International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research

Emotions and visitors’ satisfaction at a museum

Giacomo Del Chiappa Luisa Andreu Martina G. Gallarza
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Giacomo Del Chiappa Luisa Andreu Martina G. Gallarza , (2014),"Emotions and visitors’ satisfaction at a museum",
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 8 Iss 4 pp. 420 - 431
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 Emotions and visitors’ satisfaction at a
museum
Giacomo Del Chiappa, Luisa Andreu and Martina G. Gallarza
Giacomo Del Chiappa is
an Assistant Professor of
Marketing based at
Downloaded by MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY At 06:11 25 February 2015 (PT)
University of Sassari and
CRENoS, Sassari, Italy.
Luisa Andreu is an
Associate Professor of
Marketing and
Martina G. Gallarza is a
Lecturer, both are based
at Departamento de
Comerciaización e
Investigación de
Mercados, University of
Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Received 21 March 2014
Revised 29 July 2014
Accepted 4 August 2014
The authors acknowledge the
financial contribution of the
Fondazione Banco di
Sardegna (Project: “Il turismo
museale in Sardegna: criticità
ed opportunità,” Prot.
2055/2011.0044) and would
also like to thank the
personnel of the museum for
their support in organising the
process of data collection.
PAGE 420 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH
Abstract
Purpose – This research aims to investigate whether emotions can be considered as a suitable
variable to segment visitors at a museum. Furthermore, it seeks to analyse whether emotions influence
visitor satisfaction and whether this depends on objective variables (such as age, gender and level of
education) or not.
Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was developed and data were collected
at the National Museum of Archaeology “G.A. Sanna” in Sardinia (Italy) via 410 face-to-face interviews.
Hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses and a series of chi-squared tests were run for the
purpose of the study.
Findings – Two segments were identified. The cluster with the higher positive emotions reported
perceiving a higher level of attractiveness and uniqueness at the museum, and of being more satisfied
than the other group. Furthermore, no significant differences were reported between the two segments
based on socio-demographic characteristics.
Research limitations/implications – The study is site-specific. The application of the study to other
museums would allow for wider generalisations to be made from the results obtained.
Practical implications – Managers should market and position museums as an emotionally driven
experience consumption site. Furthermore, they should consider both cognitive and emotional aspects
of visitor experience when designing and planning their businesses, as well as when assessing the
visitor’s satisfaction.
Originality/value – This study adds to the growing literature on emotions as a tool for segmentation and
positioning, and suggests that cognitive and emotional aspects should be considered simultaneously
when measuring visitors’ satisfaction. Further, it suggests that emotions are more significant than
cognitive aspects in shaping visitors’ satisfaction.
Keywords Satisfaction, Cluster analysis, Experience, Authenticity, Segmentation, Museums,
Emotions
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In the last decade, museums have been struggling due to increased competition and are
scrambling for funds due to a reduction in government support (American Association of
Museums, 2012). This explains why museums are becoming increasingly market-oriented,
paying greater attention to the wishes and needs of their visitors and the experience that
they are in search of. A good example of how museums are reorienting their offer toward
the visitors’ needs and desires is the Dallas Museum of Art. Here, a stage was placed in the
centre of the main gallery (with continuing music, dance and dramatic performances) and
workshops on the cuisine of Normandy and art history lectures were organised with the aim
of delivering experiences and bringing the exhibition to life (Sheets, 2010). Museums have
been starting to also use information and communications technologies (ICTs), social
media and augmented reality to enhance experiences for visitors and non-visitors alike and
to engage patrons (American Association of Museums, 2012). Quite recently, Sukiennice
museum in Poland made use of smartphones and quick response (QR) codes to bring
VOL. 8 NO. 4, 2014, pp. 420-431, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/IJCTHR-03-2014-0024
 paintings to life and to avoid the stigma that museums are boring, as is often the case,
especially when young visitors are considered. Specifically, at Sukiennice, visitors can use
their mobile phone to scan the paintings; when they do so, it uses augmented reality to act
out scenes from the paintings. These and other initiatives are examples of how museums,
to maintain their competitiveness, are changing the way they approach their target,
becoming more able to deliver experiences and to inspire emotions than effectively present
“objectives.”
As recently stated by Sheng and Chen (2012, p. 53):
In modern times, museums serve the functions of collection, research and exhibition, as well as
education and recreation. They have gradually acquired visitor-based roles instead of museum
based roles. Thus, the need for visitor studies has emerged.

