Visitor Emotions Research Articles

Real-time Multi-CNN-based Emotion Recognition System for Evaluating Museum Visitors’ Satisfaction

Conventional studies on the satisfaction of museum visitors focus on collecting information through surveys to provide a one-way service to visitors, and thus it is impossible to obtain feedback on the real-time satisfaction of visitors who are experiencing the museum exhibition program. In addition, museum practitioners lack research on automated ways to evaluate a produced content program's lifecycle and its appropriateness. To overcome these problems, we propose a novel multi-convolutional neural network, called VimoNet, which is able to recognize visitors emotions automatically in real-time based on their facial expressions and body gestures. Furthermore, we design a user preference model of content and a framework to obtain feedback on content improvement for providing personalized digital cultural heritage content to visitors. Specifically, we define seven emotions of visitors and build a dataset of visitor facial expressions and gestures with respect to the emotions. Using the dataset, we proceed with feature fusion of face and gesture images trained on the DenseNet-201 and VGG-16 models for generating a combined emotion recognition model. From the results of the experiment, VimoNet achieved a classification accuracy of 84.10%, providing 7.60% and 14.31% improvement, respectively, over a single face and body gesture-based method of emotion classification performance. It is thus possible to automatically capture the emotions of museum visitors via VimoNet, and we confirm its feasibility through a case study with respect to digital content of cultural heritage.

Critical factors influencing visitor emotions: analysis of "restorativeness" in urban park visits in Fuzhou, China.

To date, a comprehensive analysis of urban green space (UGS) visitors' emotional remains largely unexplored. In this study, we focus on how UGS environmental preferences, restorativeness, other physical factors (sound, air, and thermal environments), and individual characteristics affecting visitor emotions. Such a comprehensive analysis would allow relevant practitioners to check the environmental quality of UGSs and improve certain conditions to promote visitor emotions. A total of 904 questionnaire responses with concurrently monitored physical factors were analyzed by independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA and path analysis. The thermal evaluation had the largest impact on positive emotions (β = 0.474), followed by perceived restorativeness (β = 0.297), which had β values of -0.120 and -0.158, respectively, on negative emotions. Air evaluation was more effective for increasing positive emotions (β = 0.293) than reducing negative emotions (β = -0.115). Sound evaluation also had similar results (β = 0.330 vs. β = -0.080). Environmental preference significantly influenced only positive emotions (β = 0.181) but could still indirectly impact negative emotions. Moreover, objective physical factors can indirectly affect visitors' emotions by enhancing their evaluations.. The influence of different UGS environmental factors on visitors' emotions vary, as does their impacts on positive versus negative emotions. Positive emotions were generally more affected than negative emotions by UGS. Visitor emotions were mainly influenced by physical and psychological factors. Corresponding suggestions are proposed for UGS design and management in this study.

Virtual reality’s impact on destination visit intentions and the moderating role of amateur photography

FinalidadEsta investigación analizó los efectos de las experiencias de realidad virtual (VREs) y las emociones en las intenciones de visita a destinos vacacionales aplicando el modelo estímulo-organismo-respuesta (S-O-R). También examinó el papel de la fotografía amateur como moderador en la relación entre las VREs, las emociones y las intenciones de visita.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueLos datos primarios se recogieron mediante una encuesta con cuestionario estructurado administrado en la India, y se utilizó la modelización de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) para examinar las relaciones entre las variables. La encuesta principal fue precedida de un estudio piloto. Se aplicó la técnica PLS-SEM para medir el efecto moderador de la fotografía amateur.ResultadosCuando las personas poseen un alto nivel de emociones positivas en la etapa previa al viaje con participación en VRE, sus intenciones de visitar destinos son más fuertes. La fotografía amateur moderó las relaciones entre la interactividad del usuario, las experiencias memorables, las imágenes mentales y las intenciones de visita. No se encontró ningún efecto moderador significativo entre las experiencias emocionales y las intenciones de visita.Originalidad/valorEsta investigación tiene el valor de hacer varias contribuciones potenciales a las aplicaciones turísticas de la realidad virtual. Es el primer estudio que utiliza y pone a prueba el marco estímulo-organismo-respuesta (S-O-R) para analizar el comportamiento de los turistas desde la perspectiva de las emociones generadas por las aplicaciones de RV. El análisis se centra en el mercado turístico de la India, poco explorado en el contexto de la RV y desde la perspectiva de un país en desarrollo. La investigación hace hincapié en el uso de la RV como herramienta para comprender el comportamiento de los turistas, en lugar de centrarse únicamente en las intenciones de visita. Las conclusiones aportan valiosas ideas sobre la importancia de la RV en el turismo. Los conocimientos generados contribuirán a comprender el impacto de las experiencias de RV en las emociones y las intenciones de visita, así como el efecto moderador de la fotografía amateur. Se presentan implicaciones prácticas para los responsables de marketing de los destinos turísticos a la hora de desarrollar estrategias de marketing eficaces que potencien las emociones de los turistas y motiven las intenciones de visita.

