Identifying Potential Anglers and Customer Segments of Texas Catfish Anglers to Guide Management Actions

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, we demonstrate how one can combine angler survey data with Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Tapestry data to assist in developing a statewide plan for catfish recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) and management. In 2010, Mississippi State University surveyed 1,078 Texas freshwater catfish anglers to examine their catch‐related attitudes and trip preferences by using a stated choice experiment. The study showed that the responding freshwater catfish anglers could be grouped into five clusters based on their catch‐related attitudes. We used ESRI’s Business Analyst extension to define the primary customer segments (also called “Tapestries”) within these five catch‐related clusters. We used principal components analysis followed by a similarity profile analysis to help us identify differences among the customer segments for the five catch‐related clusters. We found that the Rooted Rural Tapestry, located outside urban areas, was significantly more likely to be associated with catfish anglers whose answers suggested that they had higher trophy motivation compared to the other angler clusters. We also found that anglers in the urban areas were more likely to have a variety of motivations. The Southwestern Families Tapestry was identified as an underserved group exhibiting high growth potential and should be considered for targeted R3 efforts using insight gathered from that tapestry on its preferred media channels. We plotted areas with high populations and proportions of individual tapestries that were the greatest in discriminating among the catch‐related angler clusters. Our ESRI predictive maps for 2024 showed areas throughout Texas where managers could focus different R3 advertising and catfish management strategies based on the underlying customer segments.