EN中文

Journal of Resources and Ecology >

2022 , Vol. 13 >Issue 4: 624 - 634

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2022.04.008

Ice and Snow Tourism Experience and Its Influencing Factors

Influence of Ice and Snow Sports Participation Experience on Participation Constraints among Residents in Southern China: A Quantitative Analysis based on Propensity Score Matching

  • FU Lei , 1 ,
  • LIU Yue 1 ,
  • YANG Zhandong , 2, *
Expand
  • 1. School of Sports Science and Physical Education, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China
  • 2. School of Sports Leisure and Tourism, Beijing Sport University, Beijing 100084, China
*YANG Zhandong, E-mail:

FU Lei, E-mail:

Received date: 2021-10-15

  Accepted date: 2022-03-02

  Online published: 2022-06-07

Supported by

The National Social Science Foundation of China(17CTY014)

Fold

Abstract

Under the initiative of “encouraging 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports” and the guidance of the ‘Evidence-based’ policy-making process, this study takes the Hierarchical Model of Leisure Constraints as the theoretical framework to empirically explore the constraints influencing the participation of residents in Southern China in ice and snow sports. After factor analysis, the constraint dimension of residents’ participation was obtained, and the constraints of participants and non-participants were evaluated and compared by Propensity Score Matching (PSM). The results indicate that Chengdu residents have potential interest in and demand for winter sports, and the constraint dimensions are: facilities and services, companions, time, and personal feelings. The predisposition scores of the experimental group and the control group revealed that the constraints on interest, relevant knowledge and skills, and personal feelings of the participating group were significantly lower than those of the non-participating group, while the other constraints were not significant. We suggest that efforts should be made to increase the effective supply according to local conditions in order to reduce structural constraints, and the social attributes should be integrated into ice and snow sports to resolve the inter-personal constraints.

Key words： residents of Southern China; ice and snow sports; participation constraints; PSM

Cite this article

FU Lei , LIU Yue , YANG Zhandong . Influence of Ice and Snow Sports Participation Experience on Participation Constraints among Residents in Southern China: A Quantitative Analysis based on Propensity Score Matching[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2022 , 13(4) : 624 -634 . DOI: 10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2022.04.008

1 Introduction

The successful bid for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games brings great opportunities for China’s ice and snow sports, which have witnessed rapid development in recent years. More Chinese people getting involved in them, and they are being carried out in more regions of China. With the Winter Olympic Games approaching, the General Administration of Sport of China released the plan to promote and popularize winter sports among the general public (2016-2020) and the plan to develop winter sports (2016-2025). The Administration also implemented the strategy of “South exhibition, West Expansion and East advancement” for ice and snow sports. These measures are intended to make more people participate in winter sports voluntarily, conveniently and actively, echoing the goal proposed by the government “to motivate 300 million people to participate in winter sports”. In this way, a new prospect will be created, where winter sports develop vigorously among ordinary people (State Council of the PRC, 2016). For people in the north of China, winter sports have become an important part of their recreational fitness activities and their winter sports culture. In the south, however, with the lack of snow, people’s understanding of winter sports is still far from sufficient (Li and Li, 2015). Popularizing winter sports also hits a bottleneck in the south because of problems such as a shortage of winter sports venues, the high cost of winter sports and the scarcity of relevant talents (Xu et al., 2019). The deficiency of sports facilities and the lack of a sports cultural atmosphere further add to the difficulties faced by residents in the south in participating in winter sports. According to the Survey Report on National Ice and Snow Sports Participation (Renmin University of China, 2018), there are significant differences in the participation rates in different regions. For five traditional ice and snow sports provinces (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang), the participation rate reached 42%. For the 12 provinces of Northwest China and North China, the rate was 25.9%. For 14 southern provinces, the rate was only 18%. Nowadays, relevant media reports and publicity have increased southern residents’ awareness of winter sports, and winter sports have been gaining increasing attention in the south of China. Many southern provinces and cities already have certain conditions for winter sports. In regions like the southwest (Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan), there is still great potential for the development of winter sports. Despite of the progress and potential, however, as mentioned above, the promotion and popularization of ice and snow sports in southern China are still restricted by many factors. Therefore, it is still of crucial theoretical and practical significance to understand and reduce the relevant restrictions and encourage more southern residents to participate in winter sports.

