Characterizing the Influence of Past Experience on Recreation Behavior

TLDR

The extent of previous participation in recreational pursuits can serve as an indicator of the amount and type of information a person draws on to make decisions concerning leisure behavior, and differing patterns of participation may suggest variation in the reasons for engaging in the same type of activity. Data from a national survey of river recreationists were analyzed using a categorical variable derived from three measures of previous experience to examine its effects on participation‑related variables. The study found that different experience‑use histories were associated with significant differences in on‑site behaviors, motives, environmental and trip perceptions, conflict perceptions, and support for managerial intervention. Keywords: experience, recreation behavior, information‑processing, cognition, river recreation.

Abstract

ABSTRACTABSTRACTThe extent of previous participation in recreational pursuits can serve as an indicator of the amount and type of information a person draws on to make decisions concerning leisure behavior. Differing patterns of participation may suggest variation in the reasons for engaging in the same type of activity. Data from a national survey of river recreationists were used to study the effects of differing amounts and types of previous experience on variables related to participation. A categorical variable created from three measures of previous experience was used. Significant differences were observed across different types of experience use history in on-site behaviors, motives for participation, subjective perceptions of the environment and of the trip, perceptions of conflict, and support for managerial intervention.KEYWORDS: Experiencerecreation behaviorinformation-processingcognitionriver recreation