“Mentoring” has been increasingly emphasized within the R3 community as a priority R3 effort critically needed to help reverse the declining trend in hunting and target shooting. The purpose of this project is to begin identifying and quantifying the factors most critical to delivering mentoring enterprises at scale.
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The Wildlife Management Institute recently teamed up with Southwick Associates and D.J. Case & Associates to examine the practice of “mentoring” in both the hunting and shooting sports. The R3 community has long assumed that using existing hunters and target shooters to introduce potential participants in an apprentice-like relationship, whether by personal invitation or programmatic paring, is key to producing new hunters and target shooters when family or friends support is not available.
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By 2016, 24 million Americans held interest in purchasing their first firearm to either go hunting, target shooting or to own for protection. With the demographics and attitudes of today’s and tomorrow’s firearm owner rapidly changing, NSSF partnered with Southwick Associates to understand who these potential customers are and how best to connect with them. A survey was conducted among the general U.S. population that identified those who do not currently own a firearm but are very likely to do so in the next five years. [Given the surge in new hunters and target shooters in 2020, we felt the time was right to share an NSSF grant-funded report released in late 2019 explaining the motivations new firearm owners have regarding hunting, target shooting and personal protection:]
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The ‘Average Angler’ doesn’t exist. People are drawn to sportfishing for a variety of reasons, many of which include escape, social engagement, challenge, and relaxation. For state agencies, angler organizations and industry, the ability to recognize the unique angler personas and also tap into their motivations directly correlates to more effective marketing and communication efforts, driving increased sales and greater participation.
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Outdoor recreation has been one of the safest ways to escape COVID-19’s related restrictions and shut-downs. While we know fishing and hunting participation has increased, there has been a distinct lack of empirical evidence explaining the types of people driving 2020’s “COVID-surge” in license sales. The mid-year national/regional license sales dashboard provides initial insights into license sales and buyers.
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Southwick Associates today released a report detailing the size and trends of the 2019 hunting and shooting sports market. Overall, retail revenues declined 8% in 2019 across all categories, according to a new market size report, while overall units remained in line with 2018. The overall value of the market in 2019 dropped to $19.5 billion.
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In our Fall 2019 newsletter, we introduced a new study completed by Southwick Associates for the National Shooting Sports Foundation that describes the eight segments that comprise the 24 million Americans interested in buying their first firearm. With these results, companies and the industry’s marketing programs can enhance their customer recruitment efforts. In this issue, we provide greater insights into these potential new firearm owners.
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Anglers, hunters and recreational shooters continue to spend billions of dollars for equipment each year, but what are the brands they are purchasing the most? Southwick Associates surveyed more than 9,000 anglers and 20,000 shooting sports enthusiasts in 2019 through our online outdoor consumer panels to identify the top brands in the market. The most frequently purchased brands for selected products in 2019 include:
Read more →The shooting sports and sportfishing industries plus conservation funding may not suffer as much as other economic sectors from the Covid-19 restrictions now in place across the nation. As seen in past times of uncertainty, participation and sales frequently increase. What’s happening now?
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