The Influence of Interpretational Background Music on Visitor Experience: An Eye-Tracking Study on a Virtual Art Exhibition

Abstract

With the advancement of digital technology, virtual museum exhibitions are rapidly growing, in which background music (BGM) is increasingly being used. However, it is not clear whether and how such BGM affects the visitor experience. This study designed a between-subjects factor experiment with three levels (stimulative music [ST], sedative music [SE], and no music [NO]) in a virtual art exhibition. A combination of eye-tracking, questionnaires, and interviews were used to measure the viewing experience of 96 participants. The results showed that the BGM could not only alleviate the visitors’ fatigue by directing their attention to the exhibition itself, but also different BGM could activate different schemas, selectively guiding the viewers’ visual attention to the areas consistent with their schemas, and then enabling them to make the schema-consistent judgments. These exploratory findings are expected to demonstrate the application potential of BGM in future exhibition design.