The effects of motivation on leisure time management

The purpose of this study was to determine recreational motivations and present its effects on user properties (socio-economic properties and land use habits). In line with this purpose, a questionnaire was applied to fifty users in Ankara Goksu Park. According to the analysis, it was stated that user properties (socio-economic properties and land use habits) have an impact on socialization, entertainment and escape motivation factors.


INTRODUCTION
It can be said that currently, the cities with rapid strides prevent people from being close to nature and the urban parks serve the purpose at this point.Urban parks not only provide people with physical and physiological health, but also create an aesthetic view in the city.
Several resources on leisure time have tried to explain why many people travel (Shoemaker, 1994).Studies by Goodale and Witt (1985) explained why people preferred a recreational area to another and why it is an important issue for planners and managers of recreation resource.Therefore, it may be asserted that recreational motivations should be determined in order to make the best use of the urban parks that have a positive effect on the people of the city, to take appropriate management decisions and increase the user satisfaction.Additionally, determining the items affecting one's decision on doing recreation is very important to park, recreation offices and other related agencies.
Recreational preferences are shaped as a consequence of attitudes or motivations and they are the most effective characteristics in the choosing of the recreational area (Murphy, 1975).Determining motivations provide important tools in determining potential users, satisfaction of these users, proper marketing and management strategies (Pearce, 1993).
motivations change according to user property.Confer et al. (1996) stated in a study that was conducted in Delaware State Park that escape/loneliness, nature/ learning, entertainment/recreation and socialization/ curiosity motivates people.Kyle et al. (2005) emphasized in a study carried out in three different camping areas in Southeast National Forest of America that motivations have a positive effect on participation and they provide sustainability.Vogelsong et al. (1997) stated that the characteristics of a Park site have effects on the determination of motivations.Ewert (1993) conducted a study to assess the motivation of the sportsmen that climbed Rainer Mountain in Washington, and concluded that challenging, knowing, creating opportunity, blowing off steam and participating in the sport activities motivated the sportsmen.Also, he emphasized in his study that motivational factors depend on the demographic features of the people, the type of activity and the previous experience level of the users.Field and Cheek (1974) found out that social structure in the selection of recreation site had effects on both characteristics of the site and the activities aimed.Laundsbury and Hoops (1988) examined the stabilization of the motivations over time, and revealed that the change was possible.White and Gray (2001) also stated that motivations change in the course of time.Motivations that change in time are noted as watching the scenery, resting and relaxing, spending time with the family, socializing and making friendship with new people, being close to nature and feeling relaxed after the sport activities and meeting with new people.Motivation of recreation has been subject to many studies; although few studies explained the recreational motivation in Turkey.The majority of these studies are the subject of Ankara province.Oguz (2000) examined the characteristics of park users and user satisfaction, and reported the problems and requirements in Ankara's urban parks.The findings suggest that the use of each park has its own characteristics although there appear to be some similarities within some of the studied areas.Muderrisoglu et al. (2006) 2010) revealed that to increase the satisfaction of the users of urban parks in Ankara, the number of active recreation areas should be increased.Emerging from all these works, there is a positive relation between general satisfaction and the motivation factors like area features and management, experience, information and facility.However, Goksu Park is one of the highly used urban parks in Ankara, which is the capital city of Turkey.The purpose of this study is to reveal the recreational motivations of the users of Goksu Park.To explain the determined motivations, users' socioeconomic characteristics and land use habits were examined.A trial was made in this study to find answers to the following questions: 1. Are the socioeconomic characteristics effective on users' motivations of urban parks? 2. Do the motivations of urban parks' users vary according to their land use habits?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In the questionnaire that was conducted as face to face interviews with 250 users that visited Ankara Goksu Park, the motivations that had a positive effect on participation of the users in the activities were determined.The studies of Confer et al. (1996), Bowes and Dawson (1998), Graefe et al. (1999), Todd et al. (2001), White and Gray (2001) and Muderrisoglu et al. (2006) were used for the questionnaire.These studies were the most important resources in determining recreational motivations in Turkey and around the world.By utilizing the motivation items used in these studies, a motivation scale suitable for the Goksu Park conditions was created.This scale consisted of twenty-nine motivation criteria (Table 1).According to Baş (2003), a questionnaire that will be administered in an area with more than 100,000 users needs at least 100 questionnaires with 0.5 confidence level and 5% error level.Considering these criteria, 250 questionnaires were made.

