Digital Technology: The Panacea to Improve Visitor Experience and Audience Growth?

Abstract

In an effort to meet changing visitor needs, the Mutare Museum modernised its Beit Gallery, which presents the traditional, agricultural, healing, musical and religious practices of the Eastern Shona people through digital technology. This new display in the gallery was inaugurated to counter the decreasing numbers of visitors over the years (2000‐2015). As many visitors regretted the absence of interactive experiences within the existing exhibitions, multiple digital presentation and interpretation methods, such as videos, audios, animation, computer interactive devices and flipbooks, were introduced, in an attempt to satisfy their expectations.In this article, we will assess the impact of digital technology on audience experience and growth at Mutare Museum. We will show that, although the introduction of digital technology may have satisfied some visitors, audience growth and loyalty at the museum continued to decline. We argue that when digital technology is employed as an end rather than as a means, the impact will be minimal. Mutare Museum was grappling with the fundamental issues faced by many cultural institutions today: accessibility, high entrances fees, inadequate government funding, low visibility, competition with other attractions, inadequate and poor storage facilities. From our analysis, it became clear that the introduction of digital technology alone was not sufficient to boost audience loyalty and growth, and that a holistic analysis of the museum's fundamental issues was required.