Understanding museum visitors’ experience: a comparative study

Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to examine museum visitors’ experience. The objective of the
research is to explore preferences, behaviour, overall. This study experience and the determinants on
repeated visits to two heritage sites. In particular, a more comprehensive regression approach is
introduced and employed to compare results at two regional museums.
Design/methodology/approach–First, a factor analysis identifies a set of orthogonal factors
related to visitors’ perceptions on their positive and negative experiences at two different museums.
Second, a two-step cluster analysis is implemented to identify specific demand segments. Third,
a regression analysis reveals the key determinants that influence visitors’ perceptions on the quality of
services provided at the cultural sites. The empirical data were collected at two archaeological
museums located in Sardinia and Trentino Alto Adige (Italy).
Findings–On the whole, some homogeneous findings have been obtained for the two cultural sites,
regardless of the different levels of attractiveness exerted by these two museums. Moreover, the
outcomes highlight that the two museums need to be reinterpreted and reorganised with the provision
of supplementary services, able to satisfy a broader audience, and enriching their traditional mission
that is to collect, preserve and exhibit the archaeological heritage.
Practical implications–The methodological approach presented in this paper is for practitioners
and curators to deepen their understanding of their consumers and to improve the overall quantity and
quality of services offered.
Originality/value–This paper presents a novel and integrated approach to investigate customers’
experience and their needs with the aim of improving the overall quality of the services provided at the
museum. The proposed methodology is used to analyse multidimensional aspects of the visit to a
cultural site. Within the literature on museum marketing and management, this methodological
framework can be regarded as an alternative approach to analyse visitors’ experience, characteristics,
behaviour, preferences and to elicit specific characteristics of different segments of demand.