International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing Volume 6 Number 3
Lifestyle segmentation and
museum/gallery visiting behaviour
Sarah Todd* and Rob Lawson
*Department of Marketing, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand;
Tel: ⫹64 3 479 8157; Fax: ⫹64 3 479 8172; e-mail: stodd@commerce.otago.ac.nz
Received (in revised form): 2nd February, 2001
Sarah Todd is a senior lecturer at the Univer-
sity of Otago (NZ) where she primarily teaches
and researches in the area of consumer be-
haviour. She has special interests in lifestyles
and values research, together with self-concept,
and is currently developing a research pro-
gramme looking at children’s consumption.
Rob Lawson is a professor of marketing at the
University of Otago (NZ). Much of his recent
research has involved values and lifestyles, and
he is the head of a major project looking at the
social impacts of tourism.
ABSTRACT
A number of variables have been used in the
quest to understand better who visits museums
and art galleries. This paper proposes the use of
lifestyle segmentation in an attempt to under-
stand how museum and art gallery visits fit in
with other aspects of the visitors’ life. Research to
date has tended to focus on those who actually
visit, but little has been done to enhance an
understanding of non-visitors. Lifestyle studies,
undertaken across a representative sample of a
population, offer the potential to understand not
only those who visit, but also those who do
not.
Seven segments result from this lifestyle
analysis of New Zealanders, with a significant
relationship evident between lifestyle grouping
and frequency of visits to museums and art
galleries. As each of these lifestyle segments also
demonstrates significantly different media charac-
teristics, there are important implications for the
placement and tone of promotional messages.
INTRODUCTION
Museums and art galleries are increasingly
having to compete for funds, and provide
evidence of their own attempts to attract
visitors and (hopefully) donations. No
longer are they just places for students of
history and art to visit, rather there is
increased emphasis on their operating in a
businesslike fashion. Unlike conventional
businesses though, they often rely fully on
funding from grants, bequests and visitor
donations or entry charges. As Sargeant’s
classification of nonprofit organisations
suggests, this places them alongside in-
stitutions such as hospitals and schools.1 In
similar fashion to many of these institu-
tions, there is a belief that museums and
art galleries are there for the ‘public good’.
Such a term is vague and ill-defined,
resulting in the barrier to improved
market performance experienced by many
nonprofit organisations reliant on public
donations, namely the lack of a well-
defined market.2
With museums in particular moving
towards providing not just an educa-
tional experience, but also an entertaining International Journal of Nonprofit
and Voluntary Sector Marketing,
one,3 there is now more of a need than Vol. 6 No. 3, 2001, pp. 269–277.
䉷Henry Stewart Publications,
ever before for museum and art gallery 1465–4520
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Lifestyle segmentation and museum/gallery visiting behaviour
management to understand their markets,
not just in terms of who they are, but also
in terms of their needs and wants. Re-
searching visitors to museums and galleries
is relatively easy, but finding out more
about those who do not visit, or do so
only very infrequently, poses more of a
problem for the individual organisation.
This paper proposes that the use of more
global lifestyle surveys offers the oppor-
tunity to find out about both the visitor
and the non-visitor, while also enhancing
an understanding of how visits to such
cultural centres fit in with the rest of the
visitor’s life.
In recent years, research into museum
and gallery visitors has focused more on
visitor experiences, with individual vari-
ables such as expectations, satisfaction and
information sources used being studied.
While motivations and resulting be-
haviour patterns have been considered,4
Thyne5 notes the scarcity of work using
psychographic variables to understand
visitors better. She found values, inferred
from a qualitative study of visitors’
motivations, offer informative insights
into not just why people chose to visit
museums but also into what they wanted
from their museum experience.
In the wider area of marketing,
and consumer behaviour in particular,
psychographic or lifestyle measures have
been found to give an enhanced
insight into organisations’ customers,
allowing more effective communication
and marketing programmes to be
implemented.6 The term ‘style of life’ was
coined over 50 years ago by Alfred Adler
to refer to the goals that people share and
the ways they use to reach them.7
Offering a more comprehensive view of
behaviour and the motives that underlie
many of the experiences chosen and
purchases made by consumers, they are
regarded as advantageous for market
segmentation. Constructing and profiling
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consumer lifestyles through AIO (at-
titudes, interests and opinions) schedules,
demographics and product usage has been
established since the 1970s8 and was first
applied in New Zealand in 1979.9
METHODOLOGY
Data for analysis in this study were taken
from the ‘New Zealand towards 2000’
database. This contains information from
3,773 New Zealanders’ responses to a
self-completion questionnaire. Conven-
tional AIO-type questions were asked,
together with a number of demographic
variables included for classification pur-
poses. A variable specifically asking about
frequency of visits to art galleries and
museums was also included. The ques-
tionnaire was administered via a mail
survey to a random sample of 10,800
individuals throughout New Zealand,
using a commercial mailing list. The
letters were personally addressed, and
reminder letters were sent out one week
after the initial mail out.
