Relationship between motivation and satisfaction in whitewater rafting activity

Samat Hajar Asmidar, Mohd Rasyid Nelfianty, Azizuddin Khan Thariq Khan,

Abstract

Journal of Sports Science and Physical Education 5(2): 61-73, 2016 – Participation in adventure recreation is increasing in popularity in recent years. However, out of the 13 million people who participated in outdoor recreation activities globally, 12 million are no longer participated in these activities due to low satisfaction of the acitivity, which includes the implementation of activities, environment and facilities provided (Outdoor Industry Foundation, 2013). This study aims to understand the patterns of participation, specifically in whitewater rafting activity by identifying the motivation factor and the satisfaction level of participants. It also examines the relationship between motivation and satisfaction in whitewater rafting activity. Recreation Experience Preferences Scale (REP) was used to identify the motivation factors, while Leisure Satisfaction Scale was employed to assess the level of satisfaction in whitewater rafting activity. The respondents consisted of 404 people who participated in whitewater rafting in Kampar River, Perak. Mean, standard deviation and Pearson Correlation were used to answer the research questions. Results showed that elements of nature, excitement and sociability as the main motivation in the activities of whitewater rafting. Higher satisfaction levels were recorded in the aesthetic, psychological and social. This study revealed that there is a positive relationship between participants‟ motivation and satisfaction in whitewater rafting activity. In conclusion, the motivation factors that encourage participants to participate in whitewater rafting activity may not necessarily be the same factors that contribute to participants‟ satisfaction. Therefore, the operators of the activity and the related parties need to identify factors that contribute to satisfaction of aesthetic, psychological and social in whitewater rafting activity to ensure higher satisfaction in participation of this activity.

