Practitioners of Risky Sports : A Quantitative Examination Aviv Shoham

cation, and extraordinary experiences—into an empirically testable This first skydiving experience described by an Israeli model. The model is tested on the basis of responses from 72 individuals, journalist is similar to that discussed by Celsi, Rose, who have been active in sports such as deep-sea diving, parachuting, and and Leigh (1993). Similar sensations of fear transrock or mountain climbing. Substantial empirical support is found for the formed into happiness have been described for river rafters integrated, dramaand extraordinary-based frames of reference. The (Arnould and Price, 1993; Arnould, Price, and Tierney, 1998a, findings are used to generate managerial implications, a topic mostly 1998b; Price, Arnould, and Tierney, 1995) and Canadian neglected in previous research. J BUSN RES 2000. 47.237–251.  1999 hang gliders (Brannigan and McDougall, 1983). Many leisure Elsevier Science Inc. activities involve some level of physical risk. Risky sports differ from other sports in that consumers knowingly face the risk The plane climbs slowly, until it reaches 11,000 feet. The of a serious injury and even death when judgment or equipdoor opens, and a wave of fear strikes me. A strong, very ment fail (Lyng, 1990). Annual deaths range between one of cold gust rushes inside and makes me jam into a corner. 250 ultra-light airplane pilots to one of 100,000 scuba divers, I try to remember the instructions . Another second, the latter still twice the rate for football players (Celsi, Rose, and Mordi [the instructor] jumps. We are falling. The wind and Leigh, 1993). hits us and overpowers my facial muscles. I think that one Risky sports are increasingly practiced in developed nacheek engulfs an ear. A sharp pain shoots through my tions. This increase is due to the juxtaposition of a dramatic lower stomach. The amazing speed of the fall accumulates. world view, perpetuated by the mass media, with the specialSomething very bad is happening. Mordi is late or has lost ized and bureaucratic social forms of the twentieth century. control . Just then, not more than five seconds since we Thus, risky sports may provide a release from the tensions of left the plane, Mordi opens the tiny balancing canopy. The the modern era. The popularity of risky sports has created market opportunities for emergent industries, such as clubs, Aviv Shoham is a lecturer of marketing at the Faculty of Industrial Engiequipment stores, and magazines. The interest of marketing neering and Management, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Techscholars in the study of risky sports parallels the popularizanion City, Haifa, Israel. Gregory M. Rose is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi. Lynn R. Kahle is the tion of these sports. Prior research has described the experiJames H. Warsaw Professor of Marketing at the University of Oregon, Euence of rafting, hang gliding, and skydiving (Arnould and gene, Oregon. Address correspondence to Dr. Aviv Shoham, Technion–Israel Institute Price, 1993; Brannigan and McDougall, 1983; Celsi, Rose, of Technology, Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, 32000 Technion City, Haifa, Israel. and Leigh, 1993; Celsi, 1992) and has provided thick descrip-