2 Literature review

The popularization of ice and snow sports is an issue of great concern among scholars. The domestic literature on this topic has two main focuses: the commercial development path of the ice and snow industry and residents' sports participation behavior. Research on the former focuses on the ice and snow industry and the commercial development paths. The upgrade drives market demand. Based on demand orientation, Cheng and Liu (2016) analyzed the factors influencing the public ice and snow fitness supply in China, and proposed the governance path of the public ice and snow fitness supply side in China. Zhang (2016) divided China’s ice and snow industry into three types of locations: the golden, the advantageous and the disadvantageous; and proposed three development paths: “enterprise mode”, “mixed mode” and “community model” to optimize the structure of the ice and snow sports industry. Ice and snow tourism is an important way to realize the industrialization of ice and snow sports. Wang and Zhu (2017) suggested that large-scale ski tourism resorts are the main force in the development of the ski industry and the key way to upgrade the industry. They also analyzed the functional mechanism and role orientation of large-scale ski tourism in the ski industry, the investment subject and operation method under construction and the necessary natural and humanistic environment. Wu et al. (2019) analyzed the synergistic effect of the Beijing Winter Olympics in accelerating the development of ice and snow tourism in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. Regarding the ice and snow tourism resources in the southern region, Li and Li (2015) indicated that the ice and snow sports tourism resources in the central and southern regions of China also have value for development. The low popularity of ice and snow sports in the south is due to residents’ insufficient understanding. Only by making use of the cognitive mechanism, and renewing the cognition, can the resource value of southern ice and snow sports tourism truly play its role.
The existing literature on residents’ sports participation behavior mainly studies the behavior and influencing factors. Compared with the research on the development of the ice and snow industry, less research by Chinese scholars has focused on the participation behavior in ice and snow sports. Most domestic documents analyze the status quo, motives, and constraints of mass participation in ice and snow sports from a qualitative perspective. For example, Yuan (2013) investigated the current situation of mass ice sports in Shanghai and put forward suggestions for its development in view of existing problems and shortcomings. Wang and Zhou (2018) took the theory of consumer behavior as the basis and used path analysis to construct a model of motives that affect women’s ice and snow leisure sports tourism consumption. The research of Chen (2018a) and Chen (2018b) showed that climate and natural environment, government support, ice and snow sports facilities, mass base, the ice and snow cultural atmosphere, and professional talents are the main factors restricting the development of ice and snow sports in southern China. Wang et al. (2018) analyzed the individual, family, and social factors influencing Beijing residents’ participation in ice and snow sports, but they did not provide in-depth discussions on the motives and constraints of residents’ participation.
In European and American countries, skiing is a popular leisure activity in winter (Yi et al., 2017). Foreign research on ice and snow sports participation mostly starts from the micro perspective of residents and focuses on the theoretical interpretation and empirical research of residents’ participa-tion behavior. Most of the theories use the leisure restraint hierarchy model theory proposed by Crawford et al. (1991), who made a substantial contribution with their work on a hierarchical model of leisure participation. In this advanced model, higher constraint levels are encountered hierarchi-cally. After preferences are shaped, leisure activities are constrained first on the intrapersonal and interpersonal levels, and then (when earlier levels of constraint have been overcome) on the structural level (Fig. 1). On the basis of this theory, a large number of empirical studies have been conducted in different social backgrounds and in different groups of people regarding the participation in ice and snow sports, and the findings have been fruitful. Gilbert and Hudson (2000) proposed a skiing restraint hierarchical model based on the leisure restraint hierarchical model, and developed a measurement scale for the participation re-straint of ski sports. Similar to Gilbert’s research, Williams and Paul (2000) found that the participation constraints faced by potential Canadian ski participants are mainly a lack of awareness of ice and snow sports, and the constraints faced by non-participants are mainly personal internal con-straints. Priporas et al. (2015) used the Gilbert Ski Sports Participation Constraint Measurement Scale to segment the ice and snow tourism resort market from the perspective of ski sport participation constraints. In addition, Alexandris et al. (2011) studied the relationship among alpine skiers’ participation motivation, restriction, willingness to partici-pate and loyalty based on the leisure restriction hierarchy model theory.
Fig. 1 Hierarchical model of leisure constraints
Some studies suggest that differences between age groups can be explained by the growing number of constraining factors that seniors are facing (McGuire, 1983; Nimrod and Rotem, 2012). The broader body of literature investigates constraints from various angles. Several studies have concentrated on specific types of constraints such as intrapersonal (Zhang, 2016) and budgetary (Wang, 2014) constraints, or relationships between constraints and relevant aspects of tourism and leisure, e.g., skiing loyalty (Alexandris et al., 2017) or destination image (Khan et al., 2017). Others have examined how constraints affect certain types of tourism such as wine tourism (Cho et al., 2017) and nautical tourism (Jovanovic et al., 2013), or specific tourism markets, such as youth tourism (Gardiner et al., 2013) or Chinese travellers visiting the U.S. (Lai et al., 2013). Kazeminia et al. (2015) suggested that interpersonal constraints, such as the lack of a partner or death of a spouse, were found to be the most influential constraining factor. Structural constraints refer mostly to income and costs (Fleischer and Pizam, 2002; Nyaupane and Andereck, 2008), but also to other dimensions such as “low quality service”, “lack of information” or “fewer employer paid vacations” (Gao and Kerstetter, 2016).
In summary, the research theory on the participation of residents in ice and snow sports in China is weak, and there is a lack of quantitative research from the perspective of “mass participation behavior”. The development of ice and snow sports in China is in its infancy, with great regional differences. In recent years, against the background of hosting the Winter Olympic Games, China has issued a number of policies to support the promotion of ice and snow sports, which has attracted extensive attention from society. This article uses the leisure constraint hierarchy model theory as the basis to study the constraints of southern residents’ participation in ice and snow sports and the relationship between participation and experience on those constraints. The empirical research takes Chengdu, a representative southern city, as an example to provide effective countermeasures and suggestions for the promotion and popularization of ice and snow sports in southern China.

