Overview
- The economic theory consumer sovereignty postulates that the customer determines the value and success of any product or service, not the producers or marketers. Thus, intimate knowledge of what drives the purchase decision should directly influence what companies need to make, offer or promote to stay in business.
- Private country clubs have been under pressure in recent years as people make different choices about what to do with their discretionary dollars and leisure time. Once bastions of male-centered culture and activities, clubs increasingly sell into a mixed market, a growing reality as dual-income, equal partner Millennial households come to dominate the target market.
- This article examines how women and men rank the importance of a set of influential factors when joining a club and suggests actions club leaders might take to improve new member attraction.
Key Drivers and Significant Enhancers
John Gray’s book “Men are From Mars, Women Are from Venus” was on the best seller list for over 2 years following its release in 1992. According to a report by CNN, it remains the highest ranked work of non-fiction of the 1990s. While societal views on both gender and stereotyping have evolved during the nearly 30 years since it hit the market, the book illustrates a key point—women and men exhibit differences in communications, relationships and purchase decisions.
According to McMahon Group surveys of thousands of club members, it turns out women and men also assign different levels of importance to country club facilities, activities and attributes when they decide whether to join a club. We’ll leave it to the sociologists and psychologists to determine if these differences are fundamental or a social construction, but the data clearly illustrate that women and men use different criteria when deciding to join a club. In general, the data showed that women find all but three factors—golf, business entertaining and location in relationship to work—more important than their male counterparts. Clearly, if you want to attract the member of the future, the total experience is increasingly important.
From among a list of 19 items related to the original decision to join a club (see accompanying chart), there are five key drivers that have substantially more influence than the balance of items. Each of these drivers is important or very important to over 80% of those considering joining a country club. In order of importance, they are member dining, golf, clubhouse appearance, the friendliness of the membership and location relative to home. Location is not a controllable event, of course, but the balance of these items is under the direct influence of the board and management as they continually work toward the relevance of their offering. While they agree on the importance of these central points, the priority varies by gender. Women put Member Dining at the top of their list when considering which club to join while men consider Golf the most important reason. After dining, women rank clubhouse appearance and member friendliness as the second and third most important influences and Golf comes in fourth of the four controllable Key Drivers. For the guys, clubhouse appearance, the friendliness of members and dining all cluster together as near equal second level items of importance in the joining decision.
The next rank down are Significant Enhancers, which are the facilities and activities that are important to most members, but not the 80% or more that care about the Key Drivers. Most are important or very important to half to three-quarters of the joiners. These are the things that round out the experience for many members, or they reflect segmentation driven along age and family lines. For example, a swimming pool is more important to younger members with children than it is to older ones, or those who no longer have children in the household. Again, there is different prioritization among the genders relative to these issues. Most importantly, almost all of them are substantially more important to women than men. Standout items here include Having Friends as Members, Social Activities and Swimming Pool, all of which are much more important to women. For example, only 54% of men find Social Activities to be an important reason in determining which club to join, while 72% of women rate this an important element. These disparities continue through elements like the pool (71% for women/57% for men), youth/children activities (61% women versus 49% of men), fitness/wellness (58% women to 51% of men), hosting private parties (56% women to 42% men) and tennis (56% women to 42% men).
Implications for Clubs
- Lifestyle Club: The larger takeaway is that the trend toward the complete lifestyle club experience will continue to grow. The multiple factors tested in McMahon Group surveys are important to both female and male prospects, even if demarcated by the Key Drivers and Significant Enhancers. However, the decision to join a club is increasingly a household one, so club leaders need to position their club to serve everyone, not just the male golfer. Assemble the full package and remain cognizant of the priorities each adult in the household has when they are considering membership.
- Leadership: Providing a relevant club experience starts at the governance level, and if the decision-makers are all men, it is likely the operating and capital emphasis will be disproportionately directed to what they like and want. The historic over-investment in golf and lack of clarity and execution in dining likely trace back to this structural weakness, as does the lesser focus on the pool, social and youth activities. Governance modernization is a key first step toward enhancing the membership experience and this means diverse voices need to be represented at the table.
- Focus on What the Prospect Finds Important: Frame your promotional efforts to joiners first to the top priorities of dining, clubhouse, friendly members and golf, but shape your dialogue to your audience. If your club tour is with a woman, be sure to talk about the dining program, the look and feel of the clubhouse and the non-golf recreational experiences. When introducing young couples to the club, be sure to expose them to your family night activities, pool and swim team activities and fun social activities.