Working area
Goksu Park is located in the borders of Eryaman in Etimesgut District of Ankara.It is established on a 550 000 m² of land, in which 127 000 m² is a natural Susuz lake.Apart from many recreational activities in the facility, there are also a lot of picnic Asikkutlu and Muderrisogl 8001 sites, cafes, restaurants and shady places to rest.Ankara was chosen as the city for the study area because it is the capital city and it has a high potential for users with diverse socioeconomic characteristics.Göksu Park was chosen as the study area because it is located in the center of the city and has high transportation possibilities.Also, it has the largest recreation area with rich recreation opportunities.

Determination of user properties
The questionnaire study that was conducted between the months of February and December 2007 comprised 250 people.In the first part of the study, the age, gender, educational background, monthly income and job status of the users were presented and questions, such as: who did they come to the site with, how did they get to the site, how often did they visit the site, which district did they live and how many years did they live in Ankara, were answered.In the second part, thirty questions that aimed at determining the motivations were asked.A three point Likert scale was used in the study."1" was determined as ineffective and "5" as highly effective.

Assessment of the data
Statistical analysis of the whole study was made with SPSS 11 program, factor analysis was used to form motivation factors and reliability analysis was used to show the reliability of the factors.
Unidirectional variance analysis was used to emphasize the effect of motivations on user properties (socio-economic properties and land use habits).Also, the questionnaire questions as regards age, gender, educational background, monthly income, job status and district of the users were grouped under the title of economic properties; the questions regarding settlement year in Ankara were grouped under the title of socio-economic properties, while the questions, regarding whom they come to the site with, how they get to the site, how often they visited the site, were grouped under the title of area of use.

User properties
In the questionnaire study that was carried out in Goksu Park, it was figured out that 41% of the users were between 21 and 30 in number, 58% were male, 58% were postgraduate, 34% have an income of between 850 and 1250 TL, 51% were students, 43% were resident in Etimesgut, 34% have lived in Ankara from 15 to 25 years, 73% come to Goksu Park with their friends, 41% get there with their cars, 40% visit the site once a year or more, and 66% of them spend two hours or more at the site.

User motivations in Goksu Park
Thirty criteria regarding the effect of motivation on participation were evaluated in this study.Factor analyses were used to explain these criteria.As a result of the analyses, the criteria were gathered under six factors.These factors were arranged as MFIV (entertainment), MFI (field properties), MFV (escape), MFVIII (economic properties), MFI (personal participation) and MFVII (socialization) according to their degree of influence.However, information about the analysis data and factor groups are shown in Table 1: (i) Factor I (field properties) is explained with 16% variance and the Cronbach's alpha is 0.89.The calculated alpha value shows that this factor has high reliability (Ozdamar, 1999).Eight motivation criteria are included in the first group.The common trait of these criteria is that they are all about field property.The most effective criterion of this factor is that the picnic site is clean and orderly.(2) Factor II (socialization) is explained with 14% variance and the Cronbach's alpha is 0.83.The calculated alpha value shows that this factor has high reliability.Six criteria are included in the second factor.The common trait of these criteria is that they are all talking about socialization.The most effective criterion of this factor is being together with people from the same field of interest.
(3) Factor III (economic properties) is explained with 10% variance and the Cronbach's alpha is 0.80.The calculated alpha value shows that this factor has high reliability.Four criteria are included in this factor.The common trait of these criteria is that they are all talking about economic properties.However, the most effective criterion of this factor is that land use cost is low.
(4) Factor IV (entertainment) is explained with 9% variance and the Cronbach's alpha is 0.74.The calculated alpha value shows that this factor has high reliability.Four criteria are included in this factor.The common trait of these criteria is that they are all talking about entertainment.Nonetheless, the most effective criterion of this factor is enjoying oneself and having a great time.
(5) Factor V (escape) is explained with 9% variance and the Cronbach's alpha is 0.75.The calculated alpha value shows that this factor has high reliability.Five criteria are included in this factor.
The common trait of these criteria is that they are all talking about escape.However, the most effective criterion of this factor is blowing off steam.
(6) Factor VI (personal participation) is explained with 6% variance and the Cronbach's alpha is 0.49.The calculated alpha value shows that this factor has low reliability.Therefore, this factor is not included in the evaluation.