3 Theoretical framework and model design

3.1 Leisure restraint model design

The research on leisure constraints in Western countries began in the 1980s. Crawford and Godbey (1991) believed that leisure constraints consist of many factors that limit the formation of leisure preferences or hinder leisure participation, and classified leisure constraints into intrapersonal constraints, interpersonal constraints and structural constraints. Intrapersonal constraints refer to the feelings and attitudes related to the personal mental state when participating in a certain leisure activity, and a subjective evaluation of the suitability and availability of various leisure activities. Interpersonal constraints are the result of interpersonal communication. This kind of constraint represents the interaction of people’s preference and participation in peer leisure activities. For example, the establishment of a marriage relationship will lead to a common preference for certain leisure activities between partners. If a person cannot find a suitable partner to engage in specific activities, he or she may experience interpersonal leisure constraint. Structural constraints include family life cycle stage, family finances, resources, season, climate, work schedule, opportunity to participate, etc. Crawford et al. (1991) extended the theory of leisure constraints and proposed a hierarchical model of leisure constraints based on the classification of leisure constraints. As shown in Fig. 1, the impact of constraints on leisure activity participation is regarded as a sequential model, and the impact of constraint types on leisure activity participation is hierarchical. Firstly, individual internal constraints interact with certain leisure activities, and people form certain leisure preferences. Secondly, depending on the type of leisure preference, individuals may encounter constraints at the interpersonal level, which may occur with activities that require at least one partner or joint participation. Only when the above constraints are overcome, will the structural constraints appear. Through overcoming structural constraints and making the choice of whether to participate, if the structural constraints are strong enough, the result will be non-participation (Crawford and Godbey, 1987; Crawford et al., 1991). This model (see Fig. 1) is generally used by scholars as the theoretical basis for empirical research in the field of leisure activity participation constraints.
Gilbert et al. were early scholars who used the leisure restraint hierarchy model to conduct restraint research in ice and snow sports. Gilbert and Hudson (2000) proposed a ski restraint hierarchical model based on the leisure restraint hierarchical model, which is shown in Fig. 2. He also developed the measurement scale of skiing participation constraints. This model provided a theoretical basis for most scholars studying ice and snow sports participation. The measurement scale has also been referenced by many scholars (Gyan et al., 2004; Gordan et al., 2007; Daniel, 2010).
Fig. 2 A model of leisure constraints (for skiing)

3.2 Ideas and methods for evaluating the experience effect of participating in ice and snow sports

To study the impact of residents’ participation in ice and snow sports on participation restrictions, it is necessary to investigate the changes in residents’ restrictions before and after participation. In the questionnaire, this research investigates two types of residents: Those who have participated in ice and snow sports (the residents who at least participated one time, indoor or outdoor) and those who have not participated in ice and snow sports. Due to the existence of “selection bias”, we need to determine whether there is a significant difference between the constraints of the participants and the counterfactual results. Significant differences can show that the experience of participating in ice and snow sports has an impact on residents’ participation constraints.
However, in reality, there is only one status for each respondent: either having participated or not having participated. We cannot know the constraints of the participants before they participate, nor can we observe the constraints of the non-participants after participating. Hence, the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) is used to deal with this problem. Specifically, the participants are used as the experimental group, and the non-participants as the control group. Based on respondents of the experimental group and the control group with similar characteristics, the counterfactual status of the residents of the experimental group can be estimated, and the actual status and counterfactual status of the residents of the experimental group can be estimated. The difference is the Average Effect of Treatment on the Treated (ATT).
The ATT is obtained by setting the processing variable to Di={0,1}, which indicates whether the surveyed residents have participated in ice and snow sports. If the resident has participated, Di=1 and if not, Di=0. In addition, the restriction value of residents is Yi, that is, the restriction value of residents who have participated in ice and snow sports is Y1i, and the restriction value of residents who have not participated in ice and snow sports is Y0i. $\hat{Y}_{0i}$is the estimated value of Y0i, which means the residents have not participated in ice and snow sports in the sample. The influence of residents’ participation in ice and snow sports on restraint can be expressed as the influence of Y0i on Yi, as shown in formula (1):
ATT=E[Y1i-Y0i]=E[Y1i-Y0i|Di=1]=E[Y1i|Di=1]-E[Y0i|Di=1]
Rubin (1997) proposed the Propensity Score Matching (PSM), in which the core idea is to match the counterfactual results of the experimental group samples by calculating the propensity score. Suppose that the sample characteristic variable of a given surveyed resident is X (where X is a multidimensional vector, including the age, gender, education level, occupation, and channels of contact with ice and snow sports, etc.) of the resident. Then the participant’s tendency to participate is defined as P. Given the characteristic variable X, the conditional probability that the participant belongs to the experimental group is expressed as P(Xi)= P(Di = 1| X = Xi) and it also satisfies the ignorance assumption Y⊥P|X.
Logit regression is generally used to estimate the propensity score, and then the average treatment effect expression is calculated based on the matched sample as:
$A T T=E\left[Y_{1 i} \mid D_{i}=1\right]-E\left[Y_{0 i} \mid D_{i}=1\right]=\frac{1}{N} \sum_{i D_{i}=1}\left(Y_{1 i}-\hat{Y}_{0 i}\right)$
This approach is based on the idea of using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to study the influence of residents’ participation in ice and snow sports on restraint. The survey questionnaire used in this study includes basic characteristic information of the sample residents (participants and non-participants) and the channels for participating in ice and snow sports and understanding ice and snow sports. When processing the questionnaire, firstly, the constraints on residents’ participation in ice and snow sports are classified into six main components by the factor analysis method, and then the score tendency matching method is used to obtain the influencing relationship of participation experience on the various types of constraints.

