From participation to consumption? (2015)

In recent years dark clouds seem to have gathered over the institution of the voluntary sport club. General societal developments such as individualisation and commercialisation have given rise to concerns regarding the transfer of such attitudes to sport clubs. Many people who are involved in and around these clubs, both professionally and personally, increasingly refer to a growing consumerist attitude among members of voluntary sport clubs and are worried that their organisations will have difficulty in overcoming this new challenge. It has been suggested that a consumerist attitude contrasts with the fundamental organising principles of voluntary sport clubs and therefore threatens the future of these organisations. 

The main focus of this dissertation is to see what a consumerist attitude means in relation to voluntary sport clubs and how voluntary sport clubs deal with this attitude. The author has therefore researched the consumerist attitude in the voluntary sport sector on three levels: 1) its meaning through the eyes of sport policy makers; 2) the developing of an understanding of the consumerist attitude held by sport clubs administrators, instructors and members; and 3) the analysing of the reasons for and consequences of adapting to a consumerist attitude in voluntary sport clubs at the organisational level.