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Social Media Marketing in Golf Clubs: Can Social
Media contribute to golf club business development?
Carla Reynolds
MSc IT Management
Supervisor: Mr. John Quilliam
This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for an M.Sc Degree in IT
Management at Maynooth University

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Abstract
Introduction: The Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI) is an organisation set up as a unique
response to the current challenges and opportunities confronting golf in Ireland. The overall
aim of this project is to establish how golf clubs can effectively use social media to develop
their membership and customer base.
Literature Review: The Irish NGB’s of golf do not seem to provide any structured guidelines
on using SM to golf clubs. It has been said the reason that the number of golfers has been
decreasing in certain areas is down to the marketing of golf clubs and the game of golf in
general. Social media is becoming universally important in an organisations media mix and
needs to be managed like all other media that businesses employ to achieve their goals. SM
is fundamentally different from traditional media and recommendations in the golf industry
in Ireland are lagging behind those of business industry recommendations.
Study Design and Methodology: A mixed method random selection was the methodology
used for this research. Nine golf clubs were randomly chosen through stratified random
sampling to take part in this research. An interview was conducted with the general manager
or marketing staff in the club and a survey was sent to club members through Survey
Monkey.
Data Collection: Five resulting themes were identified through this research in relation to
social media use in golf clubs; Age and Gender, Privacy and Fear, Structure, Resources and
Training
Data Analysis: It is discussed through implementation of structural, strategic and education
changes that social media can indeed contribute to businesses development in golf clubs.
Conclusions and Recommendations: It is concluded that training is the core determinant that
will develop social media use in golf clubs and it is recommended that the CGI implement a
number of strategies including training of their own staff in order to grow sustainable golf
clubs across the country.

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Acknowledgements
There are so many people I would like to thank for their help throughout this research and
without whom I probably would have not made it to the end!
Firstly to the Confederation of Golf, specifically project manager Anne McCormack with
whom I liaised throughout. She was always helpful and willing to put forward suggestions.
We were able to put together a plan for the research from the beginning which made the
process so much smoother and easier.
Secondly to my supervisor John Quilliam who was always no more than a quick email away
and who provided me with some excellent feedback and ideas on how to get the most out of
this research.
To my parents, especially my Mam, who supported me throughout the process by proof
reading chapters when my eyes were unable to look at a computer screen for much longer!
Finally I would like to thank all the participants of this study, all the club personnel who
agreed to take part in my interview and also the club members who took the time to take
my survey.

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Declaration of Originality
I Carla Reynolds declare that this dissertation, submitted to Maynooth University in partial
fulfilment of the MSc in IT Management is my own work, except where explicitly stated
otherwise. Where any content presented is the result of input or data from collaborative
effort it is explicitly acknowledged in the text allowing the examiners to clearly identify how
much of the work presented is from my individual effort. I have not already obtained an
award from NUIM or elsewhere wholly or partially on the basis of this work. I have taken all
reasonable steps to ensure that the work is original and does not breach copyright law. No
work has been taken from any other sources except where this fact has been explicitly cited
in the text.
Signed: _______________________________
Date: _______________________________

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Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 9
Overview of the Confederation of Golf in Ireland ............................................................................ 10
Purpose of the research.................................................................................................................... 10
Expectations for the outcome........................................................................................................... 11
2. Literature Review.......................................................................................................................... 13
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 14
Golf: A Global Game.............................................................................................................................. 15
Golf in Ireland.................................................................................................................................... 15
Golf Club business development........................................................................................................... 17
Social Media Marketing......................................................................................................................... 17
Enterprise Social Media as a business development tool................................................................. 17
Traditional vs. Social Media .............................................................................................................. 19
From a position of control to a position of influence; .................................................................. 19
From a focus on quantity to a focus on quality; ........................................................................... 20
From general brand awareness to specific queries and uses; ...................................................... 21
Utilizing Social Media: Managerial Implications ........................................................................... 21
Sports Marketing and Social Media .................................................................................................. 23
Social Media Marketing and Golf...................................................................................................... 25
Social Media Content ........................................................................................................................ 26
Inhibitors to Social Media Use .......................................................................................................... 27
Age and SM ................................................................................................................................... 27
Privacy and SM.............................................................................................................................. 29
SM Policy and Structure................................................................................................................ 30
Training and SM ............................................................................................................................ 30
Resources for SM .......................................................................................................................... 30
Social Media Platforms: A closer look............................................................................................... 33
Facebook ....................................................................................................................................... 33
Twitter........................................................................................................................................... 33
Instagram ...................................................................................................................................... 34
YouTube ........................................................................................................................................ 35
Going Mobile..................................................................................................................................... 36
Social Media Analytics: Feedback is Essential................................................................................... 37
Literature Review Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 38
3. Study Methodology....................................................................................................................... 40

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Study Design Overview: .................................................................................................................... 41
Participants ....................................................................................................................................... 43
Interviews.......................................................................................................................................... 45
Designing the Interview Questions: .............................................................................................. 45
Pilot Interview:.............................................................................................................................. 47
Preparing for the Interview:.......................................................................................................... 47
Implementation of the Interviews ................................................................................................ 48
Survey................................................................................................................................................ 49
Designing the Survey Questions:................................................................................................... 50
4. Data Collection.............................................................................................................................. 52
Data Interpretation ........................................................................................................................... 53
Qualitative Interview data interpretation..................................................................................... 53
Quantitative Data Interpretation.................................................................................................. 54
Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 54
Age and Gender................................................................................................................................. 56
Privacy and Fear................................................................................................................................ 59
Structure............................................................................................................................................ 61
Resources and Budget....................................................................................................................... 63
Training.............................................................................................................................................. 64
5. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 66
Age and Gender................................................................................................................................. 67
Privacy and Fear................................................................................................................................ 70
Structure............................................................................................................................................ 72
Resources .......................................................................................................................................... 73
Training.............................................................................................................................................. 75
6 Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 78
Limitations:........................................................................................................................................ 79
Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 80
Recommendations ............................................................................................................................ 82
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 86
8. Appendices.................................................................................................................................... 91
Appendix 1 Information Form........................................................................................................... 92
Appendix 2 Pre-interview Questionnaire and Interview Questions ................................................. 94
Appendix 3 Interview questions........................................................................................................ 95
Appendix 4 Coding template............................................................................................................. 97

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Appendix 6 Organisation Feedback Form ......................................................................................... 98
Appendix 7 Survey............................................................................................................................. 99

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Table 1 Demographic of Golfers in Ireland............................................................................................ 15
Table 2 Biggest SM platforms ............................................................................................................... 18
Table 3 Participating Golf Clubs ............................................................................................................ 44
Table 4 Member numbers and Survey Responses................................................................................. 44
Table 5 Results of Short Answer Questionnaire filled out by Interviewees........................................... 54
Table 6 Age Demographic of Respondents ........................................................................................... 56
Table 7 Respondents who have at least one SM profile........................................................................ 56
Figure 1 Internet Use by age demographic........................................................................................... 27
Figure 2 Instagram as one of the biggest SM players (Hempel, 2014) ................................................. 35
Figure 3 US Mobile Phone SM users and penetration 2011-2017......................................................... 36
Figure 4 Schematic of Study Design ...................................................................................................... 43
Figure 5 SM Platforms Men most likely to engage with?..................................................................... 57
Figure 6 SM Platforms Women most likely to engage with? ................................................................ 57
Figure 7 SM platforms used by respondents aged 18-25...................................................................... 58
Figure 8 SM platforms used by respondents aged 55+ ......................................................................... 59
Figure 9 Responses in relation to why those who are not on SM decided not to engage in it.............. 60
Figure 10 Content members would like to see ...................................................................................... 60
Figure 11 SM Content members would like to see from their golf clubs SM......................................... 62
Figure 12 How often members like to receive information from their club through SM ...................... 63
Figure 13 Responses when asked would training from the club encourage members to feel
comfortable on SM................................................................................................................................ 65

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1.Introduction

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Overview of the Confederation of Golf in Ireland
The Confederation of Golf in Ireland (CGI), founded in 2013, is a new organisation set up as a
unique response to the current challenges and opportunities confronting golf in Ireland. The
CGI is an organisation that represents all golfers in Ireland whether they are young or old,
male or female, amateur or professional. A strategy was decided on by the executives of the
Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI), the Irish Ladies Golf Union (ILGU) and the Professional Golfers
Association (PGA) Irish Region that will allow the three organisations to meet new
opportunities and challenges facing the game of golf in Ireland over the next 8 years. The
process is supported by the Irish Sports Council (ISC) and Sport Northern Ireland (SNI) (CGI,
Our Strategy, 2015)
The mission of the CGI is as follows (CGI, Our Mission, 2015);
“The three golf organisations examined how they can work together to achieve shared
including: increasing participation, continuing international success, developing a common
plan for high performance for the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games and looking at the
programmes, services and support required to develop players in Ireland from Junior through
to elite level.”
Purpose of the research
The primary purpose of this research project is to specifically outline if golf clubs are
currently utilising Social Media (SM) as a marketing tool and if so how efficiently are they
using it. Secondly should the CGI provide training and recommendations to clubs outlining
how to use SM? In the future they plan to recommend guidelines and policies on Social
Media and provide training to golf clubs as through previous research they found that that
SM was a primary area in which golf clubs wanted to receive training in (CGI Statistics, 2014).
They would like to also follow up to see which media clubs are using and why. This study will
act as a pilot study for the CGI and would be the basis for further research on the topic of SM
in golf clubs.
Golf is generally perceived as being slow on the uptake of new ideas and technology
including SM. This research will investigate further into this presumption and provide factual
data on the use of SM in golf clubs around Ireland. At a glance it seems that clubs are not
using SM in a way that is beneficial to them as they are not aware of its uses. The CGI
currently recommends that clubs are run more like a business. This recommendation is in

