Museum Visitor Experience Research Articles

The promotion of peace education through guides in peace museums. A case study of the Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ritsumeikan University

This paper focuses on how peace education at a peace museum is promoted by a volunteer guide service for visitors. Peace museums are places where many materials related to war and peace history are on display. To support the learning experience of museum visitors, many peace museums in Japan provide a volunteer guide service. The Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Ritsumeikan University, started such a service more than 20 years ago. A citizens’ group, called Friends for Peace, is in charge of the museum guide activities in cooperation with the museum. This article explains the purposes and nature of the service, and also reports on a survey of similar services offered by other peace museums in Japan.

The Influence of Background Music on the Visitor Museum Experience: A Case Study of the Laiho Memorial Museum, Taiwan

ABSTRACTThe uses and functions of music within the museum environment are of both practical and theoretical interest. This article investigates the impact of background music on the museum visitor experience using information collected from 20 in-depth interviews with visitors to the Laiho Memorial Museum in Taiwan. Each participant heard either a piece of light music or a historical recording of a 1930s song while visiting Laiho's personal study exhibited in the museum. These two types of background music have comparable information loads, although they fit the exhibit to different degrees. Qualitative analysis of interview data indicates that background music played in museums has both emotional and cognitive influences on the visitor experience. This study showed that light music evoked warm and relaxed feelings in participants, whereas a 1930s song evoked feelings of nostalgia and curiosity to learn more about the song. The results are discussed in terms of the diverse needs, behaviors, and attitudes of museum visitors.

Automatic Detection of Social Behavior of Museum Visitor Pairs

In many cases, visitors come to a museum in small groups. In such cases, the visitors’ social context has an impact on their museum visit experience. Knowing the social context may allow a system to provide socially aware services to the visitors. Evidence of the social context can be gained from observing/monitoring the visitors’ social behavior. However, automatic identification of a social context requires, on the one hand, identifying typical social behavior patterns and, on the other, using relevant sensors that measure various signals and reason about them to detect the visitors’ social behavior. We present such typical social behavior patterns of visitor pairs, identified by observations, and then the instrumentation, detection process, reasoning, and analysis of measured signals that enable us to detect the visitors’ social behavior. Simple sensors’ data, such as proximity to other visitors, proximity to museum points of interest, and visitor orientation are used to detect social synchronization, attention to the social companion, and interest in museum exhibits. The presented approach may allow future research to offer adaptive services to museum visitors based on their social context to support their group visit experience better.

Subtle Differences: Men and Women and Their Art Reception

Aesthetics: Does Sex Matter? While presenting this manuscript to art practitioners and art theorists, we noticed that there is great discomfort confronting this topic. Some questions raised were why is such research conducted, what is it good for, and does it impose preconceptions on men and women. Since Bourdieu and Darbel,1 it is widely assumed that sociodemographic factors such as education or profession have an impact on art reception. However, questions of basal sociodemographic factors like sex and age and their influence on art reception are seldom discussed. John Falk, a specialist on museum visitor studies, even states, “quantitative measures such as demographics provide too little information about visitors in relation to museums to be useful variables for describing and understanding the museum visitor experience.”2 Clearly, one has to admit that art reception is more complex and cannot be reduced to one simple factor. along with sex, other criteria, such as the visitors’ knowledge, their expectations and motivation to visit the museum, and the subject or style of the artwork influence art reception and visitor behavior. in the Swiss national research project eMotion Mapping Museum Experience,3

An integrative framework for extending the boundaries of the museum visit experience: linking the pre, during and post visit phases

The Cultural Heritage experience at the museum begins before the actual on-site visit and continues with memories and reflections after the visit. In considering the potential of novel information and communication technology to enhance the entire visit experience, one scenario envisioned is extending the on-site visit boundaries, to help the visitors access information concerning exhibits that are of primary interest to them during pre-visit planning, provide relevant information to the visitors during the visit, and follow up with post visit memories and reflections. All this can be done by using today’s state of the art mobile and web-based applications, as well as any new foreseeable emerging technology. So far, research on applying novel information and communication technology in the cultural heritage domain has focused primarily on exploring specific aspects of the technology and its capability for supporting the individual visitor mainly during the physical, on-site, visit (and in some cases in additional specific phases such as prior or after the visit). This paper suggests a novel, integrative framework for supporting the pre, during and post visit phases in a personalized manner. It is based on a set of standard, common models: a visitor model, a site model and a visit model, all enable a large variety of services to store, update and reuse data during the three phases of the visit. Our contribution is presenting a framework architecture with its underlying infrastructure, and showing in a case study how this framework supports the various visit phases in an actual museum. The suggested framework is generic; it is not limited to a specific setting or scenario and it is open and can be easily adopted and used by practitioners and researchers to be implemented in different sites and settings. As such, it provides a further step in extending the cultural heritage experience beyond the on-site visit and towards linking individual episodes into complete, memorable personal experiences.