Applying machine learning methods to quantify emotional experience in installation art

Aesthetic experience is original, dynamic and ever-changing. This article covers three research questions (RQs) concerning how immersive installation artworks can elicit emotions that may contribute to their popularity. Based on Yayoi Kusama’s and Peter Kogler’s kaleidoscopic rooms, this study aims to predict the emotions of visitors of immersive installation art based on their Twitter activity. As indicators, we employed the total number of likes, comments, retweets, followers, followings, the average of tweets per user, and emotional response. According to our evaluation of emotions, panic obtained the highest scores. Furthermore, compared to traditional machine learning algorithms, Tree-based Pipeline Optimization Tool (TPOT) Automated Machine Learning used in this research yielded slightly lower performance. We forecast that our findings will stimulate future research in the fields of data analysis, cultural heritage management and marketing, aesthetics and cultural analytics.

Senses and Emotion Experience at Aceh Tsunami Museum

The purpose of this research is to find out how exhibitions in museums that use various senses can evoke the emotions of visitors and provide visitors with a more memorable spatial experience. In 2004 there was a very powerful Tsunami in Aceh. This incident is remembered in one of the museums designed by Ridwan Kamil, located in Aceh. This museum captures the moment Aceh Tsunami and also tries to present these past events as an exhibition area in a simulation room. This simulation room uses a multisensory delivery method involving several senses. This simulation room is known as the Tsunami Alley. The article discusses what feelings are involved in conveying messages from this space, and the spatial and emotional experience visitors feel. The method used is descriptive qualitative, and the object of this research is the Tsunami Alley of Aceh Tsunami Museum. According to the analysis results, sensory and emotional processes are inseparable and support one another. The application of integrated senses in the museum space will further evoke visitors' emotions and strengthen the message's memory. The results of this study are expected to be the development of design references regarding the delivery of news and information using multisensory methods to provide an impressive space experience in exhibition halls.

The Insect Festival Working Group: A New Initiative to Identify Best Practices

Gwen Pearson and Betty Bee at the 2015 Purdue Bug Bowl. (Photo by John Obermeyer, Purdue Extension Entomology.) Insect festivals have multiplied like locusts over the last 20 years. Eighty-one bug festivals have been identified in the U.S. (Hvenegaard 2016, Blevins 2018). The scope of insect education is huge and varied; what distinguishes insect festivals (Table 1) from other entomology outreach programming? Insect festivals encompass many different experiences. For example, Purdue’s Bug Bowl is a choose-your-own-adventure event, with multiple concurrent events indoors and outdoors across a campus. Other insect festivals are closely scripted events with high production values. Across this spectrum of experience, the value of a live event becomes clear: rich social experiences. Because insect festivals feature “aversive taxa,” attention to visitor emotions and developing trust are key. It’s a sad reality that insects and their arthropod relatives engender strong negative emotions in many people (Polák et al. 2020, Fukano and Soga 2021). The festive party vibe of a bug festival means audiences can be more relaxed and open to new experiences, compared to a formal educational setting.