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terms of different areas such as the restaurant, bar, professional shop and the golf course.
They would like to explore the use of SM in these terms.
This study is unique because there has been no research done on the current activities in
golf clubs when it comes to SM in Ireland. As it is a big area in global business, it will be
interesting to see if the golf club business can embrace it to grow the game of golf both in
Ireland and globally.
Aim of the project:
The overall aim of this project is to establish how golf clubs can effectively use social media
to develop their membership and customer base.
Objectives:
1. To identify how golf clubs are currently using SM
2. To detect if golf club SM “administrators” have a SM plan or policy in place
3. To establish what members and potential customers want/needs from SM interaction
and establish if golf clubs are currently meeting those needs
Expectations for the outcome
Based on research outlined below, I hypothesize that it will become evident that SM is a
useful tool to market the clubs beneficially. There is a wide scope for the project as it will
allow the CGI to outline specific needs that clubs identify. They can then generate a plan to
help meet these needs.
The CGI feel that this research project will not only benefit their staff but will massively
improve the way that golf clubs approach SM. In a company conducted survey to all golf
clubs in Ireland in 2014 it was noted that:
 80% of clubs would like CGI’s help with Membership Development which included
how they could communicate best with their membership.
 70% of clubs stated they used Social Media for marketing purposes but yet very few
actually market the benefits of their golf clubs.

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With this in mind CGI hope that this research project will help to better their offering to
clubs, as they feel they will have a better understanding as to what golf clubs, golfers and
visitors would like to see on Social Media pages. They hope that it will also help to break
down some of the barriers that are associated with golf clubs using social media to reach out
to their membership and the wider audience. On the back of this research they hope to
compile a generic social media policy template that golf clubs can use to ensure a consistent
and safe approach is met.

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2.Literature Review

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Introduction
“Social Media (SM) is a communication system that allows social actors to communicate, i.e.,
exchange information, along dyadic ties.”
In blatant contrast to traditional and other online media, SM is egalitarian in nature. A brand
is only another component of the network, not an authority that can impose an exposure to
commercial messages as in other media (Peters et al., 2013).
Businesses have been rousing to the potential of social media; a poll by the marketing firm
Econsultancy in February 2010 revealed that more than eight out of 10 UK businesses
expected to increase their budgets in this area. For many, however, it was and is still a new
world: business owners may be keen not to be left behind but often they don't know how to
get started (Paton, 2010). The common denominator, and social media's key differentiator
from more orthodox types of advertising and promotion, is the conversational element.
Whether the business is writing blogs, tweeting or running a profile, they will be engaging in
conversations with potential customers, consumers, contacts or recruits (Paton, 2010).
SM has been shown to be growing hugely in all businesses and sports organisations around
the globe. However in the golf club sector this growth does not appear to be as colossal.
There has been no research done on the use of SM by golf clubs in Ireland examining how
active they are, which platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc.) they are using and what
they use them for. The use of SM by golf club members is similarly unknown. This research
aims to assess the use of SM in the golf sector in Ireland by firstly reviewing the relevant
literature;

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Golf: A Global Game
The National Golf Foundation (NGF) defines golf as;
“A precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit
balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.”
In their most recent 2012 research the NGF found that the total number of golfers in the US
alone was 29 million; 77.5% of these were male and only 5% were less than 30 years of age
(NGF, 2012), suggesting that there is room for the women and junior games to grow. More
recently, the Royal and Ancient Club (R&A) this year published a report outlining the exact
number of golf facilities (a business location where golf can be played on one or more
courses) around the world. This was the first report of its kind. The report revealed that at
the end of 2014 there were 34,011 golf facilities in 206 countries around the world, this
equates to 576,534 golf holes globally! However, 79% of these facilities are located in 10
countries in the world. The USA alone is home to 15,372 golf facilities (R&A, 2015). These
statistics prove that although it may be somewhat skewed, golf is a global game that has
potential to grow even further. This growth may be heightened now that the global
economy is beginning to re-stabilize.
Golf in Ireland
At a high during the boom, the total membership of golf clubs in Ireland was around 310,000
(Keogh, 2014). This has reduced a significant amount and in 2014 there were 202,647 golf
club members in Ireland (2014 CGI statistics). This was broken down as follows:
Table 1 Demographic of Golfers in Ireland
Men 135,260
Ladies 39,123
Boys u18 22,224
Girls u18 6,040
Although there was a decrease of 5725 members in the period from 2013-2014 there was
one demographic that grew in an era of decreasing participation. This is the number of girls
under 18 becoming members, which increased by 3% over the period from 2013-2014. In
the R&A golf around the world report (R&A, 2015) it is understood that Ireland is home to

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472 golf facilities, less than 100 facilities short of Scotland; The Home of Golf, and makes up
6.3% of the total facilities in Europe.
It could be said that there are two markets for golf in Ireland; the internal and external
market. Although our membership numbers have fallen dramatically, the golf sector pulls
more than €200m into the tourism economy annually. In 2013, Fáilte Ireland revealed that
golfing tourists typically spend two-and-a-half times more than the average tourist. With
163,000 people visiting Ireland to golf in 2012, this equates to a large financial contribution
to the Irish economy. The research also indicated that golfing tourists are much more likely
to be repeat visitors, and that golf tourists from North America are the biggest spenders,
with an average per capita spend of about €1,800 (Baker, 2013), and with the current
strength of the Dollar versus the Euro this gives the American tourists even bigger spending
power

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Golf Club business development
The CGI have outlined the following as core components to running a golf club; pathway to
membership, club governance, financial management, strategy and leadership, human
resources, club marketing, golf course management, participation, legislation, food and
beverage management, club facilities management, communication skills and funding. This
research will address how a number of these can be developed through the use of SM
marketing.
Social Media Marketing
According to Lee (2013) the process of marketing is not about selling a product; it focuses on
identifying customer needs and defining how the product or service meets those needs.
Simply presenting a product or service to the community and hoping that they invest in it is
far less effective than taking the time to develop targeted marketing plans that match user
needs. Lee states that the 4 P’s of Marketing; product, promotion, price and place, are a
starting point for developing a successful marketing strategy.
Mike Diamond (Diamond, 2005) suggests that the common conception that advertising (or
promotion) is the beginning and end of marketing is incorrect and that everything a business
does is actually marketing; from selling and advertising to dealing with customers. To
succeed, a business must create synergy between all components of the organisation and
understand that everyone in the business is responsible for marketing the organisation.
Enterprise Social Media as a business development tool
The objective of enterprise SM is not to simply encourage people to use SM more, but to use
it to accomplish business goals more efficiently and effectively (Kane G. , 2015) Companies
are now seen to be using SM to achieve marketing (Gallaugher & Ransbotham , 2010),
innovation (DiGangi, Wasko, & Hooker, 2010), human resource and strategy objectives.
SM can be confusing to a manager, CEO or researcher. It is often referred to as “new media”.
However, Kaplan and Haenlin (2010) explain that the era of SM actually began in the 1950s
and that high-speed Internet access aided in the creation of social networking sites such as
MySpace (2003), Facebook (2004), and Twitter (2006). These sites helped coin the term
"social media" and contributed to the reputation it has today. The concept of SM has been
top of the agenda for a lot of enterprises in recent years. Decision makers attempt to

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identify ways in which organisations can profitably use applications such as Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Despite this there seems to be confusion among
some as to what exactly the term “Social Media” means.
SM or social networking sites are applications that allow users to connect by creating
personal information profiles, inviting friends and peers to access those profiles and to both
send and receive instant messages (Kaplan & Haelein, 2010).
Below is a list of the biggest SM platforms based on the number of active users they have
(Smith, 2015)
Table 2 Biggest SM platforms
Social Network Site Number of Active Users
Facebook 1.4 billion
YouTube 1 billion users/ 4 billion views per
day
Whatsapp 700 million
Facebook Messenger 500 million
Linkedin 347 million
Instagram 300 million
Twitter 288 million
Snapchat 100 million
Pinterest 70 million
Flickr 92 million
It seems that the world of social media has evolved greatly over the past decade with sites
such as MySpace; (50.6 million users) and Bebo (3 million users) becoming nearly obsolete in
comparison to the online world today. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) the
use of Social Media in Irish Enterprises went from 48% in 2013 to 61% in 2014 (CSO, 2014).
Which SM platform operates best depends greatly on the particular business objective to be
achieved. According to research current capabilities of enterprise SM are; establishing and
managing social networks in novel ways and finding and accessing digital content for
competitive advantage. These two capabilities can guide organisations in a number of ways

