Motivations and the Value of Museums: Radical Differences (part II of The Value of Museums)

A museum's ability to affect someone in a meaningful way is closely tied to that individual's willingness to learn … and openness to new ideas and concepts.

That's a complicated statement. Allow me to repeat it.

A museum's ability to affect someone in a meaningful way is closely tied to that individual's willingness to learn … and openness to new ideas and concepts.

It's about mindset. And it means that the impact of museums disproportionately affects some visitors more than others.

Over the past few weeks, I've shared some findings from the 2017 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers about intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivations in museum-going. But how does that affect impact?

When I asked museum-goers to share with me their assessment of the value of museums in their life, there were clear differences based on their motivations around learning.


Intrinsically motivated museum-goers

These avid museum-goers were much more likely to share impacts that were about the societal benefits of museums. That is, they spoke often about minds being opened, connections engendered, understanding developed, and how museums contribute significantly to a sense of place. Overall, their comments were richer and more detailed, with more nuance and emotion.

They also spoke of personal benefits, and were about twice as likely to say museums made them more curious, enriched them, or were good for their mental health. Additionally, many made general statements about museums. In both cases, these types of answers were more likely to be in addition to the societal benefits.

Two randomly selected examples:

• "They have helped me understand other cultures; allowed me to experience beauty in many forms; broadened my world view; and taught me much about life- now and in the past."
• "Museums give you a sense of both continuities and changes over time.  They open your mind to endless contemplation of all the relationships, both within a given period between various aspects of each culture, and between cultures and over time. Connecting and patterns in material culture, economics, environment, science and politics and how each influences the others is the most rewarding kind of learning and museums do that best."

Extrinsically motivated museum-goers

First, extrinsically-motivated museum-goers were more likely to skip my question entirely. Response rates fell from 72% of intrinsically-motivated museum-goers to only 57% of the most extrinsically motivated.  Fewer of them were able to comment in the first place, which is telling.

When it came to those who did respond, there were two areas where they particularly stood out.

1 - They were about 60% more likely to focus on museums being beneficial to their children. (Note: I distinguished between those who said museums benefit all children, a societal benefit, from those who said museums benefited their children, a personal benefit.) That means parents responding to the survey are disproportionately extrinsically motivated (something you'll hear a lot more about soon). Randomly selected example of this type of comment:

• "I went often as a child to museums and zoos and now I seek those same opportunities for my children."

2 - They were about a third more likely to mention museums as merely places of learning, without any kind of context for why that mattered (that is, no personal or societal benefit). Randomly selected example of this type of comment:

• "Yes, I've learned many things in/from museums that I would have never learned from school, TV, books."

Given their extrinsic motivations around learning, which is learning to meet a personal need, it isn't a surprise that their responses reflected those needs.  And, indeed, I would argue that I'm thrilled that parents and caregivers choose to visit museums to benefit their children, or that some museum-goers value the education provided in museums (even if they don't articulate why that learning has mattered to them). They are visiting museums, and that's the most important thing.


Extending meaning-making to all audiences

Deeply meaningful, powerful, even transformative experiences in museums are more likely to happen to those who are intrinsically motivated. This is clear from the types of experiences they have had in museums, and it is also clear from the impact they have derived from those experiences. It is also clear from their mindset, as they typically approach museums with an openness to change, or transformation:

• "At any age even when revisiting an exhibit be it in an art, or history or science museum each time I approach the exhibit I get a fresh perspective that speaks to me to tell me how much I've changed as a human being. When approached from this perspective the experience becomes a dialog rather than a static clinical exhibition."

​But therein lies a challenge, as it means that we are disproportionately affecting the faithful: the minority of visitors that are intrinsically motivated.

Yet I see this as an opportunity: there is a pretty significant captive audience in our museums, every day, that we can reach.

It's not going to be easy.  After all, what we want to deliver doesn't match up with the actual, most pressing needs of these visitors. A parent or caregiver visiting for their child's enrichment isn't coming in with the mindset that they may have a transformative experience themselves … therefore, they are less likely to.

There is also something else, which you may have ascertained as you read this: life stage matters. It matters a lot. So does socio-economic status, educational attainment, age, and other factors. I have two more research releases on the value of museums, but after that, I'll begin exploring different segments of museum-goers through life stage and demographic lenses. Those lenses will give much more depth and complexity to individual motivations, and the value of museums. They will also give us a better sense of how to measure impact and articulate our value to broader audiences … and attract new audiences along the way by better matching our marketing to their explicit, extrinsic needs.




A note about fielding research. I hold dear the idea that research for the field, about the field, should be shared with the field. But that only works when museums work together to make it possible. Since individual museums are needed to field this work, the survey also benefits participating museums on an individual level by providing benchmark data on visitation rates, motivations, attitudes and preferences, and demographic questions … all of which can then be tracked over time in the future. Participating museums are also allowed to add 1 - 2 custom questions specific to their needs. 

Which means if you value this research,  want more of it in the coming years, and want to track your own museum's progress over time, please support this work by enrolling your museum in the 2018 Annual Survey of Museum Goers. The fee for 2018 is only $1,000 per museum. 


The questions for this survey have been inspired by ongoing conversations within the museum field (who does/does not go to museums, why they do/do not visit, and what that means for communities) and ongoing research in the fields of education and psychology around lifelong learning and intrinsic motivation.