Situational and subjective determinants of satisfaction in marine recreational fishing

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Abstract
This paper examines the influence of tangible trip outcomes and subjective evaluations on overall trip satisfaction in marine recreational fishing. The paper proposes a model of fishing satisfaction that integrates subjective and situational factors as well as consumptive and nonconsumptive elements of the experience. A replicated analysis of separate samples of Delaware and Maryland fishermen was used. Findings demonstrate that a significant portion of the variance in satisfaction could be explained by a set of identifiable components of the total experience. Overall satisfaction was influenced most strongly and most directly by subjective evaluations of specific aspects of the experience. Situational outcomes influenced overall satisfaction in a more indirect manner as they were filtered through various subjective evaluations. The proposed fishing model suggests that consumptive outcomes are more important than they appear from the typically weak correlations found between satisfaction and objective harvest measures.