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including influencing employee performance by enabling more effective interactions with or
among customers, for example marketing or customer service (Kane G. , 2015)
Erik Qualman is a leading SM author and professor. He has coined “socialnomics” as the
value created and shared via SM and its efficient influence on outcomes (economic, political,
relational etc.). More simply put, its Word of Mouth times 100. Socialnomics has created a
massive socioeconomic shift; if Facebook was a country it would be the third largest country
in the world behind only China and India. Businesses no longer have a choice on whether
they embrace SM; the choice is how well they utilise it (Qualman, 2011). SM in comparison
to traditional media is very different, which may create issues in how successful businesses
can be due to its unknown use, or more importantly, its misuse.
Traditional vs. Social Media
SM is becoming universally important in an organisations media mix and needs to be
managed like all other media that businesses employ to achieve their goals. SM is
fundamentally different from any traditional media (Hoffman & Novak, 2012) due to its
social network structure, open nature and management (Zhang et al., 2012). In contrast to
other media, SM resembles living, interconnected and interactive organisms beyond the
control of any organisation (Peters et al., 2013). It requires a separate approach to
management and analysis.
SM promotes inter-relational activity and Alba & Hutchinson (1987) describe this as the main
differentiating characteristic of social media compared to other traditional offline media. In
order to qualify as social media, a medium needs to be multi-way and immediate, in other
words; it is like having a direct conversation with customers. Stewart & Pavlou, (2002) add
that social media may have different levels of interactivity, and understanding context,
structure, goals, sequences of actions and reactions, as well as the characteristics of the
respective media need to be known in order for them to be managed. A number of specific
evolutions from traditional to social media are outlined below;
From a position of control to a position of influence;
For brands, SM works differently to traditional media in terms of the amount of control
marketers and management has on brand awareness. Traditionally, managers and agencies
create and distribute advertising to consumers. They communicate indirectly via uni-
directional media. All consumers who watch TV or read magazines are exposed to this

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communication. Hence, managers have control and authority over brand communication
(Peters et al., 2013). In SM, brands and managers are just another component in the
network; a frequent analogy used is the transformation of brand managers from a lab
scientist into just another lab mouse. Sustained reach cannot be bought as in traditional
media.
The conversational nature of SM propels brand marketing managers from a role in which
they spectate to one in which they participate. Similarly, if the content posted by brand
managers motivates followers of the brands network to purchase or engage with the brand,
they move from a position of control to one of influence as followers will share the content
with others and subsequently it will ripple through the network and increase the reach that
the brand pursues (Peters et al., 2013).
From a focus on quantity to a focus on quality;
According to research (Peters et al., 2013) if a brand decides to boost their SM by investing
in collecting more “likes” their network will obtain a high number of “dead likes”. This means
that they will have a large following that are inactive or are not interested in the brand and
this may be counterproductive when building a loyal base of followers on SM. Different
types of interaction and engagement has a different value for the business brand for
example a “like” has less value than a “comment” and a “comment” has less value than
“sharing” content. Highly engaged followers, and not necessarily high numbers of them, are
therefore crucial in building a sustainable and authentic reach in SM (Peters et al., 2013).
In contrast to this, awareness is “bought” through traditional mass media campaigns. SM
engagements need consistent nurturing over time and engaged followers may serve to be of
use as a source of defense during negative communication of a brand (Peters et al., 2013).
Something interesting to note is that initial network of a brand may not be as important as
the combined networks of its followers, due to potential second step reach i.e. once a
company’s followers engages with a brand; their followers will see this and may also decide
to engage, this is the basis of organic reach by obtaining engagement that is not paid for.
When measuring influence in networks, it goes beyond the number of likes or followers –
rather it is the organic reach that counts. Developing and employing adequate metrics to
measure engagement levels of consumers will drive brand managers to more sincere and
sustained modes of interaction, i.e., higher quality contacts.

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From general brand awareness to specific queries and uses;
Traditional Media such as TV and radio advertisements mainly try to convey a general
message promoting a brand, product or service. SM conversely is more specific. On the one
hand, consumers may use a specific SM platform for a specific action e.g. Twitter may be
used to complain as it would inspire a fast company reaction. On the other hand, users are
active across a number of platforms and consequently spillovers regularly occur across
platforms, i.e. content crossing from Twitter to Facebook and vice versa; making it more
generalized (Peters et al., 2013).
Utilizing Social Media: Managerial Implications
Organisations that have depended on traditional media in the past often become
overwhelmed by the vastness of SM. Lack of knowledge and expertise in this area can cause
a number of issues that could be harmful to the brand image. Inconsistent content will not
put the brand in the best light online, which will spur on negative conversations.
In contrast to traditional marketing, SM is about participation (i.e. sharing of content and
joining in the conversation), managers need to develop new methods of content creation
that ignites users to engage, modify and then share that content: they need to learn to feed
and nurture their base of fans and followers. Another implication is that compared to classic
advertising media which can be turned off and on at the demand of the brand managers, SM
needs constant “feeding” to survive. If a brand does not feed it, it turns elsewhere for
“food,” whether you like it or not (Peters et al., 2013).
On top of this, user participation can be a major challenge and implication for brand
managers. The participation of the market will and should not stop brand communication; it
is not something to be afraid of. As organizations integrate their SM platforms, they will also
feel the need for quick and consistent communication response to the abundance of users
across all platforms; real-time communication is demanded by this generation of consumers
(Peters et al., 2013).
Social media experts advise however, that businesses should not think of SM sites as a
replacement for conventional advertising and promotion. Direct mailing, television, radio,
billboard and press advertising all still have their place and just as with any other marketing
or promotional tools; you need to have a strategy (Paton, 2010).

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SM is fast adding to traditional media in many sectors, including that of the Sport Marketing
world.

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Sports Marketing and Social Media
Sports’ marketing is “the specific application of marketing principles and processes to sport
products and to the marketing of non-sports products through association to sport” (Shank &
Lyberger, 2014). The Sports Marketing Mix is defined as the coordinated set of elements that
sport organisations use to meet their marketing objectives and satisfy consumers’ needs
(Shank & Lyberger, 2014) this is related to the 4 P’s of marketing outlined by Lee (2013)
above.
One marketing consultancy firm in Ireland, specific to small and medium enterprises, states
that marketing planning is the first step towards growth for micro businesses. Micro
businesses might run into problems such as; what goes into a marketing plan? How to
manage on a shoestring budget? What if there is no time to “do marketing”? Where do we
advertise (SM, website, blogs, radio). A “toolkit” is available from this consultancy that
includes; sales forecast/cash flow statement, customer, competition and sales analysis,
pricing, advertising calendars and website design. It is emphasised that in order to grow,
small businesses need to bring in expertise to advice on areas that fall outside the current
skill-set (SME Marketing, 2015).
Organisations aim to keep consumers aware and connected to its brand. Branding effects in
sport have been studied extensively (Ballouli & Hutchinson, 2010; Cornwell & Maignan,
1998) however, there are only a handful of studies on SM which focus specifically on the
sport industry. That being said, it is obvious that sports are undoubtedly a core component
of social media content globally. Eight of the UK’s 10 most tweeted about moments of 2014
were related to sport (The Guardian, 2014), with the most dominating event being the
Soccer World Cup.
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC), one of the world’s most proactive NGB’s, stated
that when used as an over-arching marketing strategy, SM can assist sport to potentially
enhance its level of community engagement, increase levels of participation and improve
sustainability through new income streams. They identified that it is a way for clubs in any
sport to connect with their members and potential members, and to promote club activities
to the community. The use of SM is seen as positive experience for organisations in sport
according to the ASC. They do however outline some potential risks including reputational
damage and outline that effective use of risk management, guidance and sound

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administrative practice are important in order to build a successful SM presence in the sport
sector (Hume, 2015).
SM is being used more frequently by sports organizations and athletes as a tool to
communicate with fans (Pedersen, Parks, Quarterman, & Thibault, 2010). There are several
forms of SM currently being utilized by sport organizations to market themselves. Facebook
is used to provide information, post pictures and videos, and promote upcoming events.
YouTube has been used to share videos with fans about the team or organization. Each of
these options may require more time and effort than a fan has to offer and therefore Twitter
is used as a quick source of information that does not require much effort from an
individual. Williams & Chinn (2010) related SM to sport marketing, in particular making the
connection between SM and relationship marketing. Additional research has linked social
media to communications, particularly sport journalism (Sheffer & Schultz, 2010) and a case
study has been done on athletes who use SM (Pegoraro, 2010) allowing fans to
communicate with these elite sportspeople, in a way SM humanises athletes (Greer, 2009).
The way people interact with athletes has been revolutionized by providing direct access and
removing the middleman that was traditional media (Corazza, 2009). Athletes now have the
freedom to promote themselves or their sponsors directly to fans at any time. SM provides
the platform needed to create a relationship between the fan (consumer) and the athlete
(marketer). Sports fans are provided with a platform to not only connect with a sports
organisation or team but to also publicly express their fandom of that team or organisation
(Wann, 2006). This two-way path enables a direct relationship between athlete and fan,
providing a lucrative opportunity for marketers and sponsors (Cunningham & Bright, 2012)
Further research has linked social media to branding (Ballouli & Hutchinson, 2010). Kwon &
Yongjun, (2011) claim that brands with a strong SM presence are better equipped to
increase brand awareness and maintain communication with consumers. Integrating SM into
an organisations branding strategy allows the brand to reach the same audience as mass
media but in a way that is more personable (Simmons, 2007). Also SM as part of a branding
or marketing strategy allows for a) brands to communicate with consumers, b) direct
feedback from consumers to the brand and 3) conversation between consumers about the
brand (Glynn & Faulds, 2009).

