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Consumer Decision-making in the Museum Marketplace

By Jim Avery and Dejana Prnjat.

Published by The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum

Art museums have a specific position in today’s world. They have changed often from the time they were the collections of the wealthy. Today’s art museum have to collect and take care of artifacts, to preserve, research and learn from them. They also must present artistic works to the public.
Every aspect of art museums has become expensive to maintain the buildings, the art, and the technology. Most charge fees, but not enough to keep up with costs. This demanding monetary situation has forced art museums to become consumer and marketing driven. The consumer focus has made the museums sensitive to today’s changing environment. They are looking at ways to be more competitive for the attention of their audience. New ways of presenting art is being considered, from on-line educational tools to ‘virtual’ museum tours.
The marketing of art museums is very competitive. Some are opening restaurants, coffee shops, and museum stores. Special offer evening concerts, guest speakers, and other things to increase attendance from current and new users.
Defining and understanding the ‘consumers’ of art museums has become a specialized niche in the marketing world. The competition for the attention of those who might attend art museums has itself become an art in the western world, but has not necessarily been successful elsewhere.
This paper seeks to identify the criteria consumers use to make entertainment/educational decisions. Three specific issues studied are:
What are the other choices people consider when going to a museum is an option?
How often do they choose to go to museums or the other options they might have chosen?
How are the people who choose to go to a museum different than non-goers.
The information and conclusions drawn in this paper will be based on interviews and focus groups of people who have recently been to an art museum.

International Journal of the Inclusive Museum, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp.147-156. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 608.332KB).

Prof. Jim Avery

Professor, Gaylord College of Mass Communication, Norman,, OK, USA

Dejana Prnjat

Head, Department of Art and Media Production, Art Academy BK, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro