Research and documentation of the demographics and psychographics

This article provides research and documentation on the demographics and psychographics of triathletes and mountain bikers. It discusses the age groups, marital status, job profiles, and motivations of these athletes. It also explores the differences in sport consumers and provides strategies for attracting athletes to events. Additionally, it addresses the equipment barriers faced by triathletes and offers a brief plan for attracting new customers.

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Research and documentation of the demographics and psychographics
Triathlon is a high endurance sport and the participants in the sports are mainly
from the fitness enthusiast population. The demographics however, consist of people
from all the age groups. The triathletes are actually attracted to the toughness of the
sports. The average of Triathletes are around 38 years (Union, 2019). Around 65% of
the athletes are between the age group of 30 and 49. About 63% of the athletes are
married. Some 11% of triathletes are in relationships. White collar jobs make up around
49% of the athletes. It is also found that around 88% of the athletes are Caucasian or
white (Tsuji, Bennett & Zhang, 2007). The normal triathlete is focused psychologically to
take body fitness to whole new levels. Mostly, Triathletes pursue the sport as a passion
rather than professional inclination. About 24% of all bikers are mountain bikers
(Demographics of Mountain Biking – IMBA Canada, 2019). Normally mountain bikers
are from the middle to upper income groups. It is important to note that mountain bikers
are psychologically adventurous. They concentrate mostly on mountain biking
adventures. Most mountain bikers are amateur. However, mountain bikers belong to a
number of job profiles. Mountain bikers tend to be focused individuals. They are more
adventure minded than fitness minded and often want to participate in mountain biking
adventures. It is the requirement for fitness that keeps them focused towards staying fit.
The Xterra demographics consist of around 548 male and 214 female athletes. There
are 44 countries that are represented. The country with the highest participants are the
USA with 37 athletes. The athletes from the local areas form substantial portion of the
populations. The athletes are endurance minded and participate for the challenge that is

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posed for a triathlete at an XTERRA event. Most people are passionate about XTERRA
and follow the event closely.
Differences in sport consumers
The XTERRA events have a significant fan base among the athletes. The fact
that the event promoted itself by stating it was a tournament to find out who was the
fittest in the island of Maui. In essence the settings for the races are as challenging as
they are beautiful. In relation to the demographic and psychographic information that
were gathered. The general triathletes would be attracted to the enduring feature of the
Xterra event. The open ocean swimming is a challenging task and this would be a
particular interesting factor for the general triathlete. The triathlete will be much more
inclined towards the challenge (Jeon & Casper, 2016). The mountain biker would be
focused towards the adventure concept of the event. For example- the Island of Maui
offers great prospects for a good adventure. Hence, this is a factor that would attract the
mountain biker. The third customer base would be the Xterra follower athletes. As
mentioned above these athletes are very much inclined towards using the facilities that
are offered by Xterra. They would want Xterra to live up to their reputation of being a
challenging and exciting event.
However, at the same time the different kinds of athletes are similar in their
attitudes when it comes to their attraction towards adventure. The athletes are inclined
towards having a good adventurous time. They will all look forward to a smooth
organized event without much problems. Hence, in terms of their liking of adventure
they have similar tastes and demands from the event.

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Attracting athletes
An athlete who is highly involved in Triathlon is already aware of the major
events in the sport around the world. They are especially concerned about certain
things that they demand from the various events. Firstly, they demand a strong
adventurous course. The course need to be effective in terms of being challenging more
than a normal event. Secondly, the triathletes demand that the arrangements of safety
are optimal. Despite the challenging nature Xterra has to maintain essential safety
standards. Thirdly, athletes would definitely like to socialize. This helps triathletes to
meet with people of similar enthusiasm for the sport. It is important that to attract the
Triathlete, the organizers arrange for better places for the athletes to stay and interact.
Fourthly, essential levels of competition should be maintained. In order to increase the
competitiveness of the event the organizers would have to focus on attracting a large
number of athletes to their events. This would increase the level of competition.
Additionally, the organizers should focus on effectively promoting the event for better
audience reach among the triathletes.
The mountain bikers should be attracted in slightly different ways. In this case the
adventure quotient of the event needs to be effectively promoted. The destination or
environment factor needs to be promoted more in this case. The mountain bikers are
known to give more preference to challenging mountainous areas. In this the location
becomes very important. The organizers have to focus towards effectively promoting
the location of the area. Transportation is also an important factor as the mountain
bikers would need to transport their bikes (Yamashita, Yumita & Harada, 2018).

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Overcoming equipment barriers
It is a significant problem for the organizers of the event that the triathlete do not
own mountain bikes. It becomes important at this stage that the triathletes are provided
with mountain bikes. The mountain bike equipment should be selected in such ways
that it does not affect the riding of the triathletes. Generally, some mountain bikes are
difficult to handle for non-mountain bikers. Hence, it becomes important that the
equipment is selected on the basis of ease of operation. Sponsors should be managed
especially for this function (Aicher, Paule-Koba & Newland, 2019). The mountain bikes
should be kept at a place from where the triathletes can easily gather them and ride.
The number of triathletes should be separated from the mountain bikers to know exactly
how many mountain bikes would be required. The rest of the participants can be told to
bring their own equipment with them. It becomes important that a set standards for the
bikes that could be used are set. This will prevent any unfair usage of equipment to gain
advantage. Hence, the bikes that would be provided to the triathletes would help them
to use these bikes off course. It becomes important that the bikers are provided
equipment that are up to the mark. Outdated equipment should not be provide to the
triathletes in any case. After the event is officially over the bikes could be collected and
sent to the original suppliers. Not possessing bikes is a significant barriers that needs to
be effectively addressed by the organizers.
Brief plan detailing data collected
A brief plan can be set in order to attract newer customers to the event. As per
the data the triathletes are more focused towards testing their endurance and the
mountain bikers are slightly more laid back.

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 The average age of the triathletes are found to be around 38 years. Hence, the
promotion should focus more on achieving things in life despite achieving middle
age.
 Adventure is what binds the triathletes and the mountain bikers. Thus, it
becomes important that the adventure quotient of the event is given much more
importance.
 New athletes are attracted to the outdoors hence the focus should be on
promoting the values that are deeply connected with the outdoors despite the
rise of the social media and the internet
 Social media promotion of the event is a must as a large number of newer
customers are very active in social media.
 New athletes need motivation. It was found that most of the triathletes have
significant income. The lifestyle aspects of the events need to be promoted.
 Better accommodation facilities should be provide to the athletes so that newer
athletes get ample scope for interacting with the older athletes and develop
better focus towards the sport.

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References
Aicher, T. J., Paule-Koba, A. L., & Newland, B. (2019). Sport facility and event management.
Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Demographics of Mountain Biking – IMBA Canada. (2019). Retrieved from
https://imbacanada.com/demographics-of-mountain-biking/
Jeon, J. H., & Casper, J. (2016). Psychological antecedents of youth versus adult participation:
An examination based on the Sport Commitment Model. Journal of Amateur Sport, 2(2),
103-125.
Tsuji, Y., Bennett, G., & Zhang, J. (2007). Consumer satisfaction with an action sports
event. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 16(4), 199.
Union, I. (2019). Triathlon.org. Retrieved from https://www.triathlon.org/
Yamashita, R., Yumita, E., & Harada, M. (2018). Motivational Differences of Attending a
Sporting Event: Comparison of Local Residents and Non-Residents. International
Journal of Sport and Health Science, 201742.