축제 서비스품질이 긍정적 감정, 애호도에 미치는 영향

This study aimed to verify the influence relationship between festival service quality, positive emotions and favorability, and whether positive emotions play a mediating role. A survey was conducted for visitors to the Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower Festival in 2021, and empirical analysis was carried out using SPSS 18.0 and AMOS statistical program, including frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and bootstrap analysis. As a result of the study, it was found that reliability, empathy, and responsiveness among festival service quality factors had a positive (+) effect on positive emotions, and positive emotions of festivals had a positive (+) effect on favorability. In addition, reliability and responsiveness among the festival service quality factors had a positive (+) effect on attitude favorability, and reliability, certainty, and responsiveness had a positive (+) effect on behavioral favorability. Finally, it was found that positive emotions play a mediating role between festival service quality and favorability. This suggests that the provision of accurate information to visitors and the response of staff for the festival are important in festival service quality, and that the positive emotions of visitors at the festival can make the festival more favorable to increase their revisit.

Exploring the impact of functional, symbolic, and experiential image on approach behaviors among state-park tourists from India, Korea, and the USA

This study provides insights into the influence of state park image, visitor emotions, and place identity on visitors’ revisit intentions by considering the moderating impact of national culture. A quantitative process with the data collected in India, Korea, and the US was used. Hierarchical regression analysis evidences the moderating role of national culture, which is hardly explored in the state park context. Results confirm that most hypotheses are fully or partially accepted, which suggests that brand image and national culture influence visitor intention. This study helps practitioners better understand the relevance of national culture in developing appropriate visitor attraction/retention strategies.

INFLUENCE OF SELECTED DETERMINANTS ON THE PERCEPTION OF BEACHES AS A TOURISM PRODUCT

INFLUENCE OF SELECTED DETERMINANTS ON THE PERCEPTION OF BEACHES AS A TOURISM PRODUCT

Space Crisis: Encounter in the Museum Building or Online?

After witnessing a huge turnaround in the wider social context in the previous period, it seems that the question of the future of museums in the digital environment has begun to take on a very optimistic tone full of potential. There is a growing visibility of these heritage institutions on social networks and an increasingly diverse offer of virtual tours, as well as the use of modern virtual and augmented reality technologies in the interpretation and presentation of cultural heritage, while some works of art and collections are created exclusively for cyberspace. Nevertheless, the museum as a meeting place still seems irreplaceable. At a time of isolation, growing loneliness and fears, studies on the emotions of visitors during their stay in the museum in the last few years show that real, physical spaces of the museum encourage constructive attitudes. Encounters with other visitors as well as with the exhibited artifacts especially prove to be important for positive feelings and the need to visit the museum. We will issue these theoretical premises on selected examples and examine whether modern technologies serve as additional tools of promotion and other possible ways of presenting museum content or, oppositely, whether social media and NFT galleries manage to overcome the need for the museum itself as a place of physical encounter.

How do different types and landscape attributes of urban parks affect visitors' positive emotions?

Improving the positive emotions of urban populations is essential for meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of “good health and well-being” and “sustainable cities and communities”. Urban parks generally may enhance people's positive sentiments, but little is known about explicitly linking the landscape composition and configuration of urban parks directly with visitors' sentiments based on social media data. The main objective of this study, therefore, was to identify key landscape attributes that influence this relationship in the Beijing metropolitan region. We first crawled 55,441 valid text data items from Sina Weibo for 99 urban parks within the fifth ring road of Beijing. Then, we quantified the positive emotions of visitors to urban parks using social media data and sentiment analysis. Finally, we evaluated the differences in visitors' positive emotions among different types of parks and used Random Forest to identify urban park attributes that were correlated with positive emotions. We found that visitors to different types of urban parks had different levels of positive emotions. Specifically, visitors to comprehensive parks and cultural relics parks were significantly happier than visitors to community parks. Visitors to parks between the third and fourth ring roads in Beijing had the lowest levels of positive emotions. Positive emotions were found to be positively correlated with park size and the mean size of water bodies but negatively correlated with large areas of impervious surfaces. This study sheds new light on the relationship between park landscape patterns and visitors' positive emotions through a new approach based on social media data. The research methods and findings may inspire similar studies in other cities and countries, which are needed to improve park planning and management and thus enhance urban sustainability.