4 Data description and variable setting

4.1 Questionnaire design

Ice and snow sports participation constraints are proposed based on the leisure constraint hierarchy theory. In designing the questionnaire, we mainly referred to the Crawford and Godbey leisure constraint hierarchy model theory and the results of Gilbert, Priporas, Alexandris, and Williams on the leisure constraint hierarchy model regarding their research on participating in restraint with ice and snow sports. Based on the existing ice and snow sports participation constraint measurement scale used in foreign countries and considering the research purpose of this paper, we designed a resident ice and snow sports participation perception constraint factor scale consisting of 22 measurement items. Each item states the restrictions or hindrances of residents’ participation in ice and snow sports. The items are each measured with a Likert five-level scale, using 1 to 5 points to compile scoring options based on 1—strongly disagree, 2—disagree, 3—fair, 4—agree, and 5—very agree. In addition, the questionnaire also includes information on the demographic characteristics (age, gender, education level, occupation, income, etc.) of the survey participants. In order to ensure the quality of measurement tools, this study selects the mature scale which is published in authoritative international journals and for which the validity has been verified, and all scales were translated into Chinese in strict accordance with the standard “translation back translation” procedure.

4.2 Questionnaire distribution and data collection

Before distributing the final version of the questionnaire, we conducted a preliminary survey in December 2018 and collected a total of 101 valid questionnaires. The purpose of the pre-survey was to carry out item analysis of the questionnaire to eliminate undiscriminating questions. Through the analysis of the average value, label difference, skewness, and kurtosis of the pre-survey questionnaire, four items were deleted from the original questionnaire and 18 items were retained for the final version. The formal survey was launched in January 2019. Questionnaire surveys were carried out in five cities, 11 districts, and five counties under the jurisdiction of Chengdu City through online and on-site distribution. The commercial center received a total of 1086 valid questionnaires, and the effective rate was 100%. Regarding the basic demographic characteristics of the survey sample, in terms of gender distribution, men and women account for 54.7% and 47.3%, respectively; so men and women are equally represented. In terms of age group distribution, 18-30 years old accounts for 46.3%, 31-40 years old accounts for 28.4%, and over 40 years old accounts for 25.4%; so the age distribution of the respondents is balanced. In terms of monthly income, those below 3000 yuan account for 24.9%, 3000-5000 yuan account for 18.9%, 5000-10000 yuan account for 32.8%, 10000-20000 yuan account for 17.4%, and 20000 yuan account for 6%. Employees of a company account for 20.4%, civil servants / institutions account for 24.4%, students account for 23.4%, and doctors, lawyers and university professors account for 15.90%. Other professionals are involved, and their occupations are widely distributed. From the perspective of educational background, 93% of the respondents hold a college/bachelor or more advanced degree and the overall level of education is high.

5 Factor analysis of the constraint dimensions for participating in ice and snow sports

5.1 Reliability and validity tests of the questionnaire

Before the factor analysis, 1086 valid questionnaires were analyzed for reliability and validity. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.850, indicating that the reliability of the questionnaire was high. The KMO test and Bartlett’s spherical test were then conducted on the samples. According to Kaiser’s point of view, the general criterion for a valid factor analysis is that the KMO value should be greater than 0.6 (Gordan et al., 1997). Since the KMO value in this questionnaire is 0.810, and the concomitant probability of Bartlett’s spherical test is P = 0.0001 < 0.05, further factor analysis is feasible.

5.2 Factor analysis of residents’ constraints on participating in ice and snow sports

In this paper, SPSS19.0 is used to perform an exploratory factor analysis on the results of the questionnaire, and the maximum variance rotation method is used to extract the common factors of residents’ participation in ice and snow sports to determine the factor structure of the constraint scale. Since the SPSS extraction default value is to retain the common factors whose characteristic root value is greater than or equal to 1, four common factors are extracted, and the cumulative explanatory rate is 61.56%. According to Wu (2018), the number of factors can be determined according to the factor steep slope inspection chart. The criterion for judging the steep slope chart test is to keep the factors showing a sudden sharp rise in the steep slope of the line and delete the factors in the flat steep slope line. According to the steep slope factor chart and characteristic root value, the characteristic values of the 5th and 6th common factors are 0.998 and 0.767, respectively, which are close to 1. In summary, this article explores the fixed extraction of six common factors, uses SPSS to perform principal component analysis on the 18 initial factors, and uses the maximum variance rotation method to extract a fixed number of six common factors. The results are shown in Table 1. The cumulative interpretation rate is 71.36%, and the components contained in the six common factors are reasonably divided. The items with factor load values greater than 0.5 are retained, which shows that the item has a high correlation with the common factor.
Table 1 The results of factor analysis on the constraints of residents’ participation in ice and snow sports in Chengdu
Measurement item Personal feelings and attitudes Lack of relevant knowledge and skills Lack of interest Facilities and services Lack of time No companion
Fear of potential danger in ice-snow sports 0.828
Anxiety of the possibility of athletic injuries 0.824
Fear of object conditions like cable cars and the snow slope 0.801
Fear of the cold and the moisture 0.777
Lack of self-confidence to learn 0.655
Little enthusiasm stimulated from past participation experiences 0.613
Poor mastery of the necessary skills for ice-snow sports 0.877
Absence of professional guidance 0.740
Poor knowledge of where to participate 0.672
Worries about the disruption of daily schedules 0.863
Complete lack of interest 0.789
Remote and inaccessible locations of the venues 0.817
Poor management of the facilities and bad service 0.807
Clothing and equipment too expensive 0.625
Insufficient leisure time and holiday time 0.898
Preoccupation with study, work and domestic duties 0.725
Difficulty in finding companions 0.829
Friends or family members showing no interest 0.747
Percent of variance 21.73 12.19 10.51 10.43 9.18 7.32
Cumulative percent of variance 21.73 33.93 44.44 54.87 64.04 71.36
According to the contents and characteristics of each measurement item contained in each common factor, the constraint factors represented by the six common factors are then defined and classified. The first common factor is personal feelings and attitudes since the six measurement items contained are all related to the personal psychological feelings and attitudes of residents participating in ice and snow sports. The second common factor is lack of knowledge or skills because all three measurement items contained are related to acquiring the knowledge and mastering the skills of ice and snow sports. The third common factor is lack of interest since the two measurement items are related to residents’ interest in ice and snow sports. The fourth common factor is facilities and services because the three measurement items are related to the venue facilities and management services for ice and snow sports. The fifth common factor is lack of time since the two sub-items are both concerned with the leisure time of residents participating in ice and snow sports. The sixth factor is no companion since the two measurement items are related to friends or family members participating in ice and snow sports. According to the leisure constraint hierarchy theory, the first, second, and third common factors belong to personal internal constraints, the sixth common factor belongs to interpersonal constraints, and the fourth and fifth common factors belong to structural constraints. Next, SPSS is used to test the reliability of the constraint dimensions represented by the extracted common factors. Except for the lack of partners, the Cronbach coefficient of the common factor is 0.51, while the Cronbach coefficients of the other common factors are all greater than 0.7. This result proves that the latitudinal division of each factor in the table has high reliability. The definition and classification of each constraint dimension and the Cronbach test results are shown in Table 2.
Table2 Three groups of constraints and descriptive statistics
Variable Intrapersonal constrains Interpersonal
constrains		 Structural constraints Total
Personal feelings and attitudes Lack of relevant knowledge and skills Lack of Interest No companion Facilities and Services Lack of Time
Mean 2.83 3.76 2.35 3.13 3.38 3.11 3.09
SD 1.16 1.12 0.99 1.12 1.02 1.08 1.17
Reliability (α) 0.88 0.76 0.79 0.51 0.70 0.75 0.85
Number of items 6 3 2 2 3 2 18
The average value is used to describe the basic situation of the six constraint dimensions on the participation of Chengdu residents in ice and snow sports, and the average value of each constraint dimension is calculated. The results are shown in Table 2. Since 2.5 is the median of the 5-point Likert scale used, an average value over 2.5 represents an important constraint dimension (Gilbert and Hudson, 2000). In general, the lack of knowledge and skills dimensions (Mean value 3.76) has the highest average score, facilities and service dimensions (3.38) score the second, followed by no companion dimensions (3.13), lack of time dimensions (3.11), personal feelings and attitudes dimensions (2.83), and finally the lack of interest dimensions, with the lowest average score (2.35, notably the only one less than 2.5).

