1. RUNNING HEAD: Market Research Proposal for Trout Unlimited p. 1
Market Research Proposal for Trout Unlimited
Stephanie Marchant
West Virginia University

2. RUNNING HEAD: Market Research Proposal for Trout Unlimited p. 2
Restating the goal of this research proposal is to create a detailed plan of how to measure
the perception of the female audience and reinforce the urgency of ensuring Trout Unlimited
(TU) is responding to growing interest in the sport of fly fishing within this demographic.
Through this assessment and information gathering, it will be possible to deduce valuable
audience insight into new and current membership promotions, the success of current marketing
tactics, and the true desire of the audience’s demands. (McDaniel & Gates, 2013)
Management Decision Problem
 How to get more female members in TU nationally and locally.
Research Objectives
Determine how many female members currently exist.
Establish why they joined.
Determine the interest level with current female members versus non-members.
Evaluate membership participation and renewals and compare male and female
memberships.
Consider geographic propensity for membership.
Assess the probable market size and share of female anglers and enthusiasts.
Objectives
 Determine the demographic profile of a TU member.
Hypothesis 1: Public perception is that fly fishing is primarily male dominated.
Current TU female members are considerably less in number.
 How do current female TU members view TU’s support of female anglers?
Hypothesis 2: TU as an organization that supports preserving fishing outlets but
nothing more.

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The profile of the average trout angler is 53.4 years old, homeowner and married. They
tend to have the discretionary income that allow them to pursue their sport and purchase the
necessary equipment -- such as rods, reels, fly line, flies and fly typing kits, as well as apparel.
In addition, these individuals tend to travel and enjoy other outdoors sports as well as appreciate
wildlife and the environment. (The Outdoor Foundation, 2013)
Forty-seven million Americans participated in fishing in 2012, a disproportionately high
number of new participants in 2012 were female. Fly fishing participation grew in 2012 to 6.0
million participants from 5.7 million participants the year before. Much of the participation
growth was driven by first-time participants who made up 20.5 percent of all fly fishing
participants, up from 14.4 percent in 2011. (Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, 2014)
Women are one of the fastest growing demographics in the world of fly fishing and the
companies that fuel the industry have noticed. (Kryzinski, 2013) Females represent more than
46 percent of those interested in trying fishing. (Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation,
2014) The market may still be male-dominated, but watch these numbers change in the coming
years; more ladies will be hitting the water as they are introduced to the sport.
According to Social Media Today, 71 percent of women are active on social media and
responsible for 62 percent of shares on Facebook. They are more prone to seek out the social
page of a brand and 70 percent of referrals are generated from pins on Pinterest. (Kinsey, 2013)
Sixty percent of consumers say the integration of social media is a motivating factor in doing
business with and sharing the brand. (Digital Insights, 2013) The key to growing fly fishing
followers is to introduce more people to the sport. This is where TU could lead the charge.
Almost all marketers find that social media helps them stand out in an increasingly noisy
marketplace. In fact, 88% of all marketers found social media helps get them increased

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exposure. Additionally, 72% of those surveyed saw increased traffic as a result of social media.
(The Motley Fool, 2013)
Social Media Analytics Used
Simply Measured indicates fluctuating engagement with sporadic posts on the TU
Facebook page with the most engaged fans being male and very little reference to female anglers
or encouragement of their participation. Of the posts, videos are the most popular form of
engagement. It would behoove TU to encourage national and local chapters to distribute more
videos featuring female anglers as supporters of TU activities. (Simply Measured, 2014)
Figure 1 Simply Measured
Facebook is one of the more popular social media platforms available to organizations,
especially when it comes to reaching the female audience. The number of Facebook users over
the age of 45 has increased by 45 percent since 2012. A majority of these users are female.

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(Fitzgerald, 2012) Posting content regularly is an important part of using this platform to
develop and maintain a presence for TU.
By contrast, Twitter users are primarily male and especially loyal. RivalIQ indicates over
17,000 followers with an average Tweet per Day of 3.86. As with Facebook posts, tweets from
TU are sporadic. (RivalIQ, 2014) RivalIQ validates the same data on Facebook activity gleaned
from Simply Measured.
Figure 2 RivalIQ
Google Trends and LikeAlyzer both indicate that social media activities need to be
greater to be measured effectively. (Google Trends, 2014) LikeAlyzer specifically recommends
responding to fan questions and comments quicker and publishing more photos. (LikeAlyzer,
2014) Trackur provides good data but with no gender segmentation available. (Trackur, 2014)
Sprout Social does provide gender segmentation but, again, without direct access to TU’s

