The good old pyramid of Maslow helps us understand it better. We need “Love/belonging” first, before we need “achievement”. Probably this also counts for golf. People first need the social context before they feel a need for achievement or a good round of golf. Which can be translated as: social aspects form the base in engaging golfers to the game. But also in the “esteem” part there are a lot of social aspects that golf can bring.
Love/belonging: tribe, be member of golf community, feel at home in that community. Esteem: self-esteem/respect of others and by others: when you have a group of good friends people want to feel confident in the group. Getting respect by the others is important. achievement: you are part of that successful group, but also your achievement in golf gives a good feeling.
E.g. If you played a good round of golf you want to share the achievement you’re proud of. You want to share this with your friends and family, the ones you have a good relationship with. Without these people having this achievement is a lot less fun.
In the most basic sense, Maslow’s hierarchy identifies five primary areas of needs experienced by most humans. Beginning with physiological, or basic life survival, needs, the model progresses in subsequent steps through safety and security, love and belongingness, self-esteem and finally self-actualization. Maslow postulated that as man meets the needs at the first level, he moves toward the next, then the next and so on. More recent studies have added levels to the needs hierarchy and refined the categories, but marketing classes throughout the country continue to use Maslow’s needs hierarchy as a reasonable focus for modern marketing efforts.
A prospective customer driven by Maslow’s second needs level, safety and security, might be enticed to buy a new car if you convince him that it is safe for his family, reliable and well-rated in consumer studies. Someone driven by the need for self-esteem, in needs level four, is looking for recognition and validation, so you might tailor your marketing to convince her that acquiring and implementing your accounting methods will bring accolades from her peers or make her look good to her boss.