6 The influence of participation behavior on restraint-propensity score matching

Before the application of the PSM method, the premise needs to meet both the common support hypothesis and the parallelism hypothesis. The common support hypothesis can ensure that the individual comprehensive characteristics of the control group are similar to the individual characteristics of the experimental group, while the parallelism hypothesis can ensure that the characteristics of the control group for each indicator are the same as those of the experimental group. Whether these two assumptions can be satisfied directly affects the quality of the matching.
In processing the variables, this paper selects the significant items in logit regression as the matched control variables, including age, education, income, occupation, degree of attention to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, channels for understanding ice and snow sports and level of understanding of ice and snow sports.
In order to determine the sample size to include in the model, we first matched the samples of the experimental group and the control group to obtain a bar graph of the common support domain of propensity scores, as shown in Fig. 3. Most observed values are within the common value range, and only a small number of samples are lost after matching. According to the results of the balance test (Table 3), after matching the control variables, the absolute value of the standardized deviation of the variables is less than 10%. The t-test results show that there is no systematic deviation in the control variables of the experimental group or the control group, so it is impossible to judge whether residents have the potential motivation to participate in ice and snow sports through the control variables. In addition, from the overall goodness of fit statistics of the model (Table 4), the value after matching is significantly reduced, while the LR statistics are no longer significant, indicating that the matching results can balance the distribution of control variables of the two groups of samples quite well. Therefore, the matched samples meet the parallel hypothesis and the balance test is verified.
Fig. 3 Common value range of propensity scores

Note: The vertical axis represents the sample size included in the model, and the horizontal axis shows the propensity score obtained by logit regression (values range from 0 to 1).

Table 3 Balance test of control variables before and after matching
Variable Unmatched (U)
or Matched (M)		 Mean Standard Deviation Change of Standard Deviation T-Statistics
Treatment group (N=413) Control group (N=673)
Age U 27.40 28.40 -15.0 45.8 -1.05
M 27.18 27.92 -8.1 -0.52
Education U 3.247 3.269 -3.5 -116.6 -0.24
M 3.244 3.291 -7.6 -0.48
Annual income U 2.667 2.571 7.9 63.8 0.55
M 2.658 2.688 -2.9 -0.17
Occupation U 0.062 0.118 -19.6 94.8 -1.32
M 0.064 0.061 1.0 0.07
Level of attention to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games U 0.247 0.504 -13.5 76.1 -0.91
M 0.256 0.195 3.2 0.26
Channels of understanding ice and snow sports U 0.124 0.252 -9.4 80.6 -0.64
M 0.128 0.153 -1.8 -0.13
Level of understanding of ice and snow sports U 3.074 2.521 78.8 91.8 5.42
M 3.026 3.071 -6.5 -0.45
Table 4 Goodness of fit statistics of the models before and after matching
Sample Category Pseudo R2 LR chi2 P>chi2
Unmatched 0.149 40.32 0.000
Matched 0.010 2.14 0.999

Note: Pseudo R2 is used to assess the goodness of fit of the model; LR chi2 is the Chi-square statistic, which is an index to evaluate the fitting degree of the model; P>chi2 represents the probability of being greater than the critical value of chi square distribution.