Movement in museums: mediating between museum intent and visitor experience

Taking as its starting point the idea that the organisation of movement is a concept inherent in museum design, this paper aims to study the relation between observable patterns of visitor movement and museum intent, as expressed in the architectural layout of spaces and the curatorial arrangement of objects. Against the background of overviews of historical concepts and approaches to movement, five case studies of museums with different intent are presented. It is shown that the ways these museums structure movement paths are critical to how exhibits are perceived by visitors through spatial and visual relations and affect the experience of the museum as a public space by shaping visitors' physical copresence and visual coawareness. These differences relate closely to current debates on museum and exhibition design, while their deeper understanding can provide architects and curators with a more informed basis on which to assess the likely consequences of design decisions.

Perceived authenticity of the visitor experience in museums

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the authenticity concept and its antecedents and consequences within the context of museums.Design/methodology/approach– A higher-order scale of authenticity is developed and then tested for reliability and validity using a sample of museum visitors. To investigate authenticity in a model with two antecedents and two outcomes, an additional data set was collected. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling.Findings– The results show that perceived authenticity of the museum, the visitor and the materials in the museum are dimensions of perceived authenticity, resonating with Bal’s (1996) research in this area. Findings also confirm that consumer scepticism and expectations are antecedents to perceived authenticity of the visitor experience in museums, and that perceived authenticity in turn affects visitor satisfaction and perceived corporate hypocrisy.Practical implications– This research provides a framework for museums to manage visitors’ perceptions of authenticity, and to plan and design exhibits accordingly.Originality/value– Our research, set in the museum context, articulates the basis of perceived authenticity, its antecedents and outcomes. This study sets the foundation for research to further explore how perceived authenticity interacts with other constructs relevant to consumption.

Augmented Reality Experience: From High-Resolution Acquisition to Real Time Augmented Contents

This paper presents results of a research project “dUcale” that experiments ICT solutions for the museum of Palazzo Ducale (Urbino). In this project, the famed painting the “Città Ideale” becomes a case to exemplify a specific approach to the digital mediation of cultural heritage. An augmented reality (AR) mobile application, able to enhance the museum visit experience, is presented. The computing technologies involved in the project (websites, desktop and social applications, mobile software, and AR) constitute a persuasive environment for the artwork knowledge. The overall goal of our research is to provide to cultural institutions best practices efficiently on low budgets. Therefore, we present a low cost method for high-resolution acquisition of paintings; the image is used as a base in AR approach. The proposed methodology consists of an improved SIFT extractor for real time image. The other novelty of this work is the multipoint probabilistic layer. Experimental results demonstrated the robustness of the proposed approach with extensive use of the AR application in front of the “Città Ideale” painting. To prove the usability of the application and to ensure a good user experience, we also carried out several users tests in the real scenario.

Visions for Augmented Cultural Heritage Experience

Museum visitor experiences differ from person to person, from cognitive to affective experiences. Progress in information technology has provided us with the opportunity to improve both the quantity and personalization of cultural information, privileging the cognitive experience against the affective. Computer vision promises to be an extraordinary enabling technology for augmenting visitor experiences, bridging the affective gap by understanding the visitor's individual cognitive needs and interests and his or her situational affective state.

Questions of Museum Essence: Being, Being With, and Finding Connection in Conversation

This dissertation study turned to the realm of philosophy and particularly hermeneutic phenomenology to gain deep understanding of the museum visit experience, particularly in terms of what it reveals about: the connection between human experience and museums; the work of museums as sites of exploring the question of “being-in-the-world” and “being-with-others-in-the-world;” and the essential role of museums as communal and cultural institutions. Six themes emerged from the data: seeing the self; experiencing others' experiences; being at the fusion of horizons; mindful presence; embodied experience; and touching and being touched. While not discussed explicitly in terms of what it means to “be-in-the-world” and to “be-with-others-in-the-world,” participants engaged in deep consideration of memory, identity, relationship across time and place, spirituality, life meaning and mortality. The act of being in conversation, which was at the center of how people encountered objects in the museum, emerged from this study as a defining feature of the museum experience.

Museum Atmospherics: The Role of the Exhibition Environment in the Visitor Experience

ABSTRACT This review presents atmospherics as a potential model for studying the interplay between visitors and the exhibition environment in informal learning settings such as museums. Atmospherics posits that the environment influences affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses, and that these responses can be shaped by design cues in the environment (Kotler, 1974). Atmospherics and the related model of the servicescape have informed research in a variety of retail, leisure, and entertainment settings (Chang & Horng, 2010; Turley & Milliman, 2000). Applying the atmospherics model to the museum environment has considerable potential for extending our understanding of the role that the exhibition environment plays in the museum visitor experience, and informing the design of informal learning settings.