This shift from product orientation to consumer orientation has been longer to come for
researchers interested in museums than in any other tourism service. Indeed, among the
many tourism experiences, museums “are relatively under-researched in the tourism
management field” (Siu et al., 2013, p. 293). Nevertheless, this double function (knowledge
and entertainment) corresponds to the twofold approach to modern consumer behaviour:
cognitive and affective elements are simultaneously at a play. In this sense, museums can
be considered as fully experiential tourism products (Ritchie et al., 2011). For a complete
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understanding of tourist behaviour when visiting museums, it is important to investigate

consumers’ motivations, and it is important to investigate consumers’ motivations,
satisfaction and loyalty when visiting a destination to experience its cultural and museums
heritage (Del Chiappa et al., 2013; Laing et al., 2014; Sheng and Chen, 2012). Furthermore,
it is reasonable to expect that the higher the satisfaction, the greater the likelihood that
consumers will repeat their visit to a destination (Kozak, 2001) – including museums –
and/or recommend it to others (Anderson et al., 1994; Harrison and Shaw, 2004), thus
producing relevant benefits for the local economy and community (Oppermann, 2000). This
explains why researchers concur that it is relevant to investigate what motivates individuals
to visit museums (Thyne, 2001), what they expect when visiting and what makes them
satisfied with their experience (Gil and Ritchie, 2009). In this sense, museum experience
can be understood as the combination of time and space within a tourism destination, it is
a spatial activity where a cohabitation of tourists and residents exists, both of them in a
search of authenticity.
In a broader sense, for consumer behaviour researchers, over the years, satisfaction has
always been viewed as a cornerstone of marketing thought and practice (Mano and Oliver,
1993; Oliver, 1997). On the one hand, within satisfaction research, emotions are considered
key drivers (Westbrook and Oliver, 1991) of a holistic understanding of post-consumption
behaviour. Accordingly, visitors who feel positive emotions are more satisfied (Bigné and
Andreu, 2004). This explains why recent research strongly suggests that cognitive and
emotional aspects of a consumer’s experience and consumption should be simultaneously
considered when measuring visitor satisfaction at a museum (de Rojas and Camarero,
2008). On the other hand, this also explains why the conceptualisation of the emotion
construct as a segmentation variable has received considerable theoretical support (Bigné
and Andreu, 2004; Bigné et al., 2008a). Similar to psychographic segmentation,
segmentation based on emotions could be very useful for determining the type of
experience the visitor is expecting and why (Thyne, 2001).
Despite this, there is still little research aimed at specifically investigating the ability of using
emotions as a segmentation tool for a better understanding of visitor satisfaction behaviour.
Hence, further theoretical and empirical studies are needed to demonstrate the use of
emotions as a segmentation variable, and to test their affinity with satisfaction (Liljander and
Strandvik, 1997). Following previous studies (Bigné and Andreu, 2004), this research was
carried out to contribute to filling this gap, specifically with regard to museums. With this
aim in mind, after providing a literature review on the role of emotions in tourist consumer
behaviour, an empirical analysis of a representative sample of 410 visitors to the

VOL. 8 NO. 4 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 421
 Archaeological Museum “G.A. Sanna” in Sassari, Italy, is presented. After applying both
hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses, results are discussed, with a careful
look at how emotions can be considered valuable tools for approaching the more
sophisticated needs and behaviour of contemporary tourists. In the end, implications for
both researchers and managers are proposed.

Literature review
Consumer satisfaction is a concept that was widely debated in consumer behaviour
literature during the 1980s and 1990s (Oliver, 1980, 1997). This debate has had an
important resonance among tourism researchers, both conceptually and methodologically
(Kozak, 2001; Ryan, 1995; Yuksel and Yuksel, 2001). Given the multidimensional nature of
tourism services (Maunier and Camelis, 2013), it could be argued that consumers seek
experiences which are able to satisfy different needs simultaneously, most of which are
often affective-based (Bigné et al., 2008b; Clarke, 2013; Jamal et al., 2011; Laing et al.,
2014).
Many studies have suggested definitions of satisfaction without any real consensus (Giese
and Cote, 2000), thus leading to a certain level of ambiguity as to its conceptual nature
(Babin and Griffin, 1998). Basically, satisfaction has been traditionally considered to be
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influenced by cognitive antecedents and a result of the comparison between a subjective

experience and a prior base of reference (Oliver, 1980). That said, in tourism-related
literature, it could be argued that, for the most part, tourism decision models have
traditionally focused on tourist rationality, disregarding the importance of affective
elements, and therefore considerably limiting a proper understanding of these processes
(Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). Nowadays, after some comprehensive works devoted to
understanding the emotions associated with tourism (Bigné et al., 2008b; Hosany, 2011;
Hosany and Gilbert, 2010; Hosany and Prayag, 2013), rationality no longer dominates
tourism research. As a consequence, the tourism-related literature acknowledges that
there are multiple ways of understanding and defining the nature and scope of the tourist
experience (Laing et al., 2014). Among them, in contrast with the information-processing
paradigm – in which consumer behaviour is objective and rational – the experiential
paradigm highlights the intrinsically personal relativity of consumption behaviour, and
presents consumer behaviour as pursuing the more subjective, emotional and symbolic
aspects of consumption (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook, 1999; Woodward and
Holbrook, 2013). Furthermore, when applied to tourism and hospitality settings, experiential
approaches highlight the importance of uniqueness and authenticity – two interrelated
constructs (Sharpley, 1994) – “in shaping interpretation to, and satisfaction with, the tourism
experience” (Ritchie et al., 2011, p. 434).
The fact that cognitive models are limited in their ability to account for satisfaction
evaluations and subsequent behaviours (Bagozzi, 1997) is particularly relevant when
experiential services, including hedonic services, are considered (Hosany and Gilbert,
2010; Mattila and Enz, 2002), as is the suggestion of considering emotional variables when
modelling consumers’ satisfaction/dissatisfaction processes (Bigné et al., 2005; Bigné et
al., 2008a; Liljander and Strandvik, 1997; Prayag et al., 2013). This is the case for museums
where “the inclusion of emotions in the concept of satisfaction is particularly relevant given
that the majority of services are based upon consumers’ participation and experiences” (de
Rojas and Camarero, 2008, p. 526).
Using this idea as a basis, several researchers found that visitor’s satisfaction at an
attraction such as a museum is not merely influenced by the technical aspect of the product
itself, but also by the emotional, cognitive and social values associated with it (Caldwell,
2002; Martín-Ruiz et al., 2010; Rowley, 1999). Similar to the study by Martín-Ruiz et al.
(2010), Gil and Ritchie (2009) found affective and emotional dimensions of service
experience and image (being with people, enjoying social interaction, etc.) have a greater
influence on a visitor’s image of a museum than the cognitive dimension (quality, general