Based on formula (2), using Stata 15.0, the treatment group result variables are differentially processed, and the propensity scores of the control variables are used to meet the common support hypothesis and the parallel hypothesis of the two sets of samples. The kernel function is used to match, and the average treatment Effect (ATT) is finally calculated, thereby estimating the influence of the experience of participating in ice and snow sports on the restraint in the participation of southern residents (see Table 5).
Table 5 Estimation results of average treatment effect in the treatment group and the control group
Variable Sample category Treatment group Control group Difference S.D. T-Statistics
Personal feelings and attitudes constraint Unmatched 0.5584 0.5668 -0.0840** 0.0258 -2.13
Matched 0.5282 0.5574 -0.0293*** 0.0299 3.98
Knowledge and skill constraint Unmatched 0.4945 0.5656 -0.7104*** 0.0246 -10.89
Matched 0.4958 0.5569 -0.6109*** 0.0281 -8.17
Interest constraint Unmatched 0.2938 0.3485 -0.0547*** 0.0203 -3.69
Matched 0.3004 0.3362 -0.0358*** 0.0233 -3.53
Companion constraint Unmatched 0.5684 0.5442 0.0242 0.0250 0.97
Matched 0.5652 0.5301 0.0351 0.0291 1.21
Facilities and services constraint Unmatched 0.4331 0.4691 -0.0360 0.0287 -1.26
Matched 0.4280 0.4471 -0.0191 0.3383 -0.56
Time constraint Unmatched 0.6447 0.6484 -0.0037 0.0274 -0.14
Matched 0.6370 0.6782 -0.0412 0.0311 -1.33

Note: **, *** are significant at the level of 5% and 1%, respectively.

Table 5 shows the average treatment effects (ATT value) for measuring the differences in restraint between residents who have participated and those who have not participated in ice and snow sports. The significance of the results is also tested. The estimation results show that the three dimensions of personal feelings and attitude constraint, knowledge and skill constraint, and interest constraint in the treatment group are lower than those in the control group to varying degrees (significance level is less than 0.01), while the differences in the remaining three constraint dimensions are not significant. These results show that after participating in ice and snow sports, the individual’s perception of ice and snow sports is enhanced, interest is aroused, and knowledge and skills are developed. In the south, since snowy days are rare, ice and snow sports are still unfamiliar to the residents there. Before in-person experience, they feel that there are high technical barriers, and this affects their interest in participation and attitudes to a certain extent. In fact, ice and snow sports are popular in Europe, America, and northern China, and the barrier for entry is not as high as expected. Therefore, the personal experience of participation will significantly affect the participants’ understanding of ice and snow sports. Especially for residents with poor knowledge of winter sports, in-person experience can play a positive role in building their understanding of ice and snow sports. According to the categories of leisure constraint levels, the experience of participating in ice and snow sports can reduce the person’s internal constraints, but not the interpersonal constraints or the structural constraints.

7 Conclusions and suggestions

7.1 Practical implications

Despite of the precious opportunity of hosting the Winter Olympics, simply relying on the development of the ice and snow industry in northern provinces and cities is not enough to popularize ice and snow sports in all of China, or to achieve the goal of “300 million people engaging in ice and snow sports”. To accelerate the development of ice and snow industry in southern China and motivate more southern residents to participate in ice and snow sports, this article proposes four main practical implications based on the findings of this research.
(1) Managers in the ice and snow sports industry should promote their projects online and offline, spreading the knowledge of ice and snow sports culture, cultivating a good ice and snow cultural atmosphere, and creating opportunities for more southern residents to experience ice and snow sports. For example, working with the influencers to share their ski experiences, through Tik-tok, Bilibili and other platforms, as well as advertising on WeChat, QQ, Weibo and other social platforms. Regions with abundant ice and snow resources can organize a series of ice and snow cultural activities based on regional characteristics and develop ice and snow tourism and cultural products offline, so that residents can feel the charm of ice and snow sports, become more interested in ice and snow sports and actively participate in ice and snow sports. By improving and upgrading the services of ice and snow sports venues, first-time experiencers will have unforgettable memories and can be transformed into enthusiasts of winter sports.
(2) With the full use of social capital, we should properly plan and build ice and snow sports venues and facilities according to local conditions, increase supply, and improve the objective conditions to reduce structural constraints. Modern ice and snow venues can be built upon the basis of urban commercial complexes or tourist attractions. It is also possible to replan the dilapidated urban spaces to build venues and upgrade venue management and service levels. In addition, in Sichuan, there are certain ice and snow natural resources around Chengdu. However, most of them are far from the city and have low accessibility. In areas with acceptable traffic conditions, characteristic ski resorts and ice and snow towns can be developed. Infrastructure components, like accommodation and supporting facilities, also need optimization. These measures would aim to solve the structural constraints of insufficient facilities and poor accessibility of the ice and snow sports venues.
(3) In response to the interpersonal constraint of no companions, one recommendation is to integrate social interactive attributes into ice and snow sports, create a three- dimensional, all-round communication experience platform, and provide support and related services, such as information, activities and professional knowledge, for potential groups who may be interested in participating in ice and snow sports. Ice and snow sports have strong social attributes similar to the running sports that Chinese people are very keen on in recent years. Enhancing the interactions and communication among participants can bring a higher sense of experience and increase the loyalty of participants.
(4) Step up the training of talent, including those who can provide professional guidance in winter sports and those who are good at operation and management. Since beginners should have certain athletic skills and they may get hurt when they first join in these sports, they need guidance and training from professionals. Winter sports related majors can be developed in colleges and universities to solve the problem of the shortage of ice and snow sports professionals.

