Ans: According to new the United States Golf Association (USGA), Golf equipment manufacturers are forced to launch the equipment within the limitation. Therefore, the product differentiation is not quite high while recreational golfers do not enjoy playing due to lack of innovational equipment. Also, the USGA states that there are various factors that result in the declining of golfers such as:
- Game difficulty: Golf equipment manufacturers are forced to follow the new USGA rules, thus, recreational golfers are suffered from the limitation of golf equipments. They cannot enjoy playing golf as much as before while new golfers face the difficulty of playing. - Time consuming for practice: According to the limited innovation of golf equipment, golfers need lots of time to practice while they also have take responsibility to their job and spend time with their families. - High golf fee: Some golfers realize that golf fee is high, as a result, they cannot practice frequently. 2. Discuss the importance of innovation, brand, performance, and price in the golf equipment industry.
Ans: Good reputation and image can lead to brand loyalty. That’s why many brands use lots of advertising expenditure to promote their brands. As the leading sports brand in the world, Nike has a clear marketing advantage over its competitors. Nike spends some of their annual revenues on advertising to build strong brands by using celebrity endorsements aim to grow the market share in the golf segment.
Golf product brand equity depends on the performance of its endorsed players. The performances of the professional golfers sponsored by each brand strongly relates to sales.
Innovation in the golf industry is an important part of equipment adoption. Because of the fleeting life span of golf clubs, adoption of new drivers and putters is critical to any golf equipment