After tonight's (April 5) NCAA Basketball Men's Final game, the
jones among college hoop fans will have to wait till next year to
be sated. So how do college fans rebound from the withdrawal? They
go to the symphony. According to the annual Styles survey,
conducted by Porter Novelli International, basketball fans are
significantly more likely than non- fans to attend the symphony
(33% vs. 26%). They're also more likely to be a member of a church
board (13% vs. 7%), a community board (7% vs. 3%) or a
parent/teacher association (14% vs. 11%).
Deanne Weber, research director at Porter Novelli, says there is
much more to college basketball fans than might be believed from
the fairly narrow way that many advertisers and marketers approach
the game. "Companies that traditionally have not seen March Madness
as a viable marketing event may be missing a great opportunity to
reach their target audience," she says. The Styles survey, which
focuses on a particular audience by gauging their attitudes,
behaviors and beliefs, also found that college basketball fans
include hard-core female fans -- more than 36%. These women are
also more likely than male fans to follow women's college
basketball (19% vs. 12%) and are less likely to say that they
follow other sports, such as college football (53% vs. 76% of male
fans) or the NBA (47% vs. 62% of male college basketball fans).