Consumer Research for Museum Marketers

Audience Insights Money Can't Buy

By (author) Margot A. Wallace

Publication date:

16 January 2010

Length of book:

160 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

Dimensions:

239x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780759118089

What museum does not want insight into what its visitors and potential visitors are looking for? Nearly every function within the museum benefits from a deeper understanding of visitors: curators, educators, fundraisers, marketers, store and cafe managers, guards, and volunteers. This book creatively instructs museums on how to study visitors to make their exhibits, programs, and shops more appealing for all segments of the public. Each chapter identifies an observed visitor behavior or attitude and details how it can significantly affect attendance, satisfaction, and loyalty. The author's approach explains how all museum personnel can participate in valuable observational research without breaking the bank on expensive studies.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Observational Research Vs. The Other Researches
Chapter 2 Chapter 1. Methodology
Chapter 3 Chapter 2. The Hand-Holders: Connecting To Your Museum
Chapter 4 Chapter 3. Twitching On The Tour
Chapter 5 Chapter 4. Sitting Down
Chapter 6 Chapter 5. Turning Right
Chapter 7 Chapter 6. Dress Code
Chapter 8 Chapter 7. Museum Goers Don't Get Fat: Tribal Marketing
Chapter 9 Chapter 8. Men: Another New Market Segment
Chapter 10 Chapter 9. Lunchtime Stories
Chapter 11 Chapter 10. Taking Photos
Chapter 12 Chapter 11. Early Birds
Chapter 13 Chapter 12. Shopping For Memories
Chapter 14 Chapter 13. Hand-Held Children, The New Demographic
Chapter 15 Chapter 14. Long Lines And Smiles
Chapter 16 Chapter 15. Queue-Less In The Lobby
Chapter 17 Chapter 16. Frail And Hardy
Chapter 18 Chapter 17. What The Guards See
Chapter 19 Chapter 18. The Folks From Kazakhstan And Other Global Changes
Chapter 20 Chapter 19. Shout Out For The Library
Chapter 21 Chapter 20. Insights And The Performing Arts
Chapter 22 Chapter 21. Velcroed At The Ticket Window
Chapter 23 Chapter 22. The Upside Of Intermission
Chapter 24 Epilogue
Chapter 25 Bibliography
Chapter 26 Index

Margot Wallace correctly argues that there is no substitute for immersing yourself in your institution's visitor experience. She offers a range of ways to do that, all of which involve 'walking around' your museum in your own shoes and a few other people's shoes. You will, no doubt, be surprised by what you find—a lot more information than surveys, touch-screen polls, and interviews provide. This melding of observational research with more traditional quantitative and qualitative methods is already a major trend in retail research. Museum professionals cannot afford to fall behind this curve. The good news is you can put many of Wallace's ideas to work for you without hiring an expensive consultant or doubling the size of your research budget.