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 appearance, museum shop, etc.). In this sense, acknowledging the need of this holistic
and multidimensional approach to consumption in museums is related to the so-called
“servicespace” notion.
In marketing literature (both tourism and non-tourism related), the relevant role that
servicescape exerts in shaping consumers’ emotion, service quality, satisfaction and
behavioural intentions is widely recognised (Andreu et al., 2006; Bitner, 1992; Harris
and Ezeh, 2008; Hooper et al., 2013; Kirk and Blodgett, 1994; Lin and Liang, 2011; Lin and
Mattila, 2010; Slatten et al., 2011). In the specific context of museums, Jeong and Lee
(2006) showed that a consumer’s emotional affect is influenced by the environmental
attributes of the museum, which acts as a mediating variable shaping their satisfaction. A
possible explanation could be that the, museum’s environmental attributes, together with
the visitor’s characteristics, can cause so-called “museum fatigue,” thereby reducing the
visitor’s interest towards exhibits and consequently boring them (Davey, 2005).
Specifically, Jeong and Lee (2006) consider three categories of environmental attributes –
namely, exhibition environment, ambient environment and museum size – and conclude
emotional affect is positively influenced by the exhibition environment (for instance, the
methods of exhibition, content of exhibits, illumination and rest areas) and negatively
influenced by the ambient environment (for instance, density of visitors, noise, complexity
of circulation and thermal comfort). Contrariwise, museum size (the net size of the exhibition
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area and the total staying time) is the factor that exerts the greatest influence on fatigue
(Jeong and Lee, 2006).
The aforementioned considerations explain why the conceptualisation of the emotion
construct as a segmentation variable has received considerable theoretical support (Bigné
et al., 2008a; Bigné and Andreu, 2004). As broadly acknowledged, emotions are affective
variables characterised by their intensity and are formed in response to a specific referent
or appraisal one makes of something (Bagozzi et al., 1999). Specifically, consumption
emotions can be broadly defined as:
[. . .] the set of emotional responses elicited specifically during product usage or consumption
experiences, as described either by the distinctive categories of emotional experience and
expression (e.g. joy, anger and fear) or by the structural dimensions underlying emotional
categories, such as pleasantness/unpleasantness, relaxation/action or calmness/excitement
(Westbrook and Oliver, 1991, p. 85).

Several researchers have investigated the use of emotions as a segmentation variable by

using a specific measurement instrument. Previous literature offers three principal
approaches to measure emotions. The first approach suggests that emotional states exist
in bipolar categories (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974; Russell, 1980), and are comprised of
three constitutive dimensions of emotions: pleasure– displeasure; arousal–non-arousal; and
dominance–submissiveness. The second approach views all emotions as originating from
a relatively small number of basic emotions. Izard (1977) proposes the coexistence of ten
fundamental discrete emotions: interest, joy, anger, contempt, disgust, shame, guilt,
sadness, fear and surprise. Based on Izard’s (1977) study, the third approach – which is
the one retained for this investigation – takes into consideration that separate positive and
negative affect dimensions are useful in understanding consumer reactions (Babin and
Attaway, 2000; Bagozzi and Moore, 1994).
In terms of segmentation, previous empirical studies on consumer segmentation use a
discrete approach (Oliver and Westbrook, 1993; Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). For
example, Liljander and Strandvik (1997) used the literature and previous studies of labour
force bureaus to demarcate four consumer segments on the basis of seven affective
attributes: happy, hopeful, positively surprised, angry, depressed, guilty and humiliated.
Bigné and Andreu (2004) measured emotions based on Russell’s bi-dimensional approach
(Russell, 1980), which reflects the degree to which different individuals incorporate
subjective experiences of pleasure and arousal into their emotional experiences (Barrett,
1998). Bigné and Andreu (2004) also proposed that emotions (pleasure and arousal) were