National destination pledges: Visitor management through emotional engagement, commitment and interpretation

National destination pledges are a destination and visitor management intervention that seeks to positively influence visitor behaviour. They have been used since 2017, and the earliest and most prominent among these are the Icelandic Pledge, the Palau Pledge, New Zealand's Tiaki Promise, and the Sustainable Finland Pledge. Using semi-structured interviews with 17 destination managers and marketers, covering all aforementioned pledges, this paper demonstrates that national destination pledges are a new and innovative soft visitor management intervention. In comparison to other soft visitor management techniques, national destination pledges strategically connect with the emotions of visitors, require (often public) action from visitors, and engage visitors in a process of interpretation to build their own understanding of their role in destination management. As such, this paper outlines how these pledges offer a unique approach to destination management by engaging with demand side stakeholders (visitors).

Editorial special issue in Dark Tourism

ABSTRACT This special issue of Journal of Heritage Tourism on dark tourism aims to encourage and advance theoretical, conceptual, and empirical research on dark tourism. The call for papers was inspired by the editor’s theoretical and research interest in dark tourism studies. The collection of articles in this special issue provides original, innovative and international tourism research that is embedded in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary theoretical and methodological thought in the study of dark tourism. Finally, this editorial will address a few lines of future research directions focusing on the experience and emotions of visitors at ‘dark tourism’ sites.

Geospatial and Social Media Analytics for Emotion Analysis of Theme Park Visitors using Text Mining and GIS

Scrutinizing the emotions of customers and social media analytics are gaining popularity in the recent days. However, analysis of the emotions of visitors in theme parks are done on a lesser scale. In this paper, based on social media messages, the emotions of the visitors of a theme park is analyzed using geospatial as well as social media analytics convergence and visualization of cohesive places where expressions are gathered. Based on the Russell’s Circumplex Model of Affect, the words and emotions are analyzed in around 50,000 tweets collected of which 20,400 tweets contained one or more such words. Analysis of exploratory spatial data based on GIS and analysis of text mining represents various emotion in each quadrant based on the tweets. The visitor emotions are associated to various topics and emotions of considerable spatial variations. Based on the significant clustering of emotions in each quadrant, the areas of riding attraction in the theme park are identified and displayed using this research approach. Based on the analysis and implications of this research work, it is possible to develop ways in which the pleasant emotions of the visitors can be evoked by practitioners.

Visualizing theme park visitors’ emotions using social media analytics and geospatial analytics

Abstract Despite the popular use of social media analytics to scrutinize customer emotions, less scholarly efforts have been invested in visualizing theme park visitors' emotions. Employing the convergence of social media analytics and geospatial analytics, this paper visualized cohesive places where Disneyland visitors express distinct types of emotion in social media messages. Among 226,946 collected tweets, this study used 19,809 tweets containing one or more emotion words listed in Russell's Circumplex Model of Affect. Text mining analysis and GIS-based exploratory spatial data analysis showed that tweets reflecting each quadrant of emotions have considerable spatial variations and different topics related to visitor emotions. The research approach enabled displaying particular spots in theme park zones and areas of riding attractions where emotions of each quadrant are significantly clustered. This study highlights methodological implications of visualizing spatial patterns of visitors' emotions and provides practitioners with a useful guide to develop routes evoking pleasant emotions.

전시회 웹사이트의 브랜디드 콘텐츠 특성이 전시회에 대한 신뢰, 애착 및 참가의도에 미치는 영향

This study analyzes whether the emotions of visitors who come into contact will be affected with the branded contents exhibition towards the trust and affection of the exhibition. The target group focuses on the exhibition professional college students who have visited the exhibition, and the visitors of the Seoul International Young Children Education & Kids Fair. Smart PLS 2.0 is used in structural equation.BR The hypothesis verification results show that the similarity and indirectness of branded contents on the exhibition website cannot affect the cognitive trust but can have an impact on the affective trust of the exhibition. In addition, creativity and informativity of the branded contents can have an impact on the cognitive trust of the exhibition but they cannot affect the affective trust of the exhibition.BR Moreover, both the cognitive trust affection of the exhibition can affect the participation of the exhibition, however, affective trust cannot.