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Social Media Marketing and Golf
Marketing in golf has taken off as of late with companies such as Nike golf leading the way
with motivating videos promoting their brand ambassador Rory McIlroy weekly. However is
this filtering down to the grassroots of the National Governing Bodies (NGB’s) of golf and to
golf clubs themselves? Marketing techniques recommended on the English Golf Association
website include: Advertising, direct marketing, public relations, email and e-marketing
(English Golf Association, 2015). Notably there is no mention of social media as a marketing
tool. A similar trend is evident in golf clubs; in their 2014 Marketing plan, Old Conna Golf
Club of Wicklow, outlined their primary objectives as; a) identifying where future members
would come from, b) how they would increase the profile of the club both in the locality and
in business communities and c) to address how they would continue to satisfy member’s
requirements and retain loyal and engaged members in all categories. Social Media was only
mentioned as “an area to be explored”, and it was stated that further investigation was
needed to identify if there would be any benefits to the club in this area (OldConna, 2014).
The CGI currently have limited recommendations on the use of SM for golf clubs on their
website (Falvey, 2014) that includes the do’s and don’ts of SM and hints and tips on using it,
however this is not very specific to golf clubs and is more of a generic SM business model.
On the other hand the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) has an extensive marketing “toolkit” that
every club in Scotland has access to. It includes 9 aspects of Marketing including; Advertising,
the website, E-Newsletters and SM. They suggest that for many clubs without a marketing
expert on their committee, planning and delivering a marketing strategy can be an
intimidating task. According to the SGU the role of marketing within a golf club has evolved
significantly in recent years with a growing requirement to recruit new members, more
emphasis on good communication to members and the rapid growth of digital and social
media (SGU, 2013). England Golf has a similar toolkit that is targeted at clubs who want to
increase their women membership. They suggest that 74% of women say that they would
feel more confident about visiting a golf club for the first time if they could find adequate
information online (England Golf, 2015).
Andrew Wood of Legendary Marketing argues that the reason golf is struggling to grow in
certain areas is down to marketing (Wood, 2015). In an article he states that 3% of the golf
industry takes SM seriously even though he believes that applications such as Facebook are
the single fastest and cheapest way to grow your business. The effort that golf clubs put or

26. 26
don’t put into SM is ultimately the deciding factor on how large an online presence they
create.
This research will analyse what effort clubs are currently putting into their SM marketing and
how an organisation such as the CGI can optimise this use and ultimately grow the game for
the better. One large contributing factor is the content posted on each SM platform.
Social Media Content
The type of content posted on SM platforms is paramount to how that brand is perceived
and also in determining the type of engagement drawn towards it. De Vries & Leeflang,
(2012) take a detailed view on how created content drives social media action. They firstly
characterize the content along the dimensions of vividness, interactivity, information,
entertainment, position, and valence; key characteristics that increase engagement with the
content. They continue to show that these characteristics influence the number of likes and
comments differently. For example entertainment and educational value drive the
popularity and ratings of YouTube videos, and the effect of network structure on popularity
is nonlinear (Liu-Thompkins & Rogerson, 2012). Berger & Milkman (2012) investigate which
characteristics make online content go viral and found that content reflecting anxiety and
content encouraging social transmission i.e. sharing were most influential. Kozinets et al.
(2010) assessed this issue also and found that in the context of online word-of-mouth, awe
and content that is practically useful or surprising is more likely to go viral.

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Inhibitors to Social Media Use
Age and SM
In 2012 it was announced that 53% of American adults aged 65 and older use the internet.
At that time 82% of all American adults aged 18 and above said they use the internet or
email, at least occasionally, and 67% do so daily (Zickuhr & Madden, 2012).
Internet use trends by age demographic from 2000-2012 identified by Zickuhr & Madden
(2012) are presented below;
Figure 1 Internet Use by age demographic
From 2009 to 2011 this report found that SM use among internet users aged 65 and above
grew by 150% to 33% and one third (34%) used sites such as Facebook; 18% accessing their
profiles on a daily basis. However email continues to be the most widely used method of
online communication for older adults as 86% of those 65 and older used email regularly.
SM is quickly growing across the majority of age demographics also. A late 2012 survey
showed that internet users under 50 are particularly likely to use a SM platform. Those aged
18-29 are the most likely of any demographic cohort to do so (83%). Interestingly this survey
found that women are more likely than men to have any SM profiles (Duggan & Brenner,
2013). Out of all internet users who were surveyed, 62% of men and 71% of women used
SM. Twitter users accounted for 16% of total internet users, 13% used Instagram and 67%
used Facebook. Despite young people’s growing dependence on social networks to facilitate

28. 28
daily information and communication need, the perception of these tools as outlets for
socializing and leisure persists (Mihailidis, 2014).
Of those who were surveyed by Duggan and Brenner (2013), 35% of 65+ year olds, 57% aged
between 50 and 64 and 73% aged between 30 and 49 had a Facebook profile. This is
compared to Facebook’s growing rivals Twitter and Instagram where only 10% and 3% of 50-
64 year olds respectively were using these platforms suggesting that targeting a younger
aged market can be done through these media (Duggan & Brenner, 2013).
A recent study of 800 teenagers found SM use was widespread. Over 95% (n=760) of teens
studied used the Internet, while 81% (n = 650) used SM sites (Madden, et al., 2013). Other
researchers have discovered, “96% of youth in this age range have used social networking
tools at some time, with their average engagement with them rivalling time spent watching
TV at nine hours a week” (Klopfer, et al., 2009). It is known that the internet is widely used
and that SM tools present more ways to communicate, so results of a recent report that
found 94% of 12 to 17 year old participants have Facebook accounts, 26% use Twitter and
11% use Instagram (Sterling, 2013) aren’t surprising.
According to England Golf 30% of women check their various forms of SM every day and 64%
of women who are active on SM say a key reason is to secure better discounts and offers, it
is important that clubs respond to this (England Golf, 2015). It is suggested here that women
enjoy sociable, fun activities in a comfortable environment, where they don’t feel self-
conscious in front of more skilful players so it is paramount that this is clearly promoted
through SM and website initiatives.
There is some debate whether Facebook is the best place to reach an entire market that
includes both young and old customers. The site’s diffusion among U.S. adults aged 18 to 24
decreased by 3% to 88.6% from February to November 2013 (Gaiifianakis, 2014). Fakhraie
Speaks about the “End of the Facebook Era,” which details several reasons young users
migrate to other platforms (Fakhraie, 2014). For example in this report it was discussed that,
18% of smartphone owners use Instagram and 26% of smartphone owners in the 18 to 29
age group use SnapChat. Taking the research of Sterling (2013) into account it seems
Facebook use in teenagers is still active, however it is also stated here that the use of sites
such as Twitter and Instagram are gaining momentum with significant growth within youth
over the last number of years. Interestingly however, the fastest growing demographic on

29. 29
Twitter is the 55-64 year old age bracket (Fakhraie, 2014) which would suggest that the
aging profile of golfers may not be as negative as feared. Each SM platform has its own
strengths and weaknesses and choosing the right ones suitable for an organisations target
market is paramount in order to reach the correct people.
Privacy and SM
Studies have shown that although there are a number of concerns dealing with information
sharing and privacy issues among SM platforms such as Facebook, users’ information sharing
habits defy these concerns (Acquisti & Grossklags, 2004). Individuals who participated in the
studies seemed willing to disclose personal information about themselves, such as photos
and sometimes even phone numbers and home addresses on Facebook profiles even though
they also seemed to be aware that this information was not completely private. Grossklags
and Acquisti (2004) provide a list of explanations proposing why Facebook members are so
open about sharing personal information online in such a public space. Three of these
explanations are particularly convincing and these are that “the perceived benefit of
selectively revealing data to strangers may appear larger than the perceived costs of possible
privacy invasions”; “relaxed attitudes toward (or lack of interest in) personal privacy”; and
“faith in the networking service or trust in its members.” More recently, a Social Network
Survey found that SM sites are increasingly used to keep up with close social ties. It found
that Facebook users are more trusting than non-Facebook users (Hampton, Sessions- Goulet,
Rainie, & Purcell, 2011). Another serious concern discussed by Charnigo and Barnett- Ellis
(2007) is the possibility that potential employers may scan Facebook profiles for the “real
skinny” on job candidates. However, unless the employer uses an e­mail issued from the
same school as the candidate, he or she is unable to look at the individual’s full profile
without first requesting permission from the candidate to be added as a “friend.”
The growth of SM use in older generations has raised concerns of privacy issues including
personal information leaks. Privacy issues and concerns about sexual predators lurking on
Facebook and similar sites have been the focus of most articles on the subject. Users aged 55
and above, who are not online as often as younger adults, are more vulnerable in terms of
online information security and privacy due to lack of knowledge in the area (Millward,
2003). However, it has also been discovered that students due to their naivety in revealing a
lot of information about their activities, are too at risk to online security (Charnigo &
Barnett-Ellis, 2007).