VOL. 8 NO. 4 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 423
 an adequate variable for visitor segmentation. Despite this, it can be argued that the variety
and richness of the nature of emotions means that further empirical studies are needed to
demonstrate their use as a segmentation variable for museum visitors, and to further test
their affinity with satisfaction (Liljander and Strandvik, 1997). This study aims at filling this
gap by presenting and discussing an empirical analysis of a representative sample of 410
visitors to the Archaeological Museum “G.A. Sanna.” In particular, the study aims at
answering the following research questions:
RQ1. Is the level of overall satisfaction with the museum different from the level of
emotions experienced at the museum?
RQ2. Do perceptions of attractiveness and uniqueness differ between groups of guests
according to their higher or lower level of emotional behaviour?
RQ3. Do customers with different demographic characteristics (e.g. gender, age and
educational level) have a similar emotional attitude towards the museum
experience? And are these emotions dependent on objective variables (such as
age, gender and level of education), or do they belong to an uppermost level of
abstraction, where the objective traits of the consumer makes no difference?

Methodology
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The National Museum of Archaeology “G.A. Sanna” in Sardinia, Italy, was selected as the
research site for the present study. Empirical data were collected by gathering relevant
information from both residents and tourists. The reasons for choosing museums as a
tourism experience are twofold:

1. it is a leisure product and a priori source of stimuli for emotions; and

2. they possess economic importance, representing a source of income for attracting
tourists.
We decided to use a questionnaire based on prior research (Solomon et al., 1999), which
supports the use of questionnaires for gathering consumption emotion information. The
questions were divided into four main categories: visitors’ socio-demographic variables;
emotional variables; consumers’ perception of the museum; and overall satisfaction. In the
first part, respondents were asked to give some general socio-demographic information,
namely, gender, age, level of education, income, civil status and country of residence. The
second part included 12 questions aimed at investigating their emotional affect during the
visit (based on a five-point Likert scale: 1 ⫽ not at all, 5 ⫽ very much). The emotions to
which we referred were drawn based on prior literature (Bigné and Andreu, 2004; Gil and
Ritchie, 2009; Paul, 2009; Russell, 1980). These were confirmed/integrated based on two
focus groups, in which participants were invited to discuss experiencing emotions when
visiting a museum. Specifically, results of focus groups confirmed ten emotions we were
considering, including in the survey based on prior literature. Further, they were suggesting
the addition of two more emotions: “losing the sense of time” and “feeling guided and
directed.” The third part included a series of dichotomic questions (yes/no) aimed at
investigating consumers’ perception of the museum as being attractive, unique and
authentic. The fourth part included one item aimed at assessing the visitors’ satisfaction
with their visit (5-point Likert scale: 1 ⫽ very unsatisfied, 5 ⫽ very satisfied).
Empirical data on visitors’ experiences at the Sanna Museum were gathered via
face-to-face interviews held between August and November in 2011. The questionnaires
were administered in situ after the interviewee had visited the museum. Respondents were
selected with a quota random sampling procedure based on age and gender, so as to
capture heterogeneous demographic features. Although this procedure may lead to bias
(as not everyone gets a chance to be selected), it does overcome the potential bias derived
from a random sample procedure, as the trial may be likely to over-represent specific
demographic characteristics. Based on visitor flows in the previous equivalent months, a
minimum number of 357 participants was set as a target. In the end, 410 interviews were

PAGE 424 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH VOL. 8 NO. 4 2014
 successfully conducted by three trained interviewers directly supervised by the authors
and with the support of museum personnel, who were particularly committed to the topic of
this research.