7.2 Conclusions

With the promotion of the “exhibition in the south, expansion in the west and advancement in the east” strategy of China’s ice and snow sports, the enthusiasm of Southern residents for ice and snow sports is growing, and the infrastructure of ice and snow sports is gradually improving. However, due to the scarcity of natural resources and weak cultural foundations, the participation of Southern residents in ice and snow sports is still restricted by many conditions. Based on the leisure constraint hierarchy theory, this paper divides the participation constraints of ice and snow sports into three types: personal internal constraints, interpersonal constraints, and structural constraints. A questionnaire was designed to investigate the constraints of Chengdu residents for participating in ice and snow sports, and the main influences are analyzed here through factor analysis. The factors influencing residents’ participation in ice and snow sports are divided into six dimensions. Residents who have participated in ice and snow sports and those who have not participated in ice and snow sports are divided into the experimental and control groups, respectively. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) is used to estimate the constraints of participation experience on residents’ participation. Three main conclusions were obtained.
(1) The constraints of Chengdu residents for participating in ice and snow sports are mainly divided into six dimensions, namely personal feelings and attitudes, lack of knowledge and skills, lack of interest, facilities and services, time, no companion, and lack of interest. Among these six, the lack of interest dimension has the lowest average score (Mean=2.35, which is notably less than 2.5). This indicates that Chengdu residents have potential interest and demand for participation in ice and snow sports, but their participation in ice and snow sports is still restricted or hindered by the remaining five constraints.
(2) In terms of the relative importance of constraint dimensions, lack of knowledge and skills (Mean=3.76) and facilities and services (Mean=3.38) are the two more obvious constraint dimensions. They are associated with the imbalanced distribution of China’s ice and snow resources in the north and south. Most of the snow and ice resources in Sichuan are in mountainous areas far away from the urban areas, with a lack of transportation and low accessibility. Besides ice and snow resources, the talents in winter sports are also mainly in the north instead of the south. Ice and snow sports require relatively professional training and guidance. Therefore, poor knowledge and inadequate skills also make up an important constraint. Correspondingly, the shortage of facilities and venues and poor services are also important factors restricting Chengdu residents from participating in ice and snow sports.
(3) The experience of participating in ice and snow sports can significantly reduce personal internal constraints, but it has no significant impact on either interpersonal or structural constraints. After sample matching, significant differences are found between the treatment group and the control group. Respondents with previous participation experience have significantly lower scores than those without relevant experiences in the three constraints of feelings and attitudes, lack of knowledge and skills, and lack of interest. This conclusion shows that the experience of ice and snow sports is essential for reducing personal internal constraints. Many southern residents have not been exposed to ice and snow sports directly. Before firsthand experience, due to the lack of knowledge of ice and snow sports, they are likely to feel that ice and snow sports are difficult and dangerous. After the experience, they no longer find ice and snow sports to be so difficult and begin to show interest in further participation. This conclusion also verifies the view proposed by Li and Li (2015) that sports experience and cognition renewal can make the most use of ice and snow sports tourism resources.

References

Publishing order | Descend order by publishing year | Descend order by cited within
[1]
Alexandris K, Du J, Funk D, et al. 2017. Leisure constraints and the psychological continuum model: A study among recreational mountain skiers. Leisure Studies, 36(5): 670-683.

DOI

[2]
Alexandris K, Funk D, Pritchard M. 2011. The impact of constraints on motivation, activity attachment, and skier intentions to continue. Journal of Leisure Research, 43(1): 56-79.

DOI

[3]
Chen T. 2018a. Exploring the possibility of developing ice and snow sports in the southern region from the research status of the Winter Olympics in China. Contemporary Tourism (Golf Tour), (9): 36-37. (in Chinese)

[4]
Chen Y. 2018b. Research on the restrictive factors and countermeasures of the development of mass ice and snow sports in southern China. Contemporary Tour (Golf Travel), (6): 188-189. (in Chinese)

[5]
Cheng W G, Liu X. 2016. Demand-oriented research on the supply-side governance path of my country’s mass ice and snow fitness. Sports Science, 36(4): 11-19. (in Chinese)

[6]
Cho M, Bonn M A, Brymer R A. 2017. A constraint-based approach to wine tourism market segmentation. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 41(4): 415-444.

[7]
Crawford D W, Godbey G. 1987. Reconceptualizing barriers to family leisure. Leisure Sciences, 9(2): 119-127.

DOI

[8]
Crawford D W, Jackson E L, Godbey G. 1991. A hierarchical model of leisure constraints. Leisure Sciences, 13(4): 309-320.

DOI

[9]
Daniel A G. 2010. Virtual reality: Applications and implications for tourism. Tourism Management, 31(5): 637-651.

DOI

[10]
Duane W C, Godbey G. 1987. Reconceptualizing barriers to family leisure. Leisure Sciences, 9(2): 119-127.

DOI

[11]
Fleischer A, Pizam A. 2002. Tourism constraints among Israeli seniors. Annals of Tourism Research, 29(1): 106-123.

DOI

[12]
Gao J, Kerstetter D L. 2016. Using an intersectionality perspective to uncover older Chinese female’s perceived travel constraints and negotiation strategies. Tourism Management, 57(12): 128-138.