Relationship between socio-economic properties of Goksu Park users and motivation
In Table 2, the variance analysis results of user properties (age,  2. Entertainment and escape factors change statistically according to gender from user properties.Female users have been motivated by entertainment and escape factors for recreational activities more than male users.Entertainment and escape have been stated to be the most ineffective motivation for male users.3. Socialization and economic properties factors change statistically according to educational background from user properties.High school graduate users stated that socialization is more important for recreational activities, while primary school graduates find economic properties more important for recreational activities.
Socialization and economic properties are stated to be the most ineffective motivation for postgraduate users.4. Field and economic properties factors change statistically according to job status from user properties.Retired users stated that field and economic properties are the most important factor for recreational activities.However, field and economic properties are stated to be the most ineffective motivation for student users.5. Economic properties factor changes statistically according to the district from user properties.The users that live in Etimesgut find economic properties more essential for recreational motivations.As such, economic properties are stated to be the most ineffective motivation for the users that live in Mamak.6. Economic properties factor changes statistically according to residence time in Ankara from user properties.The users that lived in Ankara for 25 years or more stated that economic properties are the most important factor for recreational activities.Nonetheless, economic properties are stated to be the most ineffective motivation for the users that lived in Ankara for 1 to 5 years.

Relationship between land use habits of Goksu Park users and motivation
In Table 3, one-directional variance analysis results of user properties (how the users got to the area, the persons the users came to the site with, and how much time they spent there) and motivation factors (field patterns, socialization, economic properties, entertainment and escape) can be arranged as follows: 1. Economic properties change statistically according to the criteria such as entertainment, escape, and the persons the users came to the site with.The users that come to the site alone find escape and economic properties factor to be more important for recreational activities, while the users that come to the site with their friends find entertainment factor to be more appealing for motivation activities.
Economic properties and escape are stated to be the most ineffective motivation for the users that come to the site with their friends, while entertainment factor is considered to be the most ineffective motivation for the users that come to the site alone.2. Economic properties, escape and entertainment factors change statistically according to the criterion of how the users got to the site.The users that came to the site on foot find economic properties to be more important for recreational activities, those that came to the site by bus find entertainment factor to be more appealing for motivation activities, while those that came to the site by bicycle find escape to be more essential for motivation activities.However, economic properties, escape and entertainment are stated to be the most ineffective motivation for the users that come to the site by motorcycle.
3. Socialization and economic properties factor changes statistically according to the visiting frequency of the users.The users that came to the site everyday find socialization factor to be more important for recreation activities.The users that came to the site once a week or more often state that economic properties motivated them to participate more in recreational activities.Nonetheless, socializetion is stated to be the most ineffective motivation for the recreational activities of the users that came to the site once a year or more often, while economic properties are stated to be the most ineffective motivation for the users that came to the site once a year or less often.4. Economic properties and entertainment factors change statistically according to how much time the users spend at the site.The users that spend time between half an hour and an hour at the site, state that economic properties motivate them more for recreational activities, while those that spend two hours or more at the site find entertainment more motivating for recreational activities.However, economic properties are stated to be the most ineffective factor for the users that spend two hours or more at the site.Also, entertainment is stated to be the most ineffective factor for the users that spend time between half an hour and an hour at the site.

