Museums need visitors to be sustainable. The challenge is that museums are competing with a myriad of other activities potential visitors can do in their limited leisure time (Heuken et al., 2021: 167). To build audiences, museums can reach out to new, first time visitors and/or encourage repeat visitors. Ideally a bit of both.
What kind of visitor are you? Do you visit the same museum again and again, or are you more one and done?
There tends to be an assumption that repeat visitors return to the same museum because they were satisfied with their previous experience (Brida et al., 2014: 2835) but as we all know, things are rarely that simple.
Think about this for yourself. Maybe you returned to a museum to share it with a friend, to keep your kid entertained, or visiting museums is just what you like to do with your spare time. But, maybe you had an incredible experience at a museum that you visited as part of a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and you would like to return, but the cost is just too high to repeat your visit. The thing is, there is very little research into first time and repeat visitors (Brida et al., 2014; Heuken et al., 2021). Each museum is also unique, so the differences between first time and repeat visitors vary significantly depending on the context.
Here are the trends.
The social situation matters. Visitors are likely to return to the same museum if they are visiting with a friend or family member (Brida et al., 2014: 2834). You have probably done this – think of those places you take friends and family when they visit, or where they take you when you visit them. In one case study, repeat visitors were more likely to visit with children compared to first time visitors; the authors suspected this might be because parents were coming on their own and then returning to share the exhibit with their children later (Heuken et al., 2021: 178).
Interest in the subject matter is important. One Italian study noted that repeat visitors were generally motivated by the subject matter on site (Brida et al., 2014: 2836). Another study found that visitors who had a higher interest in the subject matter of the exhibit were more likely to return (sometimes twice or more) compared to first time visitors (Heuken et al., 2021: 176). So, say there was an exhibit about frogs; the more passionate you were about frogs the more likely you were to return not only once, but multiple times.
Experience counts. Some people visit museums a lot, and there is evidence to suggest these “experienced visitors” are more likely to also be repeat visitors to a given exhibit (Heuken et al., 2021: 175). In a German case study, repeat visitors were more selective with their engagement in the exhibit – they stopped less often but when they did stop, they engaged more deeply compared to first time visitors (ibid.).
Why is this connection important? This suggests that first time and repeat visitors behave differently in museums. An experienced visitor might be more confident in how they navigate the museum, comfortable in the museum environment, and be a person who has built museum visits into their leisure time. Being a museum person is part of their identity, so of course they will want to go back again and again.
By contrast, a first time visitor might rarely visit a museum so might need more time to get their bearings. In the study from Italy, they found that a perception of the museum as a unique place is what separated first time visitors from repeat visitors (Brida et al., 2014: 2835). This suggests that first time visitors experience a museum visit as something unusual or out of the ordinary.
These studies are useful but…
Every museum is different! The studies cited cover only three museums (two in Italy, one in Germany) and their findings are not a monolith. Some of their findings were even opposites. At the two Italian museums, they found repeat visitors were more likely to visit on weekdays (Brida et al, 2014: 2833), but in the German study repeat visitors were more likely to visit on weekends (Heuken et al., 2021: 175). This difference is likely related to the visitor demographics since families with young children were more likely to be repeat visitors in the German study, it makes sense that they would visit on weekends (ibid: 178). This highlights that each museum is unique and to better understand the first time and repeat visitors to your museum, you will need to do your own research.
Things to Take Away
Even though case studies on first time and repeat visitors are site specific, here are some ideas you can take away:
- Offer special events, new activities, and temporary exhibitions to encourage repeat visitation (Heuken et al., 2021: 170). Give those experienced visitors a bit of variety, and a chance to engage with your museum more deeply.
- Get to know your first time and repeat visitors better by getting curious. Ask the repeat visitors about the exhibits they enjoy and the other museums they like to visit. Learn more about what your first time visitors need to feel comfortable and confident in your museum.
- First time and repeat visitors are not mutually exclusive. In many cases, a repeat visitor is bringing a first time visitor, because they want to share the museum experience with them.
Do you want to know more about this topic or do you have a suggestion for a future blog topic? Email me your comments, questions, suggestions, and ideas at tara@tmvisitorstudies.com
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Citations
Brida, J.G., Disegna, M. and Scuderi, R. (2014) “The behaviour of repeat visitors to museums: review and empirical findings,” Quality & Quantity : International Journal of Methodology, 48(5), pp. 2817–2840. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-013-9927-0.
Heuken, N., Schüder, A.-L. and Christian, A. (2021) “Differences between First-Time and Repeat Visitors in a Special Exhibition at a Natural History Museum,” Visitor Studies, 24(2), pp. 166–183. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10645578.2021.1907150.
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