Findings and discussion

Descriptive statistics on the sample show that typical visitors to the Sanna Museum are
mainly regional residents (39 per cent), followed by national tourists (27 per cent),
European travellers (34 per cent) and intercontinental travellers (4 per cent). Furthermore,
they are mainly female (54 per cent), middle-aged (30 per cent), married (54 per cent) and
employed (42.9 per cent), with a high school diploma (49.6 per cent) and an annual income
of between 26,000 and 50,000 euro (42.5 per cent).
The identification of visitor segments necessitates an analysis of whether or not emotions
are adequate for that purpose. This study considers 12 feelings in a cluster analysis (Punj
and Stewart, 1983) with a dual process – hierarchical and non-hierarchical methods – to
obtain benefits from each of them (Hair et al., 1995). An agglomeration schedule was
obtained by means of a hierarchical cluster analysis using Ward’s method. Because the
largest increases were observed in the step from the first cluster to the second (16.47 per
cent), a two-cluster solution was selected. The second step uses non-hierarchical
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techniques (e.g. k-means algorithm) to adjust the results from the hierarchical procedures.
Using the initial seed points from the results in the hierarchical cluster, the k-means cluster
defined two groups. Information essential to the interpretation and profiling stages is
provided in Table I, which shows the final cluster centres and provides the mean value
(centroid) of each of the 12 emotional variables for each cluster.
An evaluation of the profiles uncovers the emotional dimensions. Similar to the hierarchical
method, the 12 cluster variables displayed differences between the clusters, thus confirming
the hierarchical results. Looking at the final cluster centres, Cluster 1 displays lower positive
emotions and higher negative emotions in comparison to the second cluster. These findings
suggest that segmenting consumers according to emotional experiences is feasible.
A series of chi-squared tests were run to verify if significant differences exist between how
visitors perceive the attractiveness and uniqueness of the museum based on the emotions
they experienced during their visit.
Overall, Table II shows that the visitors in Cluster 2 perceive the attractiveness and uniqueness
of the museum as being higher than those belonging to Cluster 1. Group 1 perceived a higher
level of attractiveness (␹2 ⫽ 5.488, p ⬍ 0.05). However, Group 2 offers higher values in
perceiving the museum as a place that “makes you think” (␹2 ⫽ 7.075, p ⬍ 0.01), as
“fascinating” (␹2 ⫽ 21.858, p ⬍ 0.01) and as an “authentic attraction” (␹2 ⫽ 3.190, p ⬍ 0.05).

Table I Segmenting visitor at a museum based on emotions

Group 1 Group 2
Emotions (N ⫽ 165) (N ⫽ 245) t Significance

Did you feel lost or disoriented? 1.63 1.25 4.934* 0.000

Did you feel tired or discomforted? 1.54 1.25 4.173* 0.000
Did you lose the notion of time? 1.87 2.64 ⫺6.473* 0.000
Did you feel bored at all? 1.70 1.18 7.598* 0.000
Did you learn something new? 3.18 4.04 ⫺9.753* 0.000
Did you feel guided or directed? 2.04 3.24 ⫺13.014* 0.000
Did you feel at ease and safe? 3.29 4.14 ⫺9.638* 0.000
Were you astonished by anything? 2.68 3.83 ⫺12.220* 0.000
Were you ever tense or nervous? 1.44 1.09 5.723* 0.000
Did you feel like you were wasting your time? 1.46 1.04 7.059* 0.000
Did you experience enjoyable feelings? 2.95 3.74 ⫺10.347* 0.000
Did you have fun? 2.95 3.78 ⫺10.128* 0.000
Notes: *Significant at 0.01 level; the italics shows when the mean value is higher

VOL. 8 NO. 4 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 425
 Table II Attractiveness/uniqueness of the experience at the museum by level of
emotionalism
Group 1 Group 2
(n ⫽ 165) (n ⫽ 245)
Statements (%) (%) ␹2 Significance

The museum is just a tourist attraction 57.5 42.5 5.488** 0.019

The museum is unique in the world 37.6 62.4 0.808 0.369
The museum is a place that makes
you think 38.3 61.7 7.075* 0.008
The museum is a way to describe a
historical era 39.6 60.4 1.721 0.190
The museum is a fascinating attraction 35.5 64.5 21.858* 0.000
The museum is an authentic attraction 38.8 61.2 3.190** 0.074
Notes: *Significant at the 0.01 level; **significant at 0.05 level; the italics shows when the percentage
is higher

