The Substitutability Concept: A Need for Further Development

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Abstract
It has been hypothesized that activities within recreation “activity types” may be “substituted” for each other with little loss in satisfaction. The degree of validity of this assertion was examined. Studied also were the characteristics of recreationists who could “substitute” recreation activities within “activity types” with similar satisfaction as opposed to recreationists who could not “substitute” activities with similar satisfaction. The range was 45 percent to 67 percent of recreationists who could “substitute” recreation activities for each other with similar satisfaction across the four “activity types” examined. The characteristics of recreationists who could “substitute” recreation activities with similar satisfaction, compared to “non-substituting” recreationists, could not be generalized across “activity types.” Theoretically, the findings suggested the formulation of a “substitution” model more complex than has been implied to date. Practically, the results indicated that the implementation of planning and management policies suggested by “substitutability” research inadvertently may reduce recreation satisfaction for many individuals.