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SM Policy and Structure
If an organisation is slow to uptake social technologies they may find it challenging to attract
and retain technological savvy employees and customers. Due to the wide diversity of
attitudes and communication practices of consumers today implementation of SM policy is
essential in order to put all employees of an organisation on the same page in terms of
expectations of them. The policy should provide boundaries around what content can be
shared or not shared on SM in terms of information, customer projects and business
development. A SM policy must be tailored to each organisation’s needs, values, beliefs and
industry as well as providing consequences for breach of policy (Cairo, 2014).
SM is an extremely fast paced world according to Kaplan and Haelein, what may be up to
date today may be irrelevant by tomorrow. It is therefore crucial for firms and organisations
to have a set of guidelines that can be applied to any form of SM. Five pieces of advice about
the use of SM in firms are outlined by Kaplan and Haenlin;
1. Choose Social Media applications carefully
2. Pick the right application or make your own
3. Ensure activity alignment
4. Integrate your media plan
5. Allow access for all
Training and SM
Without education and training for employees within an organisation the policy is not worth
anything. Individuals will have different expectations in terms of what they share on a
company platform depending on how they use SM personally so training is needed to make
sure all employees are on the same page. Training also reinforces the policy by making sure
employees are clear on the expectations, opportunities, risks and consequences. Training
needs to be regular and include any policy modifications that will affect employees (Cairo,
2014). As previously stated, SM is different to traditional media (Qualman, 2011) and
companies can easily misuse it if proper education is not provided.
Resources for SM
Recently a number of papers have focused on the ability of marketing to generate word-of-
mouth around specific content (De Haan, Wiesel, & Pauwels, 2013). This includes the
distinction between organisation-initiated and customer-initiated content within the same

31. 31
platform (De Haan, Wiesel, & Pauwels, 2013). For example, a sponsored story on Facebook is
an organisation-initiated action that may eventually trigger customers to forward such
messages or to produce their own content. A key goal and benefit of firm-initiated
marketing is its power to stimulate conversations around a brand or product, which then
causes a social media ripple effect that ultimately increases business performance. However,
sponsored posts do cost money. According to Kevan Lee SM accounts for 13% of an average
company marketing budget, this is expected to rise to over 20% by 2019. This percentage of
the budget includes the following (Lee K. , 2015);
 Design/Graphics/Photos
 Advertising/Reach
 Scheduling tools
 Audience research (Free)
 Analytics tools
 SM Education
Are these activities common within organisations such as the average golf club however?
The second necessary resource needed in an organisation who would like to be successful
online is the issues of skills. If a company lacks the necessary skills and expertise to
sufficiently manage a SM strategy it can be hard for that company to make an impact online.
Professional networking site, LinkedIn, lists SM marketing as the most important skill cited
by their 259 million members (Murthy, 2013). Similarly, in Forbes magazine, it is advised that
those who are aiming for a career in marketing master six technology skills that are all
related to SM and digital marketing (Gibbons, 2013) . These include personal success with
SM, mastering newer SM tools, blogging, search engine optimisation (SEO), online video and
mobile strategy.
As well as budgets and employee skills, time management on SM is a factor in its use. Due to
the increased use of mobile technology, we now have online access 24 hours a day. More
importantly, customers of a business have access 24 hours a day. This means that
organisations need to be smart when considering time lines on their SM use. Having
constant access does of course allow creation of digital content easier (Malita, 2011)
however this liberty for creating digital content provides another problem: information
overload. This information overload wastes time when you consider scanning through

32. 32
masses of content in order to create something to post on a company platform (Malita,
2011). Take Twitter for example; with 70 million daily tweets and 600 million daily search
queries it can become relatively addictive and therefore time consuming (Malita, 2011).
Through the structural and interactive features of Twitter, a brand can engage in continuous
conversation with consumers (Kwon & Yongjun, 2011). While this has its advantages, it also
creates problems for companies who do not have the resources to be online at all times.

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Social Media Platforms: A closer look
There are a number of SM platforms that could be considered in the context of a golf club
for various reasons depending on the end goal of management. A small selection of
platforms is focused on in this review based on platforms on which the participating golf
clubs were active;
Facebook
The creators of Facebook define, somewhat vaguely, the site as “a social utility that connects
you with the people around you.” Their mission is to “give people the power to share and
make the world a more open and connected place” (Facebook, 2015). It was originally
created by Mark Zukerberg in 2004 to allow students to search for other students at colleges
and universities; the site has since expanded to allow individuals to connect in high schools,
companies, and within regions of the world (Charnigo & Barnett-Ellis, 2007). Facebook
allows users to establish virtual identities by creating profiles on the site. Users post
photographs, descriptions of academic and personal interests such as academic majors,
campus organizations of which they are members, political orientation, favourite authors
and musicians, and any other information they wish to share about themselves (Charnigo &
Barnett-Ellis, 2007).
According to the PR Society of America (Gaiifianakis, 2014), Facebook is the most widely
used SM platform on University campuses, but the site’s diffusion among U.S. adults ages 18
to 24 decreased by 3% to 88.6% from February to November 2013 as previously stated.
Other SM platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat and Vine have grown in
popularity but in saying this, as much as 95% of all SM referred traffic to business websites
comes from just five SM platforms; 74% from Facebook alone (Fakhraie, 2014) suggesting
that Facebook is still a major contributor to business marketing strategies. It seems that
users who “like” a business Facebook page for many reasons, interestingly, 35% do so to
participate in competitions and promotions (Fakhraie, 2014)
Twitter
Twitter is a "microblogging" site that limits its users to posting messages of 140 characters
long. It claims to have more than 250m active users worldwide. While many individuals and
celebrities regularly tweet, more and more businesses also have a presence on the site, with

34. 34
retail chains such as Debenhams, among others, actively using it for promotions (Paton,
2010)
In an article by Nielsen Online (McGiboney, 2009) reports presented that Twitter alone grew
exponentially from February 2008 through to February 2009, increasing its users from
475,000 to over seven million. In percentage terms this was almost 1,400% growth. By 2010,
Twitter users had increased by 100 million according to Sysomos, a social media monitoring
company (Van Grove, 2010).
Twitter shares features with communication mediums people already use, but in a simple
and rapid way that can be easily shared. It has elements much like those of email, instant
messaging, texting, blogging and social networks (O'Reilly & Milstein, 2009). It also acts as an
effective tool for building and maintaining consumer-brand relationships (Kwon & Yongjun,
2011). Kaplan and Haelein (2010) make a similar claim in defining the interactive capability
of Twitter that allows the possibility of continuous dialogue between consumers and brands.
This becomes apparent when it is considered that 81% of Twitter users expect a same day
response to questions and complaints aimed at brands (Fakhraie, 2014).
Instagram
Instagram has been said to have become a “visual diary” for its users that allows them
connect and communicate with other creative peers through photos and videos. Launched in
2010, it attracted 100,000 users during its first week and has been among the top 10 most
downloaded apps ever since (Hempel, 2014). It now boasts more than 200 million active
users, just short of that of Twitter, who upload 60 million photos every day. Instagram users
spend an average of 3.7 hours on the app every month, more time than people spend on
Twitter or Pinterest (Hempel, 2014).
Three years ago, Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg paid nearly $1 billion to buy
the photo-sharing app. This is as much as Google paid for YouTube; Instagram has put
Facebook directly at the core of an increasingly important medium for communication. The
figure below compares the biggest SM platforms in terms of users and time spent online;
Instagram is clearly one of the largest growing platforms today (Hempel, 2014);

35. 35
Figure 2 Instagram as one of the biggest SM players (Hempel, 2014)
Visual Marketing is a key component of the promotion of a business as it appeals to
emotions and can strike a chord with consumers across language and culture barriers (Scott,
2013). Studies using brain-imaging techniques have shown that, while there is a common
neural network activated by both verbal and visual processing, there are also specific areas
of brain activation for each form; images are processed quicker and are more automatically
understood. The connection between an image and its meaning is more direct than for
language (Luna & Perrachio, 2003). Instagram therefore is a simple way for businesses to
market themselves visually and to a larger, growing audience.
YouTube
On average there are 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter every minute and 500 years of
YouTube video watched on Facebook every day (Fakhraie, 2014). For businesses of all sizes,
these numbers represent an opportunity to reach potential customers in an extremely
targeted way. Despite this many businesses, and particularly small- to medium-sized
companies, are yet to view YouTube in this way and it arguably remains an underutilised
marketing and branding tool (Hubbard, 2014). One of the key reasons for this is cost;
production costs of video, although down somewhat with the increasing quality of mobile
device cameras, remains significant. It still requires an adequate budget to shoot raw
footage and create a share-worthy and authentic video from it. Poor production of video
content is one of the most common errors in YouTube marketing (Hubbard, 2014).