Overall, these findings seem to suggest that the higher the level of emotional affect, the
more consumers perceive the museum as being a fascinating and authentic place, thus
confirming authenticity in tourism as an emotionally driven dimension (Chronis and
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Hampton, 2008).
Statistical analysis showed that Clusters 1 and 2 show significant variance (t ⫽ ⫺4.221,
p ⬍ 0.01) in the visitors’ overall level of satisfaction with their visits to the museum, with
Cluster 2 being more satisfied (Mean: 4.17) than Cluster 1 (Mean: 3.74); this confirms that
emotions affect satisfaction levels (Bigné and Andreu, 2004; Jeong and Lee, 2006; Ryan,
1995).
Finally, a series of chi-squared tests were run to apprehend whether consumers with
different demographic characteristics, namely, gender, age, educational level and
geographical status (resident vs European visitors), have a similar emotional attitude
towards the museum experience. Findings reveal that no differences exist between the two
clusters based on gender (␹2 ⫽ 0.004, p ⫽ 0.947), mean age (t ⫽ 0.873, p ⫽ 0,873), level
of education (␹2 ⫽ 0.579, p ⫽ 0.965), employment status (␹2 ⫽ 4.176, p ⫽ 0.841) or
geographical status (␹2 ⫽ 2.319, p ⫽ 0.128). This allows us to affirm that emotions are not
dependent on objective variables (such as age, gender or level of education), and that they
appear to belong to an uppermost level of abstraction, in which the objective traits of the
consumer makes no difference.

Conclusion and implications

In the specific context of an archaeological museum – where an emotion-based
segmentation approach has not been applied before in the literature – our findings confirm
that, by using hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analysis, emotions are adequate for
consumer segmentation. Two different segments were identified based on the level of
emotions that they experienced during their visit. Specifically, the cluster with the higher
positive feeling and emotions (Cluster 2) was reported as perceiving the museum to have
a higher level of attractiveness and uniqueness, and of being more satisfied than the other
group (Cluster 1). This confirms that emotions can be a determinant of satisfaction
(de Rojas and Camarero, 2008). Furthermore, the fact that no significant differences were
reported based on socio-demographic characteristics seems to suggest that emotions
account, more than “objectivism,” in shaping visitors’ satisfaction at a museum, with
emotions belonging to an uppermost level of abstraction, whereby the objective traits of the
consumer make no difference. These findings are in line with the extant literature, which
states that variables traditionally considered for segmentation are no longer useful for
identifying differentiated groups of customers (Story and Hess, 2006). Broadly speaking,
our findings add to a body of knowledge which suggests that cognitive and emotional

