly demonstrate a higher level of RI. Therefore, operators should identify this type of serious surfers and target them as the primary customers. Past literature has never examined the relationship between SL and RI from the standpoint of theoretical development. According to Stebbins (1982, p. 262; 1996, p. 948), surfing is an SL activity. However, since this study treats SL as individual leisure characteristics, the findings might be generalised to other leisure activities. The major contribution of this study is that it is the first to examine and test surfers’ SL traits and its relationship with their RI. Therefore, to raise surfers’ degree of RI in the activity, operators can devise strategies to identify customers who possess SL traits. Delimitation and limitation This research found that surfers with SL characteristics would find the activity attractive, treat the surfing activity as the foundation of identification and self-expression, as well as centre their lives on surfing. Therefore, operators of water sports businesses should carefully consider how to target customers that are ‘surfing recreationists with SL traits’. Several managerial implications for water recreation activity operators are provided as follows. First, because surfing competitions allow serious recreationists to acquire a sense of achievement and pleasure, which could enhance their perception of the activity’s attractiveness, operators could hold regular local and regional competitions. In addition, the competition could be designed according to the different levels of expertise of the surfers to boost the attractiveness of the contest. Second, water recreation activity operators could provide consultation services on surfing techniques in order to assist surfing recreationists to upgrade their skills. By doing so, surfers could raise their self-expression abilities, strengthen their identification with the activity, and obtain self-actualisation. Third, operators could set up physical or virtual surfing communities to attract surfing recreationists that possess ‘strong identification with the activity’, ‘perseverance’ and ‘have careers in their endeavours’ traits. Recreationists with these SL traits can frequently hold gatherings or exchange surfing techniques on the Internet to reflect common lifestyle and leisure identification. Therefore, operators of water sports could accommodate the needs of the surfers and the communities by providing Internet forums or space for meetings. Operators could develop physical or virtual surfer communities, as the activity plays an important role in the lives of serious surfers. The practitioners could frequently hold workshops to share their experiences of leisure activities, which reflect a common lifestyle and recreation identification. Therefore, water recreation activity operators could establish platforms to encourage exchanges and gatherings of surfers. By doing so, more recreationists could be attracted to participate in activities. Fourth, managers could set up their own websites for recreation activities in order to highlight information regarding the water environments, recreation facilities, competitions and activities. Operators could try their best to satisfy the needs of serious surfers and establish a relationship with them. Consequently, more recreationists that share similar leisure traits may be attracted. This study is subject to some limitations. First, the research is limited to the context of surfing recreationists in Kenting’s Jialeshuei Coast and Ilan’s Northeast

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Coast. To what extent the research findings are affected due to resource and environment differences of the two areas is uncertain. Second, since surfing is classified as a SL activity, the respondents surveyed may already possess SL traits. As a result, a potential overconcentration of statistical values could affect the normal distribution of the data. Several avenues for future research are provided as follows. Future studies can extend the research to other types of leisure activities in order to explore possible extensions to the theoretical foundation of SL characteristics and RI; specifically, what leisure traits of non-SL participants have and how these leisure traits affect RI. In addition, future studies may examine the effect of other variables, such as flow experience and location attachment, on the relationship between SL and RI. Notes on contributors Tien-Ming Cheng is an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Management, National Chiayi University, Taiwan. His main research interests include tourism, leisure behaviour and marine recreation. Sheng-Hshiung Tsaur is a professor at the Graduate Institute of Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Management, National Chiayi University, Taiwan. He has published over 30 refereed papers in the areas of leisure, tourism and hospitality management.

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