36. 36
However when properly executed, YouTube, with its specific call to action, can drive traffic
to an organisations website through the high level of targeting that is possible within this
platform (Hubbard, 2014).
Going Mobile
Figure 3 US Mobile Phone SM users and penetration 2011-2017
It is not unknown that the use of mobile devices, particularly smartphones such as Apple and
Android, has experienced mass growth over the last number of years. This growth has led to
increasing numbers accessing SM sites through this medium. An unbelievable 4.2 billion
people access SM sites through a mobile device (Fakhraie, 2014). When broken down 32% of
women and 43% of men access SM through tablet while 30% of women and 41 % of men
access through smartphone devices (Gaiifianakis, 2014).
These statistics are not limited to the youth of today; sixty-nine per cent of adults aged 65
and older has reported that they have a mobile phone; this figure has increased from 57% in
2012. Even of those who are 76 and older, 56% of them report having a mobile phone
(Zickuhr & Madden, 2012) suggesting that the use of technology is growing across all
demographic cohorts.

37. 37
Social Media Analytics: Feedback is Essential
Research has shown that the ability to analyse SM data is one of the biggest predictors of a
company’s SM maturity and is the most important differentiator between companies that
are and are not successful in using SM for business purposes (Kane et al., 2014). SM can
both help and hurt an organisation and therefore a sophisticated understanding of how SM
technologies interact with the business environment can help maximise the positive
outcomes and minimise the negative (Kane G. , 2015).
Can businesses measure the return on investment (ROI) of their social media marketing?
Companies may apply the traditional ROI approach in order to measure the effectiveness of
SM but is this correct strategy? Managers are advised (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010) to consider
consumer motivations around use of SM instead of merely focusing on calculating return
involving customer response and emphasizing marketing investments. In other words,
focusing on the analytics to allow management of SM platforms depending on what the data
shows has been successful previously. According to the authors, marketers should begin ROI
computation by measuring the expenses of launching a web blog or SM account and
calculating the return on sales resulting from SM investment.
Constructing sensible SM metrics for a company requires a holistic approach. A theoretical
framework designed by Peters et al. (2013) guides companies and agencies to understand
and capture the relevant phenomena in appropriate metrics. They abstain from reviewing
marketing input and outcome measures, as these are commonly known, and instead link
marketing inputs via SM metrics to outcomes that correspond to the goals of an
organization. Given the variety of organizations and SM, there is no such thing as “the”
analytics tool or metric for social media. Every organization needs to construct the
appropriate metrics for its specific organizational goals, structure and SM selection.

38. 38
Literature Review Conclusion
In conclusion, the Confederation of Golf in Ireland is determined to establish how golf clubs
can effectively use social media to develop their membership and customer base through
identifying how clubs are currently using SM, determining what members and potential
customers want and need from SM and ultimately defining if clubs are meeting these needs
currently. With a large number of people partaking in golf across the country (and growth in
younger players, particularly girls u18, along with increased use of SM as a whole in Ireland,
it seems that the use of SM in golf clubs should be common practice, however at a glance it
seems that this is not the case. Is the golf sector missing out on this marketing opportunity,
and if so, why?
SM marketing strategies are increasingly important as simply presenting products or services
in an ad-hoc way will not target your markets needs and is likely to fail; enterprise SM needs
to be embraced in order for an organisation to succeed and build a positive online
reputation. Many sporting organisations state that SM as part of an over-arching marketing
strategy can assist to enhance participation, increase engagement and improve sustainability
through new income streams. However, the Irish NGB’s of golf do not seem to provide any
structured guidelines on using SM to golf clubs. It has been said that the reason golfer
numbers are declining in certain areas is down to the marketing of golf clubs and the game
of golf in general.
SM is growing among all demographics, especially among women. Users under 50 are most
likely to us a SM platform however there has been huge growth in the number of older
adults who are going online, using email and setting up SM profiles. Facebook still remains
the most popular platform, however sites such as Instagram and Twitter are catching up and
these platforms may be useful to access a sub section of the market; younger consumers for
example.
An organisations ability to analyse SM is a significant determent of its maturity and
competitiveness in the SM world. Although there are many tools and tips available on how
best to measure the ROI from a SM strategy, it seems that each brand must develop its own
goals and metrics in order to gauge its success.
The overall aim of this research is to establish how golf clubs can effectively use social media
to develop their membership and customer base. Through interviews with golf club

39. 39
management and surveying the members it will become clearer if clubs are reaching their
marketing potential through SM.

40. 40
3.Study Methodology

41. 41
Study Design Overview:
Business research is commonly split into two strategies; qualitative and quantitative
research methodologies. Quantitative research can be interpreted as a strategy that
emphasises quantification through the collection and analysis of data and that (Bryman &
Bell, 2007):
 Entails a deductive approach to the relationship between theory and research, in
which the accent is placed on testing theories and hypotheses
 Has incorporated the practices and norms of the natural scientific world
 Embodies a view of social reality as an external, objective reality
Quantitative research is useful as measurement giving a consistent “yardstick” for making
distinctions. It produces consistent data that is not dependent on the researcher or the
timing of collection. Measurement also provides the basis for more precise estimates of the
degree of relationship between variables. Finally, it allows the researcher to identify fine
differences between participants in terms of the characteristics in question (Bryman & Bell,
2007).
Quantitative data can be criticised however, for example it has been highlighted that the
reliance of quantitative research on instruments and procedures hinders the connection
between research and everyday life. Also the measurement process possesses a synthetic
sense of precision and accuracy as testing for validity cannot overcome the issue of
connections developed by scientists and the concepts they are supposed to be enlightening
is assumed rather than real (Bryman & Bell, 2007).
Conversely, qualitative research can be interpreted as a research strategy that usually
emphasises words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data and that
(Bryman & Bell, 2007):
 Predominately stresses an inductive approach to the relationship between theory and
research, emphasis is placed on generating theories
 Has rejected the practices and norms of the natural scientific worlds in preference for
highlighting the ways in which individuals interpret the social world
 Embodies a view of social reality as a constantly shifting emergent property of
individuals creation

42. 42
Qualitative research is beneficial as it allows the researcher to get an insight into the points
of view of the participants, usually within a natural setting. It provides rich, deep data from
which the research can draw meaning and theories can be derived from this (Bryman & Bell,
2007).
However, qualitative data too has its criticisms; some researchers critique qualitative data
saying that it is too subjective and impressionistic. It can rely too much on the researchers’
views and bias. It can also be hard to replicate due to how each participant responds. It is
unlikely that answers to the same question will ever be repeated exactly (Bryman & Bell,
2007).
In order to combat the weaknesses of both qualitative and quantitative research methods,
they can be combined into a mixed methodology. Although there are arguments against the
use of mixed methodology strategies; such as claiming that quantitative and qualitative
research methods are separate paradigms, a mixed methodology design was chosen for this
research in order to allow each research paradigm to facilitate each other and to fill gaps
that either strategy online alone could not fulfil (Bryman & Bell, 2007). A design overview
can be seen in the figure below:

43. 43
Figure 4 Schematic of Study Design
Through random mixed-methods design each participant was selected randomly. Two
separate data collection methods were completed for each participating golf club. The
methods were completed under as similar conditions as possible for each club. Each
participant was involved in one interview which was either conducted in person or over the
phone depending on distance to be travelled by the researcher.
Participants
The participating clubs were chosen by stratified random sampling, thus ensuring that the
resulting sample would be distributed in the same way as the population in terms of
stratifying criterion. Stratified sampling is only feasible when relevant data is readily
Stratification & Random
Selection
•Master list of golf clubs were stratified by province and membership size
•A sample of golf clubs was then chosen from each sub section to
particpate in the study using stratified random sampling
Interview
•With Club General Manager or Marketing personell
•Short Questionairre followed by an interview containing 17 questions
under 5 sub-sections
Survey
•A survey of the club members was sent through Survey Monkey (upon
agreement) to establish what members would like to see from their clubs
SM page and how many of them actually use SM
Transcription of Interviews
•All Interviews were recorded upon agreement by participant and were
transcribed for later analysis and coding in order to identify specific
common themes
Data Analysis
•Data was analysed by coding relevant data into a spreadsheet and
comparing, contrasting and discussing arrising themes in relation to the
other interviews

