This paper reports one analysis using game theory and three economic experiments concerning golf course membership marketing transactions, focusing on asymmetric information about the price of memberships in the market and the financial conditions of the golf course. First, using game theory, we determined whether members would profit more from selling a golf course membership on the market or redeeming the membership at the golf course. We found that theoretically, during an economic depression, members can profit more from redeeming the membership. We then conducted three economic experiments. In the first experiment, we set up a mock market in a classroom and asked college students to act as buyers and traders of golf course memberships. In the second experiment, a computer game we developed was used to observe how the subjects decided to either sell or redeem their memberships to maximize their profit. In the third experiment, using the ultimatum game, college students took the roles of golf course owners and members. We compared the negotiation processes of owners and members according to whether information regarding the financial conditions of the golf course was disclosed to members. The results of these experiments indicated that asymmetric information influences negotiations among stockholders regarding golf course memberships. The present findings suggest that game theory and economic experiments have useful applications in the field of sport marketing.
