Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
Established in 1959, British Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling in Great Britain. It oversees various cycling disciplines, including road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, BMX, and cyclocross. British Cycling plays a crucial role in developing and promoting cycling at all levels, from grassroots participation to elite competition, and has even supported riders representing Great Britain on the international stage. Currently, British Cycling has around 137,000 members. Research was desired to explore potential reasons for some members leaving in greater detail so as to guard against lapsing memberships moving forward.
Former members of British Cycling were invited to complete a recruitment questionnaire. The recruitment questionnaire asked about attitudes towards British Cycling, reasons for cancelling their membership / letting this lapse, and some demographic questions. Participants were selected for the focus groups based on membership type and availability. Groups were held during the evening to maximise attendance and lasted 75 minutes each. Participants were paid £60 as a thank you for their time.
A total of 7 groups were held: 2x Former Gold / Silver Members, 2x Former Ride Members, 1x Former Bronze / Fan Members, 1x Group for former members who didn’t realise their membership was going to end but they wanted to remain a member, 1x Group for former members who cancelled their memberships immediately (i.e. didn’t let it lapse). All groups were held online and recorded. Each session was then transcribed to enable thematic analysis.
Factors identified were commercially sensitive but largely found to be pull rather than push factors, and approximately two-thirds of members suggested they could be encouraged to return with minor amendments.