(Not so) Dark tourism: The Merry Cemetery in Săpânţa (Romania) – An expression of folk culture

Starting from the latest studies, which support the idea that the Merry Cemetery in Săpânța is a dark tourist attraction, this article examines whether this idea is fully justified. The approach is based on a careful analysis of the literature and a rigorous study of the origins, historical and cultural features, as well as characteristics of the cemetery's uniqueness. The article uses a questionnaire applied throughout the year 2018 to the people who visited the cemetery to find out what it is associated with, the reasons why they visited it and whether the visit was enjoyable or, on the contrary, macabre. While analysing the results and examining them according to the literature, the article shows that the Merry Cemetery is perceived more as a place of folk culture and less as a dark tourist attraction. The experiences, feelings and emotions of visitors are overwhelmingly positive, in contrast to those specific to dark tourism. Research data shows that the elements that make it unique (humorous, satirical or ironic epitaphs, wooden carved crosses, naive paintings and the blue of Săpânța) must play a greater role in changing the promotion paradigm and its management as a tourist destination.

TECHNIQUES OF THE IMAGINATION IN THE TRIBUNE Stewarding and the Guidebook at Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham

This article examines heritage-making first-hand through the techniques of the imagination visiting Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham – the summer house and Gothic castle of Horace Walpole. Walpole developed Strawberry Hill as an architectural experiment in visitor emotions. In a now seemingly empty historic house, Walpole’s sleights of hand are being carefully and authentically conserved to fulfil the imaginations and expectations of the tourist as though a tour guide from beyond the grave. A detailed exploration of this staged encounter in the Tribune Room during a temporary exhibition highlights the workings of the tourist imaginary and the techniques and technologies of the visit – in particular the use of a 1774 guidebook as a resource for self-guided tourists – in conservation work, and the virtual development of the house as an award-winning heritage destination.

Exhibiting Negative Feelings: Writing a History of Emotions in German History Museums

This article moves beyond recent work on visitor emotions to ask: How are theemotions of past eras (and more particularly of twentieth-century Germany)historicized in history exhibitions? How can the academic field of the history ofemotions – which, in Germany, has been galvanized by the study of NationalSocialism and its legacies – make the transition from the written investigationsof historical scholarship to the multi-modal displays of public history? Thesequestions are of particular relevance to German exhibitions about communist EastGermany and its collapse because emotions are understood to be a key field ofcontestation in this recent period of German history. Using exhibitions about EastGermany as source material, the article considers how academic disciplines andthe institution of the museum constitute emotions as discursive objects.Key words: East Germany / German Unification / National Socialism / Emotions

Técnicas y estrategias para desarrollar el turismo experiencial en humedales

Se han llevado a cabo numerosos esfuerzos en materia de Comunicación, Educación, Concienciación y Participación (CECoP) desde diversas administraciones y organizaciones conservacionistas en relación a la conservación de los humedales, pero los resultados han sido discretos si se comparan con los obtenidos en otros ecosistemas. Los humedales no gozan todavía del aprecio de la mayoría del público generalista, aunque son destinos habituales para ecoturistas especializados (p.e. observadores de aves).Este trabajo identifica y analiza, por una parte, las causas de esta situación como son la complejidad de evidenciar los atractivos naturales de los humedales y la existencia de una percepción negativa de estos ecosistemas entre ciertos sectores del público.Por otro lado, se presentan estrategias para abordar estas cuestiones y establecer una conexión más personal entre el público y los recursos que facilite el desarrollo de emociones en los visitantes. Así, se propone: un conocimiento en profundidad de los diferentes públicos, la identificación de nuevos iconos interpretativos, la puesta en valor del patrimonio intangible de los humedales, entre otros. Se describen también técnicas para reforzar la percepción sensorial de los visitantes in situ, ya que de ello depende, en gran medida, la satisfacción de la experiencia que, a su vez, está en la base de futuras actitudes y comportamientos proactivos de los visitantes en relación a la conservación, salvaguarda y disfrute de los humedales.