DISCUSSION
Within the context of these studies, motivations that have an effect on the users have been presented and it has been observed that recreational motivations change according to the user properties (socio-economic properties and land use habits).As a result of the findings regarding motivation, it is stated that four motivation factors (socialization, economic properties, entertainment and escape) are effective.As stated in the study's introduction, user motivations can change according to different recreational activities (Kyle et al., 2005;Ewert, 1985).Motivations can be grouped under more general titles in the areas that present opportunity for different recreational uses than in the ones that present limited recreational opportunity.So, this makes the details that were entered difficult for management decisions.It will be more appropriate to classify the area according to recreational opportunities Asikkutlu and Muderrisogl 8005 and to manage these opportunities in it.As stated in the findings, the majority of the users are the ones that are young and in need of socialization.Consequently, they come to the site as a group.Those who were from low income groups lived in Ankara for a long time and had the habit of coming to the site.As it can be concluded from the questionnaire data, the area carrying the characteristics of an urban park serves Etimesgut more than the whole Ankara.However, that kind of an urban park should attract people from all over Ankara.So, while taking management decisions for Goksu Park, apart from the motivations, the factors that prevented people from using the area should be taken into consideration as well.
One of the reasons why the users choose this area is that they can spend cost-effective time there.Majority of the people that state this reason are the users that are above 50 and who live in the neighborhood of the area.So it can be concluded that transportation cost poses an obstacle for distant district comers.The ones that have an obstacle like this are generally retired and unemployed users.If transportation fee is lowered or free transportation is provided, then the area will gain urban park qualification with user diversity.It should not be forgotten that the older the users are, the more they expect from the area.Briefly, it is easier to satisfy the young, recreationally.However, the conducted study shows that the opportunities of the area are considered to be a motivation resource by the users that are above 50 years of age.This proves that the opportunities that Goksu Park provides are sufficient.
Many studies have been carried out to examine the effect of gender on motivations.Kinnaird (1994), Annett et al. (1995), Thapa et al. (2004), Papadakis et al. (2004), Johnson et al. (2001), Barnett and Klitzing (2006) and Todd et al. (2001) stated in their studies that gender has an effect on motivation.The users of Goksu Park are mostly male.For a recreation area, the user diversity should be more balanced in terms of gender.So, it will be appropriate to take management decisions which provide that balance in Goksu Park.It is stated in our study that entertainment and escape are the reasons why the female users come to the site.The management decisions that meet those motivational needs will increase the number of female users.
According to the questionnaire results, the area is a highly preferred place for the primary and high school students in Etimesgut.This shows that the area meets the social expectations of this age group.It should be aimed to keep this situation safe in the management of the area.As stated in the findings of this study, it should be remembered that another motivation of the area for the student is entertainment.So, the activities, such as games, competitions and concerts that provide socialization, entertainment and opportunity will meet the recreational needs of this group.
According to the findings, transportation type and the attendants of the users are important for motivation.While the users that come to the site through public transportation as a group expect entertainment from the area, the users that come alone to the site on foot expect escape.Therefore, different management decisions devoted to these user types should be taken.For example, the majority of Goksu Park users come to the site as a crowded group.For this reason, a big part of the area should be managed according to this user type.However, it should be kept in mind that these rations can always show changes; so, management decisions should be updated according to these changes.Chen et al. (1997) and Graefe et al. (1999) stated in their studies that frequency of the visiting site is directly related to motivation.The user experiences about the area have an effect on motivation.This shows that user expectations can be shaped by the management decisions of the park managers.For example, if cost-effective recreational activities are provided, the user will come to the site more often.When the visiting frequency increases, economic factors that are reasons for motivation will be replaced by socialization motivation, but it should not be forgotten that those kind of alterations in motivations show changes according to the user types.The feedback of management decisions should be given as a result of the questionnaire studies and field observations.

Conclusion
In this study, the following results were obtained: (1) Motivations vary according to recreation area characteristics.
(2) Providing low cost active recreation resources will improve land use motivations.
(3) Easy and inexpensive transportation to the recreation area will increase the number of land users.(4) Precautions are needed that will increase the number of female users.
(5) Precautions are needed that will increase the socialization motivation.(6) Precautions are needed that will increase the elderly users' satisfaction.(7) Along with determining the users' motivations, determining the impediments is needed.
In this study, it was found that recreational motivations were affected by users' socioeconomic features.The most important features that were found are age and sex.It was found that recreation motivations were also affectted by the land use habits.In this study, it was observed that users' land use habits are more effective on recreation motivations than their socioeconomic features.However, the most effective land use habit is the attendants of users.
In conclusion, apart from planning and designing a site, it is also important to manage that site.Managers should determine recreational activities, area experiences and expectations of the users that have a potential to come to the site.Then they should manage the planned and designed present potentials according to these expectations.Feedbacks on management decisions should be given every year and as a result of this, the needed alterations in management decisions should be made.
In the oncoming studies which will take recreational field management as the subject, how the area will be classified according to the recreational facilities it offer, and what the management criteria of these classifications will be, should be examined.Apart from the recreational motivations of the users, the obstacles should be determined for more suitable management decisions.
examined the recreational motivations in public sports areas of Ankara.According to the result, recreational motivations change according to the user's gender, age, working situation and specialities of the recreational area.Demir et al. (2010) examined how the methods of management of urban parks in Ankara affect user satisfaction.They reached the result that management methods are effective on user satisfaction.On the other hand, Müderrisoğlu et al. (

Table 2 .
Relationship between the socio-economic properties of Goksu Park users and motivation.

Table 3 .
Relationship between land use habits of Goksu Park users and motivation.