PIES, MINDSETS AND GOLFERS ON THE PERIPHERY: GATHER WHITE PAPER #1

Avid and core golfers are the industry’s bread and butter.

In the United States, these golfers play almost 90% of total rounds. And their money accounts for almost 90% of industry revenue.

Considering the footprint avid and core golfers have on the market, it makes sense that golf businesses use their marketing dollars serenading them. Right?

Well, not really. Not when you look at things another way.

Who are our 90%?

Core golfers are already invested in the game. According to the National Golf Foundation’s definition, avid golfers play over twenty-five rounds a season and core golfers play at least eight rounds. And unsurprisingly, the number of rounds played per season is highly correlated with identifying as a golfer. When people identify as golfers, less things stop them from playing – time constraints or work commitments, for example. But frequency of play is not the only factor that predicts whether people identify as golfers. If your friends refer to you as a golfer, or even if you wear golf clothes for everyday use, you probably identify as a golfer too.  From here onwards we’ll refer to all these avid, core, and self-identifying golfers as committed golfers. With few exceptions, committed golfers will buy equipment, take lessons, and play golf when their time and resources allow – regardless of how we market to them.

Why we should care more about casual golfers

What if committed golfers play 90% of rounds and generate 90% of revenue because as an industry, we haven’t done a good job of engaging other markets? What if we stopped looking at the golf market as a fixed pie where committed golfers are king, and instead realized that the pie could double, or triple, or grow exponentially. If that happened, we would not lose our established committed golfers, they just wouldn’t be eating so much of the pie.

Meet Carol Dweck

If you don’t already know her, meet Carol Dweck. Dweck is a social psychologist at Stanford University and coined the phrase ‘Mindset.’ In Dweck’s research, mindset refers to how one perceives ability – like math ability. We have all heard people say, “Oh, I’m just not a math person.” Dweck describes this attitude towards math ability as a fixed mindset. Someone who describes themselves as not being a math person believes that math is a skill you can either do or do not have. By contrast, Dweck describes someone who believes math ability can be learned – rather than it being innate – as having a growth mindset. Dweck discovered from decades of research that one’s mindset can significantly predict motivation, engagement, and future behaviours. This makes sense, if you believe a skill is innate and you don’t have it, why spend the time trying to learn it?

Dweck’s mindset theory has been used to predict motivation in a wide array of settings (including golf), and across a broad spectrum of behaviours. Including consumer behaviour. And that is why Dweck’s framework is useful when we consider how to increase the engagement of casual golfers through the language we use in advertising and communication.

Mindsets and golf

Golf is a hard game. That alone can be off-putting to players not yet committed to it. What’s more, golf is oftentimes described like math. It’s not uncommon to hear casual golfers say, “I’m not a golf person” (as if learning golf depends on genes, not practice). Therefore, casual golfers’ mindset will frame their golf performance. Those with a growth mindset will perceive a bad shot or round as an integral part of learning. Those with a fixed mindset will simply interpret bad performance as evidence they are not golfers and walk away. In an ideal world, we would implant a growth mindset in casual golfers to increase the chances of them staying motivated with the game. But even that may not be enough.

Mindsets and consumer behaviour

Unfortunately for us, golfers’ commitment does not correlate with their mindset about golf ability. Not all committed golfers have a fixed mindset, and equally, not all casual golfers have a growth mindset that we can leverage to increase their motivation to play. And that is too bad because plenty of research suggests that consumers are motivated by, align with, and spend money with brands consistent with their mindset.

Think about golf schools, for example. Casual and committed golfers with a fixed mindset about golf ability will favor brands that champion innate talent. They will align with a golf school conveying this message,

“Our team of world class instructors have created an enterprise unmatched in its ability to provide immediate success.”

If the committed golfers don’t achieve the immediate success promised by the golf school, their ego may take a hit, but they will continue to play golf. Casual golfers, on the other hand, may just quit the game. That is because their performance will prove to them, they “Just aren’t golfers.”

At the other end of the continuum, golfers with a growth mindset will feel comfortable with golf school brands that reflect growth and change – like this,  

“Our instructors believe that all golfers can improve their game and the real enjoyment in golf is the challenge to be the best that you can be.”

The emphasis of this golf school is learning, and not knowing. So even if the instruction doesn’t result in miraculous improvement, the message is to embrace the challenge and journey of learning golf. Universally, this is good for motivation.

A scan of mainstream adverts suggests that the golf industry leans towards fixed-mindset messaging in its advertisements (there are some wonderful exceptions). For committed golfers – regardless of where they fall on the fixed- growth mindset continuum, this is largely inconsequential. They are already motivated to stay connected with the game.  For casual golfers this messaging is problematic. Fixed-mindset adverts reinforce a message that being a golfer is synonymous only with innate expertise.

So, now what?

Not only can Dweck’s research frame one of golf’s marketing and communication problems. But it can also offer solutions to expand the golf pie.

Priming mindsets. It would be convenient if all casual golfers endorsed a growth mindset about golf ability. This mindset would promote motivation, resilience, and a belief that golf can be for them. Unfortunately, casual golfers come in all different shapes, sizes, and mindsets. So that means we must prime a growth mindset through careful messaging (this also means that messaging can prime fixed mindsets in casual golfers – and this is not so helpful!).

Luckily, priming growth mindsets can be done quite simply. Dweck and her colleagues have demonstrated this time and again in experimental studies. And researchers have also demonstrated that a growth mindset can be primed in advertising material that subsequently changes consumer behavior.

Casual golfers’ mindsets can also be primed. And this is not just an assumption. In a pilot study of over 200 non-golfers (those we need to grow the golf pie), we found that non-golfers were significantly more likely to sign up for golf instruction when they read a growth-minded advert for classes, rather than a fixed minded advert. Even more surprisingly, they indicated they would pay significantly more for the classes. Simply by talking about golf ability as a skill that can be learned rather than known, non-golfers were willing to commit their time and money to the game.

Organizational mindset. Priming casual golfers with growth-minded messages is one strategy golf businesses can use to expand their client base. The other strategy is cultivating a growth minded organizational culture that promotes sense of belonging, trust, and commitment from people who interact with it. That’s right. Businesses can reflect different mindsets

Think about your own organization. Is it a culture of knowing (fixed minded), or a culture of learning (growth minded). Research of Fortune 500 companies demonstrates that just the mindset reflected in a company’s mission statement influences people working within that organization, and how it is viewed by others. Just consider Avis Car Rental’s slogan, “We are number 2. We try harder.” This slogan not only primed Avis employees with a growth mindset – but it communicated a culture of learning to its customers. This is important because although companies who reflected a fixed mindset in their mission statement were seen as more prestigious, they were also trusted less than growth-mindset companies.

A culture of knowing may be attractive to committed golfers. But not casual golfers who are still figuring out if they belong in golf.  The following golf school mission statements clearly reflect different cultural mindsets. Unintentionally, one of these schools will help us grow the pie. And one will not.

“After teaching golf for over 25 years, I realize that not everyone has the talent or desire to change their fundamentals.”

“Our passion is to help any golfer with the desire to improve.”