Exploring the Information Source Preferences Among Canadian Adult Golf League Members

With an aging demographic, and the abundance of physical inactivity in Canada, sport professionals need to understand how best to recruit and retain adults in sport and recreational activities, namely, golf leagues.  Canadian golf league participants (N = 419; Mage = 62 years old) completed an online survey detailing their propensity to utilize a variety of information sources prior to making the decision to join a golf league.  Results from a principal component analysis of a revised Information Sources Inventory, suggested that golfers in this sample were most likely to utilize Personal and Social sources of information associated with their league participation decision.  While no differences emerged in information source preferences across Age or levels of Involvement, women (m = 4.12, SD = 1.30) were significantly more likely to utilize Public information sources than were men (m = 3.64, SD = 1.26).  Implications from the information source preferences are discussed with the goal of generating more effective marketing strategies to recruit new golfers, lapsed golfers, or golfers who do not currently engage in league play.

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