DOI

[13]
Gardiner S, King B, Wilkins H. 2013. The travel behaviours of international students. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 19(4): 287-299.

DOI

[14]
Gilbert D, Hudson S. 2000. Tourism demand constraints: A skiing participation. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(4): 906-925.

DOI

[15]
Gordon J W, Edgar L J, Deng J Y. 2007. Culture and leisure constraints: A comparison of Canadian and Mainland Chinese university students. Journal of Leisure Research, 39(4): 567-590.

DOI

[16]
Gyan P N, Duarte B M, Alan R G. 2004. Nature tourism constraints: A cross-activity comparison. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(3): 540-555.

DOI

[17]
Jovanovic T, Dragin A, Armenski T, et al. 2013. What demotivates the tourist? Constraining factors of nautical tourism. Journal of Travel &Tourism Marketing, 30(8): 858-872.

[18]
Kazeminia A, Del Chiappa G, Jafari J. 2015. Seniors’ travel constraints and their coping strategies. Journal of Travel Research, 54(1): 80-93.

DOI

[19]
Khan M J, Chelliah S, Ahmed S. 2017. Factors influencing destination image and visit intention among young women travellers: Role of travel motivation, perceived risks, and travel constraints. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 22(11): 1139-1155.

DOI

[20]
Konstantinos A, Charilaos K, George G. 2007. Investigating the relationships among motivation, negotiation, and alpine skiing participation. Journal of Leisure Research, 39(4): 648-667.

DOI

[21]
Lai C T, Li X R, Harrill R. 2013. Chinese outbound tourists’ perceived constraints to visiting the United States. Tourism Management, 37: 136-146.

DOI

[22]
Li G, Li Y L. 2015. Research on the realization of the value of ice and snow sports tourism resources in central and south China. China Sports Science and Technology, 51(4): 117-124. (in Chinese)

[23]
McGuire F A. 1983. Constraints on leisure involvement in the later years. Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 3(2): 17-24.

[24]
Nimrod G, Rotem A. 2012. An exploration of the innovation theory of successful ageing among older tourists. Ageing and Society, 32(3): 379-404.

DOI

[25]
Nyaupane G P, Andereck K L. 2008. Understanding travel constraints: Application and extension of a leisure constraints model. Journal of Travel Research, 46(4): 433-439.

DOI

[26]
Priporas C V, Vassiliadis C A, Bellou V, et al. 2015. Exploring the constraint profile of winter sports resort tourist segments. Journal of Travel Research, 54(5): 659-671.

DOI

[27]
Renmin University of China. 2018. Survey report on public participation in ice and snow sports. http://www.sohu.com/a/276834590_565998. in Chinese)

[28]
Rubin D B. 1997. Estimating causal effects from large data sets using propensity score. Annals of Internal Medicine, 127(8): 757-763.

DOI

[29]
State Council of the PRC. 2016. Ice and Snow Sports Development Plan (2016-2025). Beijing, China: State Council of the PRC. Popular Winter Sports Promotion Plan (2016-2020). (in Chinese)

[30]
Wang F, Zhu Z Q. 2017. Research on the construction of large-scale ski tourism resorts to promote the development of the ski industry. Sports Science, 37(4): 11-19. (in Chinese)

[31]
Wang H L, Zhou W J. 2018. Female population’s motives for consumption of ice and snow sports. Journal of Sports Adult Education, 34(3): 17-22. (in Chinese)

[32]
Wang Y S. 2014. Effects of budgetary constraints on international tourism expenditures. Tourism Management, 41(2): 9-18.

DOI

[33]
Wang Z R, Li S W, Xu Y B. 2018. Influencing factors and organizational mechanism of ice and snow sports participation: based on a sample survey of Beijing residents. Journal of Shenyang Institute of Physical Education, 37(1): 1-6. (in Chinese)

[34]
Wei M Q. 2018. Research on the restrictive factors and countermeasures of the development of ice and snow sports in southern China. Contemporary Tourism (Golf Tour), (6): 42-43. (in Chinese)

[35]
Williams P, Paul R F. 2000. Addressing participation constraint: A case study of potential skiers. Tourism Management, 21(4): 379-393.

DOI

[36]
Wu L M, Ren B G, He L X, et al. 2019. Beijing Winter Olympics to promote the development effect of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei ice and snow tourism and coordinated promotion strategy. Journal of Beijing Sport University, 42 (1): 50-59. (in Chinese)

[37]
Wu M L. 2018. Questionnaire statistical analysis practice-SPSS operation and application, Chongqing, China: Chongqing University Press. (in Chinese)

[38]
Xu S F, Li B, Xiao J B. 2019. Bottlenecks and countermeasures for the popularization of ice and snow sports in southern China. Journal of Hebei Institute of Physical Education, 33(2): 14-19. (in Chinese)

[39]
Yi N, Tao Y C, Qiu Z Y. 2017. The social motivation of early European skiing development and its enlightenment to China. Journal of Beijing Sport University, 40(9): 9-15. (in Chinese)

[40]
Yuan L. 2013. Research and analysis on the current situation of north ice south exhibition in Shanghai. Diss., Shanghai, China: Shanghai Institute of physical education.

[41]
Zhang H L, Yang Y, Zheng C H, et al. 2016. Too dark to revisit? The role of past experiences and intrapersonal constraints. Tourism Management, 54: 452-464.

DOI

[42]
Zhang R L. 2016. China’s ice and snow sports industry business model construction and industrial structure optimization. Sports Science, 36(5): 18-23. (in Chinese)

Options
Outlines

/

〈 〉