*Whilst market research and academic studies by sociologists have identified the personal and socio-cultural factors that influence visits to galleries, there has been less attention to the area of motivational research. Understanding motivations is important as it reveals the underlying reasons why visitors choose to participate in specific leisure activities. This paper focuses on the motivations of two groups of visitors at events at an art gallery. A pretested motivational scale built around three factors, learning, social/family interaction and Escapism explained 71.5% of variance. Escapism explained 29.4% of that variance and was the core motivation. The findings of the research are important to both academics and practitioners as previously learning was thought to be the main motivation. This study should be replicated in other settings to evaluate whether gallery and museum managers need to re-consider the purpose, content and marketing of their programmes in a post-modern society.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the notion of “Third Place” in an arts context by exploring the consumption of two arts venues, Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre (SBC) on the regenerated South Bank in London, UK.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretative phenomenological approach was taken drawing on 45 qualitative interviews that were conducted in and around Tate Modern and the SBC during Autumn 2009.FindingsFour audience groups were identified segmented by their motivations, experiences and feelings about the two buildings. The first group “Place to see” visit Tate Modern and the SBC to attend exhibitions and performances. The second meet friends and spend time in the cafes and bars using them as a “Place to hang‐out and meet”. The third group use the buildings as a “Place to drop‐in” on their way to somewhere else. The fourth group use the SBC as a “Third Place”, to study, for meetings, to read, escape and rejuvenate.Research limitations/implicationsThis was an exploratory paper. Further research is required to test the findings in other art museums, arts venues, libraries, parks and other public and private spaces within communities.Originality/valueThe paper fills a gap by drawing on the “Third Place” literature to explore the consumption of art museums and venues. It provides us with a better understanding of the meanings these public buildings have to individuals, the way they are used by the public and how arts managers might attract new audiences from their communities. It also provides insights for planners and town centre managers as to the types of places individuals are seeking during their daily lives.
Research into museum membership schemes and their members is limited and fragmented. This study presents an overview of existing research as a contextual framework for a study of the motivations and behavior of members of a British national museum. The paper examines factors such as members' motives for joining, their usage of benefits, the value they place on membership, and their feelings about the host organization. It concludes with advice as to how membership managers can more effectively manage their own membership organization.
The involvement construct has been explored in relation to products, services and leisure but not in an art museum context. The purpose of this paper is to address this theoretical gap by drawing on the marketing and leisure literature to understand members' consumption of Tate using the involvement construct.Tate, a portfolio of four art museums in the UK has more than 90,000 members that receive a benefits package in return for a membership fee. Data were collected using an interpretive, qualitative approach. 59 face to face semistructured interviews were conducted with Tate Members during spring 2008.The narratives expose the complexity in exploring the involvement construct and the analysis revealed six new involvement characteristics: 1) Centrality and Pleasure; 2) Desire to Learn; 3) Escapism: Spirituality and Creativity; 4) Sense of Belonging and Prestige; 5) Physical; and 6) Drivers of Involvement. These are discussed in the context of previous studies into museum consumption, services and leisure involvement literature. The authors discuss how these findings may be transferred to other settings and the managerial implications for marketers and membership managers are considered.
Audience development is an emerging priority for many arts organizations. This paper explores the nature and purpose of audience development and considers the role of arts organizations in nuturing both new and existing audiences. Two styles of audience development are described, 'mainstream' focusing on existing arts attenders and 'missionary' focusing on traditional nonattenders. The authors have drawn on literature from relevant areas as a springboard for their ideas, given the lack of theory and empirical data in this discipline. 'Missionary' audience development projects appear to dominate in terms of resources and priorities. Whilst the focus on these audience constituencies is of value these groups are notoriously difficult and expensive to attract. This paper proposes that development initiatives should also focus on strengthening the franchise with existing arts audiences who may deliver higher levels of loyalty and have the dual benefits of being lower risk and less resource intensive. A map of audience typologies described by other academics is presented based on behavioural and attitudinal loyalty together with a map of audience development potential that identifies additional sub-groups. Using Rogers' integrated approach to audience development, functional and strategic responses for each group are then proposed. This discussion focuses on the arts, but is equally applicable to other areas of cultural tourism and leisure
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