Overview

This research was commissioned by the RNLI in partnership with the British Diving Safety Group (BDSG). The study aimed to help commissioners better understand approaches to safety and attitudes to risk amongst UK leisure divers.

The Challenge

In commissioning Substance to undertake the research, the RNLI and BDSG’s key objectives were to:

profile participants according to their motivation for participation, patterns of diving and attitude to risk and safety;

produce a clear and accessible segmentation of the UK diving audience, which can be used by the BDSG to effectively communicate safety messages to high-risk groups;

• create a segmentation of the leisure diving audience in the UK and identify those leisure divers which might benefit most from further training, safety advice or messages;
• provide evidence on each of the segments in terms of their motivations, attitudes, and demographic profile (age, gender, socio-economic status);
• identify methods of effectively communicating safety messages to divers, in ways which promote safe behaviour;
• and test emerging findings with the diving community.

How we helped

We used a mix-methodology approach when tackling the key research questions which included:

• Review of literature and existing research;
• Qualitative stakeholder interviews;
• Quantitative survey (web or face-to face) with divers and instructors;
• Semi-structured interviews and short interview with divers and instructors;

Focus groups;

And consultation with industry stakeholders and practitioners.

To find out more and download a copy of the report, click on this link: Download Report