Considering the cost(s) of the game: Consumer behavior and parents in youth ice hockey

Abstract Negative sport parent behavior continues to impede athletes, coaches, and program administrators from enjoying positive experiences within a variety of youth sport environments. In conjunction with this issue, the growing financial cost required to support youth sport participation has been identified as a source of stress for parents as well as a barrier preventing athletes from fully enjoying all that youth sports programming has to offer. As such, the purpose of the current study was to explore how sport parent perceptions and behaviors may be understood when examined through the conceptual lens of a framework originating within the consumer behavior literature. Using an established model of consumer decision-making to structure the project’s interview guide, 15 semi-structured interviews with Canadian ice hockey parents (seven “moms” and eight “dads”) were completed. Interview questions were constructed in hopes of exploring participants’ experiences as consumers of their children’s ice hockey programming. Following interview transcriptions, the completion of a thematic analysis suggested that ice hockey parents were influenced by a variety of external pressures to continue funding their children’s participation rather than their personal perceptions and assessments of program quality. As such, parents were observed to undertake a unique process of consumption—one wherein their purchasing behavior was best understood through the influences of their cultural world and social groups as well as their children’s potential attainment of non-sport-related outcomes (i.e., life skills, friendships) rather than their satisfaction with the youth ice hockey programming that they were a part of itself.  Lay summary: Fifteen parents with children enrolled in youth ice hockey programming were interviewed regarding aspects of their behaviors as program consumers. Parents disclosed that, although ice hockey provided their families with a variety of benefits, they were (a) dissatisfied with the programming quality itself and (b) felt program improvements were unlikely. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Accounting for parental stress and frustration around their youth sports program purchases (i.e., satisfaction with their purchases) should be considered when creating strategies to combat negative parental behaviors. It may be useful for youth sports programs to implement more rigorous mechanisms for receiving and addressing feedback from parents. Adopting strategies from the consumer behavior literature (e.g., brand loyalty; consumer satisfaction) may be helpful to aid youth sport programmers to improve relationships with youth sport parents in the future.