by Shigeki Mitsuishi, Senior Executive Researcher

 

(The original article in Japanese was posted in May 2021)

 

News about the extension of the state of emergency to prevent the spread of the COVID-19, which was declared for the third time in Japan, has been reported every day. In the sports industry, which is my research field, news about holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and its pros and cons have been reported, and I feel a little ashamed these days as the one who was delighted to shed tears when the IOC selected Tokyo as the host city of the Olympic Games for the second time.

The golf industry in which I specialize for research has been negatively affected by the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Nevertheless, since June 2020, it has been frequently heard from some of the members of the golf industry that the number of new golfers, mainly in the young generation, has been increasing, and it seems this trend continues to this day. However, there is no quantitative data on the estimated number of such “new golfers” in Japan. I received many inquiries from our customers such as “Is it true that the number of young golfers is increasing?” and “How many people have started to play golf in Japan?” In response to those inquiries, in 2021, we conducted an online survey of consumers for their recent participation in golf. Specifically, in this survey, the period from January 2020 to the present is defined as the “COVID-19 period” and the estimated numbers of following golfers were calculated:

• “Former (retired) golfers” who quit playing golf in the COVID-19 period
• “New or returned golfers” who started or restarted playing golf in the COVID-19 period

The results of the survey show that there are some 600,000 “COVID-19-related entrants,” that is, golf players who started or restarted playing golf in the COVID-19 period. (“Actual Conditions of Former Golf Players Who Retired due to the COVID-19 Pandemic 2021” that we published in this April may be referred to for more details.) Although the golf industry had been planning and implementing various strategies under the goal of “promoting the increase in the number of new golfers entering into the market,” mainly in the young generation, it was difficult to say that such strategies had been successful. However, now the COVID-19 pandemic was the one that unexpectedly realized the goal. It used to be the “end” of our role when these research findings are disclosed, but it is additionally becoming necessary for us these days to formulate and propose concrete measures to “raise the rate of new entrants who continue to play golf,” and to “establish a virtuous cycle that creates more new golfers,” and so forth based on these research results. It is just like “In the past, it was enough for us to watch professional baseball games from the audience seats and cheer or boo the players just as we please, but now we have to get on the roster and participate in the team management.”

In short, we now have been an era where researchers in market research companies may lose the importance of their existence unless they are willing to responsibly participate in the industry.