PAGE 426 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH VOL. 8 NO. 4 2014
 aspects should be considered simultaneously when developing models to measure
consumer satisfaction at museums (de Rojas and Camarero, 2008).
Aside from the contribution to the body of knowledge that arose from the aforementioned
conclusions, the findings of this study have a number of practical implications in marketing
for those involved in attraction management and marketing. Marketing managers need to
re-emphasise how customers feel about their experience of service delivery by paying
greater attention to what could be done to inspire their emotions during the visit.
Segmenting visitors on the basis of emotional feeling and tracking their emotions over time
in the post-consumption phase would constitute a relevant measure to assess visitors’
experiences and satisfaction. In the case of museums, where a mixture of hedonic and
functional motivations may be aroused in the consumer, the search for new competitive
advantages can come from the firm’s rational performance, in alignment with the emotions
generated in the customer. For example, a too sensorial visit (involving touching, hearing
and looking experiences) might be considered as inefficient in terms of time or money,
whereas an excellent performance provided in a punctual manner might be judged as
uninteresting or cold. Broadly speaking, in an attempt to attract more visitors, managers
should market and position a museum as an emotionally driven experience consumption
site (Kim and Chan, 2009). To achieve this aim, managers should consider both cognitive
and emotional aspects of visitors’ experiences when designing and planning their
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businesses (de Rojas and Camarero, 2008), so as to maximise their interest and
involvement. As a consequence, they should properly manage the way they present
cultural products to visitor (i.e. internal layout, walkways, informative panels and sounds),
and the way in which they create a context where the interpretation and the intangibles
which surround the cultural product (i.e. personalisation, the creation of a dialogue, offering
an opportunity of interaction between the staff and the visitor and between other visitors)
incentivise visitors to understand and “feel” the cultural heritage (de Rojas and Camarero,
2008). In doing this, museums could improve the overall visitor experience through minor
investment in improved ambient/physical factors (i.e. lighting, colour, scent, facilities and
signage) and design factors (i.e. spaciousness and traffic flow), thus avoiding investments
in other more costly aspects (i.e. impressive exteriors) that were found to be less important
in shaping visitor satisfaction (Bonn et al., 2007). Furthermore, the findings reveal the
importance of creating/maintaining an appropriate combination of processes, employees
and physical amenities that allow visitors to relax, learn something new and feel guided
throughout their visit, while avoiding any sensation of being tired or bored (Martín-Ruiz
et al., 2010). That said, our findings confirm that a better servicescape is not an option for
management, but a substantial aspect to inspire visitors’ emotions to elicit them in a
positive way as much as possible (Andreu et al., 2006; Lin and Mattila, 2010) and to
improve service quality (Hooper et al., 2013). However, managers should deal with all of the
aforementioned activities in a holistic way, and avoid generating a pure
“spectacularization” of the museum that may jeopardise its museological and professional
discourse (Zan, 2000).
Aside from the theoretical and managerial contributions of this study, there are some
limitations that ought to be mentioned. First, we have introduced a study of a concrete case
and a specific museum. The application of the study to other museums would allow for
wider generalisations to be made from the results obtained. Second, for the purpose of this
study, a limited range of scales was used to measure emotions. In future research, it would
be useful to broaden it by considering scales suggested in other studies (Ekinci et al., 2005;
Thomson et al., 2005). Third, one could argue that the emotional responses of consumers
can only be known after their visit. This suggests that future research is needed, based on
the cognitive appraisal theory (Hosany, 2011; Hosany and Prayag, 2013), to better
understand the causes of emotional responses. Fourth, it could be argued that in our study
consumer emotions were analysed using visitors’ perceived view of the physical
environment, rather than objective environmental measurements. Because of this, the
difference between the actual and perceived environment might have “obscured” the

VOL. 8 NO. 4 2014 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH PAGE 427
 findings. Finally, the study did not analyse the moderator effect that some variables can
exert on visitors’ satisfaction via emotional paths, such as the personality of visitors
(de Rojas and Camarero, 2008) or prior visitation, as well as the influence of emotional
effects on visitors’ loyalty. Future research should also address these points to progress in
deeper and wider knowledge of museum visitation as a form of tourism consumer
behaviour.

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About the authors

Giacomo Del Chiappa (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Department of
Economics and Business at the University of Sassari (Italy), and an Associate Researcher
at CRENoS. His research is related to destination governance and branding, consumer
behaviour and digital marketing. He has published articles in several international journals,
including the Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Tourism Research,
International Journal of Contemporary and Hospitality Management, Current Issues in
Tourism and Information Systems and E-Business Management. Giacomo Del Chiappa is
the corresponding author and can be contacted at: gdelchiappa@uniss.it
Luisa Andreu (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Department of Marketing
at the University of Valencia (Spain). Her research is related to consumer behaviour, social
responsibility, service marketing and digital marketing. She has published articles in
several international journals, including the Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism
Management, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing and Journal of Services Marketing.

Martina G. Gallarza (PhD) lectures in the Marketing Department of the University of

Valencia (Spain). She has formerly taught at the Catholic University of Valencia, where she
was the Dean of the Business Faculty. Her research interests include consumer behaviour,
non-profit marketing and services marketing. Particular, research areas focus on perceived
value. She has several published articles in the Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism
Management, International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Tourism
Review, Journal of Consumer Behaviour and International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit
Organizations.

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