Reflecting on the role of informal learning and visitor experience in science museums

This short comment presents a few suggestions for the enrichment of JCOM seen from the perspective of an informal learning expert.

Experiencing Exhibitions: A Review of Studies on Visitor Experiences in Museums

Abstract This article reviews empirically oriented studies from the United States and Europe concerning visitor experiences in museum exhibitions in order to pinpoint similarities and differences among them. In the last 20 years, only a few scholars have tackled this research question in multifaceted empirical ways, although some of them have done so extensively. By comparing theoretical and methodical issues, as well as important results, we are able to outline several analytical building blocks that compose a complex framework of visitor expectations, experiences, and outcomes. Gathering credible data on experiences of visitors in exhibitions or museums, a method dating back to the tracking records of Robinson (1928), is an ongoing challenge for the empirically inclined science of museum studies. Social scientists at universities and museums have been asking for 20 years: What are the findings regarding factors, structures, and consequences of exhibition experiences? Where are the blind spots? Which questions should be researched?

Uncovering Visitor Identity

In his book, Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience, John Falk makes the case that by understanding the underlying motivations that drive a visitor, a museum can create an experience that reflects a person's identity and therefore satisfy their motivation for visiting. According to Falk, this level of personal connection increases meaningfulness to the visit. This, in turn, helps a museum develop and sustain a community of learners, and ultimately attendance and revenue. A network of nine cultural institutions in Denver utilized Falk's instrument to gain a “snap-shot” of what motivates museum-goers in one metropolitan community. The study, which employed the Falk Visitor Identity-Related Motivation Typology, and its results, is presented in this article. Further, Denver Zoo outlines how it has used the data from the Falk study to rethink and enhance staff professional development, program development and learning outcomes, and marketing.

Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. By John H. Falk

Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. By John H. Falk

Contemporary Experimental Aesthetics: State of the Art Technology

The purpose of this essay is to provide the reader with a brief overview of several recent person-artifact-context relational models that explain the complex interaction of the processes that underlie an ongoing aesthetic experience with visual art forms. Recent progress towards a comprehensive understanding of these processes has been made possible in large part by experimental approaches that take advantage of recent advances in computer technology and electronic sophistication. To illustrate this point, three experimental techniques at the forefront of the field of experimental aesthetics are highlighted here. They include the investigation of viewers— body postural adjustments to depicted pictorial depth and movement in paintings; the use of hand-held computers known as personal data assistants to record audience members— on-going emotional reactions to live performances of dance; and the contribution of audio tour information to museum visitors— interaction with and aesthetic evaluation of sculptures and paintings. Finally, the eMotion: Mapping Museum Experience project, which has the potential to make a tremendous contribution to the understanding of the complex interaction of factors that contribute to a museum visitor's experience, is described.

Re-Introducing Visitors: Thoughts and Discussion on John Falk’s Notion of Visitors’ Identity-Related Visit Motivations

Until today museums have tried to identify and segment their audiences based on their demographics. After years of conducting research in the US, John Falk in 2009 introduced a descriptive and predictive framework for identifying visitors on the basis of their motivations, as related to identity. This article summarises Falk’s innovative framework as described in his book <em>Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience</em> (2009), in addition to his presentation at the Visitor Studies Conference at the Victoria and Albert Museum in January 2010. In addition the article draws on the author’s related research case studies from the Courtauld Gallery, the Horniman Museum and the Wellcome Collection in the UK.

Identity and the museum visitor experience

Identity and the museum visitor experience

Identity and the museum visitor experience

Identity and the museum visitor experience

Beyond Learning: Exploring Visitors' Perceptions of the Value and Benefits of Museum Experiences

Abstract This paper explores the beneficial outcomes that visitors seek and obtain from a museum visit, in terms that are not related to learning outcomes. It uses a deductive qualitative approach to investigate the meaning and value of a museum visit from the visitors' perspective. Three different levels of the meaning of the experience are considered: the attributes of the setting that visitors value; the experiences they engage in; and the benefits they derive. The findings confirm the importance of the “satisfying experiences” framework for understanding visitor experiences in museums, and extend this understanding in relation to the beneficial outcomes these experiences produce. The study also highlights the importance of “restoration” as an outcome of a museum visit. It is argued that the concept of the museum as a restorative environment, which enables visitors to relax and recover from the stresses of life, is worthy of further research attention. These insights will enable museum practitioners to better understand and meet their visitors' multiple needs and expectations.