References

1. Akis, S., Peristianis, N., & Warner, J. (1996). Residents‟ attitudes to tourism development: the case of Cyprus. Journal of Tourism Management, 17(7), 481–494. 2. Allman, T. L., Mittelstaedt, R. D., Martin, B., & Goldenberg, M. (2009). Exploring the Motivations of BASE Jumpers: Extreme Sport Enthusiasts. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 14(4), 229-247. 3. Beard, J. G., & Ragheb, M. G. (1980). Measuring leisure satisfaction. Journal of Leisure Research 12(1), 20-33. 4. Beckman, E. (2013). The impact of motivations and enduring involvement in an adventure tourism setting. (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States. 5. Beggs, B. A., & Elkins, D. J. (2010). The influence of leisure motivation on leisure satisfaction. The Cyber Journal of Applied Leisure and Recreation Research. Retrieved from http://larnet.org/2010-02.html. 6. Beggs, B. A., Elkins, D. J., & Powers, S. (2005). Overcoming barriers to participation in campus recreational sports. Journal of Recreational Sports, 29(2), 143-155. 7. Bentley, T. A., Page, S. J., & Edwards, J. (2008). Monitoring injury in the New Zealand adventure tourism sector: An operator survey. Journal of Travel Medicine, 15(6), 395–403. 8. Bentley, T. A., Page, S. J., & Laird, I., (2001). Accident in the New Zealand adventure tourism industry. Safety Science, 38, 31–48. 9. Buckley, R. C., (2006). Adventure tourism research: A guide to the literature. Tourism Recreation Research, 31(2): 75-83. 10. Cater, C. I. (2006). Playing with risk? Participant perceptions of risk and management implications in adventure tourism. Tourism Management, 27(2), 317–325. 11. Chen, C. H. (2005). Personality traits and their relationship to leisure motivation and leisure satisfaction in Southern Taiwan university students. (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas. 12. Cohen, J. W. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd Ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 13. Cordes, K. A., & H. M. Ibrahim (2003). Application in Recreation and Leisure for Today and in the Future (3rd Ed.). Boston: WCB/McGraw-Hill. 14. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. 15. Driver, B. L., Brown, P. J., Peterson, G. L., (eds.) (1991). Benefits of Leisure. State College, PA: Venture Publishing, Inc. 483 p. 16. Drogin E., Graefe A., Titre J. (1990) Factors affecting boating satisfaction: A replication and comparative analysis. In Proceedings of the 1990 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report NE-145, pp. 167–173. 17. Edginton, C.R., DeGraaf, D. G., Dieser, R.B., & Edginton, S.R. (2006). Leisure and life satisfaction foundation perspectives (4th ed.). New York, NY. McGraw-Hill. 537. 18. Ewert, A., Gilbertson, K., Luo, Y.-C., & Voight, A. (2013). Beyond “because it‟s there”: Motivations for pursuing adventure recreational activities. Journal of Leisure Research, 44(1), 91–111. 19. Fluker, M. R., & Turner, L. W. (2000). Needs, motivations, and expectations of a commercial whitewater rafting experience. Journal of Travel Research, 380–389. 20. Floyd M. (1997). Pleasure, arousal, and dominance: Exploring affective determinants of recreation satisfaction. Leisure Sciences, 19, 83–96. 21. Graefe, A. R., & Burns, R. C. (2013). Testing a mediation model of customer service and satisfaction in outdoor recreation. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 3(4), pp. 36–46. 22. Gyimothy, S. & Mykletun, R. J. (2004) Play in adventure tourism: The case of arctic trekking. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(4), 855–878. 23. Herrick, T. A., & Mcdonald, C. D. (1992). Factors affecting overall satisfaction with a river recreation experience. Journal of Environment Management, 16(2), 243–247. 24. Ibrahim, H. and Cordes, K. (1993). Outdoor Recreation. WCB-McGraw-Hill. 25. Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing Management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc. 26. Kouthouris, C. (2009). An examination of the relationships between motivation, involvement and intention to continuing participation among recreational skiers. International Journal of Sport Management, Recreation and Sport, 4, 1–19. 27. Kraus, R. (2001). Recreation and leisure in modern society (6th Ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett. 28. Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Journal of Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 607–610. 29. Manfredo, M. J., Driver, B. L., & Tarrant, M. A. (1996). Measuring leisure motivation: A meta-analysis of the recreation experience preference scales. Journal of Leisure Research, 28(3), 188-213. 30. Manning, R. E. (1999). Studies in outdoor recreation: search and research for satisfaction (2nd ed.). Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press. 31. Meisel, C., & Cottrell, S. (2003). Different in motivations and expectations of divers in the Florida Keys. In Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium (pp. 393–402). 32. Noe, F. P., & Uysal, M. (1997). Evaluation of outdoor recreational settings. A problem of measuring user satisfaction. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 4(4), 223–230. 33. O‟Connell, T. S. (2010). The effects of age, gender and level of experience on motivation to sea kayak. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 10(1), 51–66. 34. Oliveira, P. & Pereira, P. T. (2008). Who values what in a tourism destination? The case of Madeira Island. Tourism Economic, 14(1), 155-168. 35. Outdoor Industry Foundation (2013) Outdoor Recreation Participation Report, 2013. Boulder, CO: The Outdoor Foundation. 36. Pomfret, G., & Bramwell, B. (2014). The characteristics and motivational decisions of outdoor adventure tourists: a review and analysis. Current Issues in Tourism, 0(0), 1–32. 37. Price, S., & Driscoll, C. O. (2010). Perceptions of risk in Irelands emerging adventure tourism. In 6th Annual Tourism and Hospitality Research in Ireland Conference. 38. Robbins, S.P. (2003). Organisational Behaviour (10th ed.). San Diego: Prentice Hall. 39. Robert, A. S. (2001). The costs and benefits of hedonism: Some consequences of taking casual leisure seriously. Leisure Studies, 20(4), 305–309. 40. Robinson, D. W. (1992). A descriptive model of enduring risk recreation involvement. Journal of Leisure Research, 24(1), 52–63. 41. Ross, E. L. D., & Iso-Ahola, S. E. (1991). Sightseeing tourists' motivation and satisfaction. Journal of Tourism Research, 18, 226-237. 42. Schofield, P. (2000). Evaluating castlefield urban heritage park from the consumer perspective: Destination attribute importance, visitor perception, and satisfaction. Tourism Analysis, 5(2–4), 183–189. 43. Vagias, W., Morais, D., & Dziubek, D. (2005). The role of risk perception in a one-day wilderness whitewater rafting trip. In Proceeding of the 2005 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium (pp. 39–48). 44. Wen, Y., & Lin, C. (2012). A study of relationship between mountaineering participation motivation and risk perception. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 6, 799–803. 45. Whiting, J. W., Pawelko, K. A., & Green, G. T., & Larson, L. R. (2011). Illuminare : Whitewater kayaking : A social world investigation whitewater kayaking : A social world investigation. Journal in Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies, 9, 1–15. 45. Yoon, Y., & Uysal, M. (2005). An examination of the effects of motivation and satisfaction on destination loyalty: a structural model. Journal of Tourism Management, 26(1), 45– 56. 46. Zheng, D. (2015). Education management and management science. In Xiao T.T., Li M., Yu Y., Ma C.H., Yu C., Liao Y. & Yang X. H. (Ed.), Proceedings of Research, The analysis on cognition and behavioral intention of adventure tourists to Chengdu: 2014 International Conference on Education Management and Management Science (pp. 555-557). Tianjin, China.