44. 44
available as it was in the case of this research in terms of membership size and location
(Bryman & Bell, 2007).
Due to the population size of Dublin, the CGI outlined that they would like to include it as a
separate province. Therefore for the purposes of this study there are five provinces. Random
selection was completed by stratifying the clubs into small, medium and large on an excel
spread sheet. Club size was determined by membership numbers and participating clubs
were selected by random number selection from each stratum. Originally the goal was to
include a sample of 10; two clubs from each province but due to time constraints this
number was reduced to nine. The nine participating clubs are outlined in the table below:
Table 3 Participating Golf Clubs
Leinster Munster Connaught Ulster Dublin
Large Co.Louth Tramore Dungannon Newlands
Medium Kilcock Ballykisteen Westport Ardglass
Small Bantry Bay
Table 4 Member numbers and Survey Responses
Club Number of
Members
Email list size Survey
Responses
1 837 430 27
2 404 NA 0
3 267 230 201
4 442 NA 0
5 523 405 107
6 1003 850 175
7 1046 1000 161
8 583 450 86
9 661 NA 0
Total 3365 746 (22%)

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Interviews
An interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more people (Kahn & Cannell, 1957).
According to Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill (2007) the use of interviews can help gather valid
and reliable data that is relevant to the research question and objectives identified.
Interviews provide in-depth information relating to participants’ experiences and viewpoints
of a particular topic. Often interviews are combined with other forms of data collection in
order to provide the researcher with a well-rounded collection of information for analysis
(Turner, 2010), in this case, a survey.
This type of interview method allows participants to fully express their viewpoints and
experiences (Turner, 2010). Standardized open-ended interviews involve the participants
always being asked identical questions; however the questions are worded so that responses
are open-ended (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2003). This open ended approach allows the participants
to contribute as much detailed information as they feel comfortable with and also allows the
researcher to ask probing questions if the participant does not answer the question fully.
The data provided by participants in qualitative research methods is rich, however it has
been suggested that it creates difficulty with coding the data for analysis (Creswell, 2007). It
can be an extensive process for the researcher to scrutinise the narrative responses in order
to accurately reflect an overall perspective of all interview themes through the coding
process. On the other hand it enables the researcher to reflect on the overall perspective of
all interview responses and according to Gall, Gall, and Borg (2003), reduces researcher
biases within the study.
Creswell (2007) outlined the following as important components for conducting successful
qualitative interviews;
1. The constructing effective research questions;
2. The preparation for the interview;
3. The actual implementation of the interview(s)
Designing the Interview Questions:
One of the most vital components to interview design is creating effective research
questions for the interview process. McNamara, (2009) suggests several recommendations
for creating effective research questions for interviews;

46. 46
1. Wording should be open-ended (respondents should be able to choose their own
terms when answering questions);
2. Questions should be as neutral as possible (avoid wording that might influence
answers;
3. Questions should be asked one at a time;
4. Questions should be worded clearly (this includes knowing any terms particular to the
program or the respondents' culture);
5. Be careful asking "why" questions.
Creswell (2007) suggests being flexible when constructing research questions. He claims
that interviewees may not necessarily answer the question being asked by the researcher
and, in fact, may answer a question that is asked in another question later in the interview.
Therefore, Creswell believes that the researcher must construct questions in such a manner
to keep participants on focus with their responses to the questions.
This research project used semi-structured interviews containing standardized open-ended
questions. As this research is exploratory, using semi-structured interviews was helpful to
establish “what is happening” and to seek new insights into the use of SM in golf clubs
(Robson, 2002).
The selection of questions was pre-determined before all interviews began however the
order and depth of each question varied from interview to interview depending on the flow
of conversation along with experience and views of the participants. When designing the
interview structure, themes were derived from the literature relating to the research
question and with focus on these themes the questions were developed. This focus was
needed prior to commencement of the interviews otherwise they may have lacked a sense
of direction and purpose. In accordance with McNamara (2009) recommendations,
questions were developed to be as neutral as possible, were asked one at a time and
worded clearly with an explanation of certain terminology given at the beginning of the
interview. Interview bias and the length of interview were all considered prior to the
interviews taking place to ensure the data produced was as accurate as possible. A sample of
the Interview questions can be found in Appendix 3.
Participants were presented with an information form, outlining the purpose of the
research, the aim of the research and information on data protection prior to the interview.

47. 47
Participants signed this in agreement to participate in the study. This was sent through by
email for those interviews that were done over the phone. A sample of this pre-interview
information form can be found in Appendix 1.
Pilot Interview:
Pilot testing, if administered, will determine if there are flaws, limitations, or other
weaknesses within the interview design and will allow the researcher to make necessary
amendments prior to the implementation of the study (Kvale, 2007).
For the purpose of this research, Interview 1 was used as the pilot study. This interview was
conducted as normal and slight amendments that could have been made were noted and
changed for the following interviews. An example of one amendment that was changed was
the use of the terminology “platform.” Interviewee 1 was unsure of this term and so this was
changed for future interviews to create clarity within the interview.
Preparing for the Interview:
McNamara (2009) advises that the preparation stage is vitally important when conducting
qualitative interviews in order to maintain a definite focus as to how the interviews will be
conducted in order to provide maximum benefit to the proposed research study. He
suggests the following when planning the interviews;
1. Choose a setting with little distraction;
2. Explain the purpose of the interview;
3. Address terms of confidentiality;
4. Explain the format of the interview;
5. Indicate how long the interview usually takes;
6. Tell them how to get in touch with you later if they want to;
7. Ask them if they have any questions before you both get started with the interview;
8. Don't depend on memory to recall their answers.
As 5 of these interviews were done over the phone it is important to consider the
differences in phone vs. face-to-face interviews; according to Mann & Stewart (2000) phone
interviews allow a greater geographical access to be included in the research however there
are reductions in social cues and body language etc. cannot be used as an extra source of
information, however social cues in the form of voice and intonation are still available and so
enough cues remain for conducting a phone interview without a problem

48. 48
All interviews in this study were recorded for later analysis; this was agreed to by all
interviewees. Those interviews that were done face-to-face took place in an office or quiet
area of the clubhouse, for those that were conducted over the phone both the researcher
and interviewee were in a quiet place with no distractions for the duration of the interview.
All participants were made aware of the data safeguarding and confidentiality of the
interview. They were informed that the interview began with some short answer questions
and would be followed by some longer answer questions broken into sections; they were
told that the length of the interview was approximately 30 minutes long. All participants had
the opportunity to ask questions before the beginning of the interview and they were given
an email address for follow up questions if needed. A sample interview transcript can be
found in Appendix 3.
Implementation of the Interviews
McNamara (2009) makes recommendations for the implementation of the interviews as
follows:
1. Occasionally verify the tape recorder (if used) is working;
2. Ask one question at a time;
3. Attempt to remain as neutral as possible (that is, don't show strong emotional
reactions to their responses);
4. Encourage responses with occasional nods of the head, "uh huh"s, etc.;
5. Be careful about the appearance when note taking (if the researcher jumps to take a
note, it may appear as if they’re surprised or very pleased about an answer, which
may influence answers to future questions);
6. Provide transition between major topics, e.g., "we've been talking about (some topic)
and now I'd like to move on to (another topic);"
7. Don't lose control of the interview (this can occur when respondents stray to another
topic, take so long to answer a question that times begins to run out, or even begin
asking questions to the interviewer).
The nine interviews conducted in this study were all fully recorded; the Dictaphone used was
checked before and during each interview. Due to each interview being recorded note
taking was minimal and only certain issues that arose were noted by the researcher.

