Marketing for Real and Virtual Museums: A marketing Model to Explain Visitor Behavior in Real Museums and an Outlook on its Applicability to Virtual Museums

The purpose of this study is to obtain more insight into the explanation and prognosis of consumer behavior in real and virtual museums. The analysis focuses on the influence of the museum environment on the museum patrons (rather than on the influence of the art objects). On the basis of the emotional approach to environmental psychology by Mehrabian and Russell (1974), a behavior model has been developed for museums. The model, which is based on the emotional variables pleasure, arousal and dominance (PAD), is also enhanced by cognitive variabies (learning attractiveness, education standard and information demand). The enhancement of the classical model was necessary because cognitive variables play a major role in cultural institutions such as museums: One important objective of museums is the communication of cultural knowledge to visitors. The model is tested empirically using structural equation modeling. 301 visitors were interviewed individually. Two different museum environments were represented using visual stimuli. The theoretical model for museums can be proved empirically. The degree to which the model fits the empirical data was extensively tested. The model showed high compatibility with the data and could be accepted. The study proves that a model can be developed, which explains visitor behavior in museums. The model shows museum designers how museums should be designed to be both emotionally appealing and a learning environment. Based on empirical studies in virtual stores on the Internet, it is discussed whether the research findings in these environments may be applied to virtual museum environments. In order to create an emotionally appealing virtual museum, it is recommended that one uses a 3-dimensional representation to offer various possibilities for interaction and to create a multi-sensual environment that appears highly realistic.