How Do Recreationists Make Activity Substitution Decisions? A Case of Recreational Fishing

The substitution of other activities for recreational fishing is of particular interest to those interested in fishing participation patterns because when activity substitution occurs, an individual's participation in recreational fishing is reduced or discontinued. This article explores the relationship between commitment to fishing and willingness to substitute other activities for fishing using recreational fishers from Queensland, Australia. A model is developed and tested which posits that willingness to substitute other activities for fishing is indirectly related to level of fishing commitment through the intermediate variables of experience preferences, consumptive orientation, and perceived constraints on fishing activity. Results demonstrate that the mechanism linking commitment to ability to substitute is complex and involves a number of intervening variables. The conceptual model developed and tested here should prove useful as a basis for further exploration of the relationship between commitment and substitutability in this and other populations of recreational fishers.