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account no further research is available. (Sprout Social, 2014) This is important to the research
proposal to determine the reach and effectiveness of the message from TU. The social media
metrics researched could provide useful insight into deeper data for the social engagement of TU
but without direct access to the TU account for Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn it was not
possible to investigate further.
Women are the routers and amplifiers of the social web. Women are thought to be more
social, more interested in relationships and connections, better at multi-tasking, and able to
maintain more relationships within every ring of closeness than men. (Holland, 2014) Women
represent the majority of the online market and are more likely to pass along information about
deals or finds to others. (Kinsey, 2013) Knowing that is important to build and encourage social
network effects. More female users will likely help the brand awareness of TU mature faster.
Providing regular content to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TU blog, and the
TU website ensures that anglers, particularly female, can find TU wherever they want to look.
These followers should then be added to a dedicated female angler database. A consistent
communication strategy will make certain that female followers of TU will keep returning to its
social media platforms to read updates, view photos and videos, and stay engaged.
Fly fishing takes people to beautiful places, in clean water, and they connect with the
natural world in a way that is magical. There is an explosion of interest among women that has
taken off in the last few years. (Angling Trade, 2012) There is a tremendous opportunity for TU
to capture huge market share with the female fly fishing audience through the use of social
media. These advocates can help promote TU through these collaborative social media
conversations.

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References
Angling Trade. (2012, August 17). AFFTA Releases Fly Fishing Industry Data. Retrieved from
Angling Trade: http://www.anglingtrade.com/2012/08/17/affta-releases- fly- fishing-industry-
data/
Digital Insights. (2013, November 14). Social Media Statistics. Retrieved from Digital Buzz
Blog: http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-social-media-stats-2013/
Fitzgerald, B. (2012, July 9). More Women on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest than Men.
Retrieved from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/09/women-facebook-
twitter-pinterest_n_1655164.html
Google Trends. (2014, June 7). About. Retrieved from Google Trends:
http://www.google.com/trends/
Holland, S. (2014, February 8). Marketing to Women Quick Facts. Retrieved from She-Conomy:
http://www.she-conomy.com/facts-on-women
Kinsey, A. (2013, September 2). How do Women and Men Use Social Media Differently
[INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved from Social Media Today:
http://socialmediatoday.com/andykinsey/1707816/social-media-men-vs-women
Kryzinski, B. (2013, September 9). Patagonia Joins the Women's Waders Party. Retrieved from
Hatch Magazine: http://www.hatchmag.com/articles/patagonia-joins-womens-waders-party/
771917
LikeAlyzer. (2014, June 7). Trout Unlimited. Retrieved from LikeAlyzer:
http://likealyzer.com/troutunlimited
McDaniel, C., & Gates, R. (2013). Marketing research essentials (8th ed). New York: Wiley &
Sons.

8. RUNNING HEAD: Market Research Proposal for Trout Unlimited p. 8
Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation. (2014, January 18). 2013 Special Report on Fishing
and Boating. Retrieved from Take Me Fishing:
http://takemefishing.org/uploadedFiles/Content/General/About_RBFF/Research_and_Ev
aluations/2013SpecialReportFinalWEB.2013-06-26.pdf
RivalIQ. (2014, June 7). Metrics for Trout Unlimited. Retrieved from RivalIQ:
https://www.rivaliq.com/overview
Simply Measured. (2014, June 7). Facebook Fan Page for Trout Unlimited. Retrieved from
Simply Measured:
https://app.simplymeasured.com/viewer/5x8wu2utmwdhq8n8a9yzixvnnm5ksv/2013435?
id=913894#
Sprout Social. (2014, June 7). About. Retrieved from Sprout Social: http://www.sproutsocial.com
The Motley Fool. (2013, May 6). Staples Survey Reveals Small Businesses Find Growing Value
in Social Media. Retrieved from Daily Finance:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/05/06/staples-survey-reveals-small-businesses-find-growi/
The Outdoor Foundation. (2013, January 18). 2013 Outdoor Recreation Participation. Retrieved
from Outdoor Foundation:
http://www.outdoorfoundation.org/pdf/ResearchParticipation2013.pdf
Trackur. (2014, June 7). Trout Unlimited. Retrieved from Trackur: http://track.trackur.com/