49. 49
During the interviews themselves, questions were asked as clearly as possible, were done
one by one and in a neutral tone by the researcher. Encouragement was given to the
interviewees at regular intervals in order for them to expand their responses. The flow of the
interviews was pre-determined under a number of sub-sections and participants were let
know when the conversation was moving to another topic.
After the interview interviewees were then sent a follow-up email that included a link to the
survey through Survey Monkey. They were also thanked for their participation in the study.
The Interviewees were responsible for sending out the Survey to their club members via
their email list.
Survey
The choice of survey can be influenced by a variety of factors related to the research
question and objectives. In particular, it will be influenced by the characteristics of the
respondents from whom data will be collected (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007).
A self-administered questionnaire, or survey, was utilised for this research in order to
determine the use of SM within the community of golf club members in Ireland. Survey
Monkey was used to administer the survey which was sent to participants via email. Survey
Monkey is an online software tool creating and administering web-based questionnaires and
providing its own simplistic analysis of data collected.
When designing the survey there were a number of factors to consider as outlined by
Bryman & Bell (2007): The survey was broken down into sections and put onto a number of
different pages so that it appeared shorter and was less likely to deter respondents from
answering. Dillman, (1983) observed that an attractive layout within surveys can enhance
response rates so this was noted when designing the survey. Also important is that the
survey is clear and there are instructions on how to respond. He also distinguishes between
three types of data variable that can be collected through questionnaires:
 opinion
 behaviour
 attribute

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These distinctions are important, as they will influence the way questions are worded, as this
research is primarily focused on opinion and attribute, the chosen methodology can provide
significant results.
For Internet mediated questionnaires and surveys i.e. electronic surveys, the software is
automated and costs are minimal. All clubs utilise email in their communication with
members and sending a survey through this gives access to a huge number of golfers. The
following was taken into account when designing the survey to be sent to golf club
members;
 Importance of respondents
 Answers not being contaminated or distorted
 Size of sample required for analysis, taking into account the likely response rate
 Types of question needed to be asked to collect reliable and valid data
 Number of questions needed to be asked to collect reliable and valid data.
As well as being pilot studied all surveys were sent with a cover letter explaining the purpose
and scope of the research project as well as instructions on how to fill out the survey. The
structure of the survey was in line with the structure outlined by Saunders et al. (2007).
Designing the Survey Questions:
Most structured self-administered questionnaires will include more than one type of
question. This is important to consider in terms of the distinction between different types of
questions as, among other reasons, it will ensure that the researcher remains clear about
what they’re asking (Bryman & Bell, 2007). According to Bryman and Bell (2007) there are a
number of rules of thumb to consider when designing questions;
 Always bear in mind the research question
 Always be aware of what you want to know
 Consider how you would answer the question
Avoiding long questions, double-barrelled questions and ambiguous terms is also
recommended.
The survey for this project was designed with the research question in mind. The CGI had a
number of specific issues that they were curious to find answers to and these were included

51. 51
in the survey also. In conjunction with the research, questions were kept short and to the
point and leading questions were also avoided in order to allow the respondents to make
their own decisions on the relevant topics. A sample of the survey can be found in Appendix
4.
Piloting the survey:
Piloting of self-administration surveys is particularly crucial due to the fact that no
researcher will be present when the survey is being filled in and will not be able to clarify any
queries. Piloting will also ensure that questions that seem not to be understood or are
difficult to answer will be identified prior to the beginning of the research. Another
advantage of piloting surveys is that it will allow the researcher to assess the flow of the
survey and decide if any changes to location of questions are needed (Bryman & Bell, 2007).
For the purpose of this research a pilot survey was sent to 15-20 people of a similar
demographic to the population that would be taking the research survey i.e. golf club
members. The pilot participants were asked for feedback on the flow of the survey as well as
if they understood how to answer the questions. Following the pilot a number of questions
were moved in order to break the survey into clearer defined sections.

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4.Data Collection

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Data Interpretation
During this phase, the researcher must make “sense” of collected data and compile the data
into sections or groups of information, also known as themes or codes (Creswell, 2007). As
this research is mixed method the two methodologies have separate interpretation
techniques.
Qualitative Interview data interpretation
Qualitative method analysis can be difficult to analyse due to the mass amount of
information it produces in the form of interview transcripts. The Grounded Theory has been
defined as “the theory that was derived from data, systematically gathered and analysed
through the research process; this process involves data collection, analysis and theory
coordinating in close relationship to one another” (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Coding is the key
process involved in the Grounded Theory where data is broken down into component parts
or themes. This is the starting point for most forms of qualitative data analysis (Bryman &
Bell, 2007).
Once each interview had been conducted the recordings were transcribed on separate
documents for later coding. The coding process in this study involved creating a spread sheet
that included all interview themes and questions on the X axis. Each response was filled in
below for each interview so that similar themes and ideas could be easily identified. Once
this large spread sheet was completed with the 9 interviews included, themes were colour
coded and named as follows;
 Age and Gender
 Structure
 Fear and Privacy
 Training
 Budget and Resources
According to Bryman and Bell (2007) coding allows the researcher to establish; what an item
of data represents, what it is about and determine what general category an item of data
belongs to. It also allows the researcher to interpret what is happening in the context of the
interview topic. However there are some problems that must be considered when coding.
Most commonly coding has been criticised for the possibility of the context of what is being

54. 54
said becomes lost in the coding process. Secondly, coding results in fragments of data and so
the narrative flow of what has been said also being lost.
Quantitative Data Interpretation
Survey Monkey was used for the quantitative part of this research. This tool not only collects
the data but also produces results and analysis. For the purposes of this research, all
quantitative analysis was carried out through Survey Monkey and relevant data was then
presented in the following sections.
Overview
The table below presents the answers provided by participants during the short answer
questionnaire. Eighty-nine per cent of clubs are active on SM with Facebook and Twitter
being the most common platforms. All participants but one believes that SM has a place in
the golf sector with 8 out of 9 respondents believing that it could contribute to increasing
visitor and membership revenue and 100% believing that it can contribute to positive golf
club development.
Of the clubs interviewed, 44% have a marketing manager; however in 3 of those clubs, the
manager is not specific to marketing. Fifty-six per cent of the golf clubs researched have a
marketing committee and the same figure have an annual budget specifically for marketing
purposes.
Table 5 Results of Short Answer Questionnaire filled out by Interviewees
Do you
use SM?
Which
Platforms?
Do you
think SM
has a place
Golf?
Do you think SM
help golf club
development?
Can SM
help
visitor
revenue?
Can SM help
membership
revenue?
Do you have
a Marketing
Manager?
Do you have
Marketing
Committee?
Do you have
a Marketing
Budget?
Club 1 Yes Facebook, Twitter Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (GM) Yes Yes
Club 2 Yes Facebook Yes Yes Yes Yes
No (Sales &
events
manager) No Yes
Club 3 Yes
Facebook, Twitter
(inactive) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (GM) Yes Yes (2500)
Club 4 Yes Twitter, Facebook Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes (3-4
people) No
Club 5 Yes
Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Club 6 Yes Twitter yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Club 7 No (email) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (GM) No No
Club 8 Yes
Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram,
Periscope
Depends on
club Yes Possibly Possibly Yes Yes Yes
Club 9 Yes Facebook, Twitter Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
Totals: 89% 89% 100% 89% 89% 44% 56% 56%

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There were 746 responses to the survey, a response rate of 22% (Survey was emailed to
3365 email addresses). This accounts for members of 6 clubs only as 3 of the participating
clubs did not send the survey to their members.

56. 56
Age and Gender
Table 6 Age Demographic of Respondents
Age Percentage Responses
18-25 5.36%
26-35 9.12%
36-45 15.55%
36-55 21.98%
55+ 47.99%
The age demographic of respondents of the survey was high with 47.99% of respondents
over the age of 55.Only 14.48% were under the age of 35 as can be seen in Table 1 above. Of
those that responded 80.03% were men and 19.97% women.
Table 7 Respondents who have at least one SM profile
Overall Men Women
Yes 67.25% 67.85% 64.86%
No 31.12% 31.13% 31.08%
I don’t know 1.62% 1.02% 4.05%
The above table outlines how many respondents are engaged on SM. Overall 67.25% of
respondents engage with at least one SM platform. Slightly more men than women are
engaged on SM; however this difference is not significant.

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Figure 5 SM Platforms Men most likely to engage with?
Figure 6 SM Platforms Women most likely to engage with?
The graphs above summarise which platforms men (Figure 5) and women (Figure 6) are
engaged on. The most popular platforms among men are Facebook (85.1%), Linkedin
(57.58%) and Twitter (51.26%). Among women Facebook (90.43%), Twitter (48.94%) and
Linkedin (43.62%) were the most common. A higher percentage of women engage with
Pinterest (18.09% of women compared to 6.57% of men).
Eight of the nine clubs interviewed cited age demographic of members as a barrier to
successful SM use in golf clubs. One club said “the age demographic that play golf is not
similar to the age demographic that use SM, the majority of golfers are men and of an age
that wouldn’t be too savvy with using SM” (Club 3). Another interviewee outlined that they
didn’t see any barriers to SM use in golf clubs apart from the older age profile (Club 5).
However, one interviewee admitted that they have been pleasantly surprised by how many
of their senior members are becoming SM literate in comparison to a couple of years ago

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(Club 4). In conjunction with this, two clubs suggested that the use of smartphones among
all age groups will make it easier to use and access SM even if it is just in a passive capacity
(Club 6 and 9). Club 7 made it clear that the u18 junior section of the club is vitally
important as it creates a future for the game and a future for club golf. Club 1 hoped to
achieve an influx of new younger members through an increased use of SM, club 6 also
mentioned losing members due to age and the use of SM would help them to increase their
visitor revenue to help counterbalance this.
Three interviewees (club 3, 6 and 9) stated that ladies are more inclined to use SM than
men. When asked to estimate how many of their members were using SM one response
was; “Not including juniors it would be about 50-75%, the majority being our lady
members.”
Figure 7 SM platforms used by respondents aged 18-25