Eight hundred and sixty question-
naires were returned as undeliverable and
3,773 fully completed questionnaires were
returned for analysis, giving an effective
response rate of 37 per cent. This was
regarded as highly satisfactory given the
length and complexity of the question-
naire. Two slight biases were identified in
terms of age and ethnic composition.
Gender, income and geographic distribu-
tion were excellent. With respect to age,
there was a slight underrepresentation of
those aged 65 years and over, although no
one age group was overrepresented in the
sample. The most likely explanation for
this bias is the length and complexity of
the questionnaire, which may have been
off-putting for some older people, or
those for whom English is not their first
language. After weighting to account
for this underrepresentation, the respon-

dent profile is representative of New
Zealand’s population, based on 1996
census figures.
In order to check for non-response bias,
a sample check was carried out in the
suburbs of Roslyn and Wakari in west
Dunedin. (Dunedin is one of the five main
cities in New Zealand.) Based on census
data profiles, these suburbs are representa-
tive of the larger New Zealand population
in terms of age, income distibution and
education. Three hundred questionnaires
were delivered to every fifth household
selected on a random walk through the
areas. The person in the household aged
over 18 years old with the last birthday
was asked to complete the questionnaire.
Responses from this sample were then
checked with the rest of the sample and also
the Dunedin responses from the main
sample. Particular attention was paid to
the clustering variables for the segmenta-
tion analysis. Significant differences (at
p ⬍ 0.05) were identified for only seven of
the 171 AIO variables that were used for
clustering. This is less than would have
been expected to occur through random
variations, and no particular pattern could
be ascribed to the variables or the direction
of the differences.
RESULTS
Lifestyle segmentation
The lifestyle segmentation was achieved
using k-means non-hierarchical clustering
techniques on SPSS for Windows. Ran-
dom starting points were taken as cluster
centres, saved and then reclustered until
the number of cases changing cluster was
minimised. The seven-cluster solution sta-
bilised after nine iterations. Discriminant
analysis confirmed that the seven-group
solution was preferable. Correct classifica-
tion occurred for 87.29 per cent of the
cases, with 62 per cent of cases having at
Todd and Lawson
least 0.8 probability of being correctly
classified. This latter figure rises to 80 per
cent if 0.7 probability is used.
Cluster sizes were then weighted on the
basis of age and ethnicity, to compensate for
the aforementioned underrepresentation of
older New Zealanders and those from
ethnic minorities. Overall, the effect of the
weighting on individual clusters was minor,
with changes in segment sizes ranging from
0.3 per cent to 2.7 per cent.
Table 1 provides a brief profile of the
seven lifestyle clusters, based on their
major characteristics, and an indication of
the percentage of the population repre-
sented by each. Other information about
each segment pertinent to this particular
study is summarised below. (For a fuller
profile, see Reference (10).)
Active ‘family values’ people (15.5%)
Members of this segment are characterised
by values and activities which revolve
around traditional established codes, speci-
fically the family, church and community.
They hold traditional social, moral and
religious principles. Being strongly sup-
portive of the family unit, Active ‘family
values’ people spend a great deal of time
doing things with their children and
engaging in family outings. They are
low consumers of radio and television.
Demographically, those in this segment
are spread across all ages, although slightly
skewed towards people 55 years of age
and over. They represent a higher
proportion of large families, with three or
four dependent children still living at
home. Most are well educated and in (or
retired from) occupations which are
relatively high in terms of social status.
They are middle-income households with
one main income earner.
Conservative quiet lifers (13.5%)
The people comprising the conservative
quiet lifers are the oldest in the study.
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Lifestyle segmentation and museum/gallery visiting behaviour
Table 1: Lifestyle cluster profiles
Active ‘family values’ people (15.5%)
Conservative quiet lifers (13.5%)
Educated liberals (9.7%)
Accepting mid-lifers (17.1%)
Success-driven extroverts (16.4%)
Pragmatic strugglers (14.7%)
Social strivers (13.0%)
These individuals are mostly retired and
widowed, and live a passive, solitary
existence, which revolves around reflec-
tion, simplicity and subsistence. The
majority own their home debt-free, and
have low education and income levels.
The solitary existence of conservative quiet
lifers is evidenced by the passive, home-
based activities and interests in which they
partake. They are loners who do not like
being surrounded by lots of people or
forming new friendships, and who prefer
to work on their own. Their interests
include gardening, doing crosswords, at-
tending church, watching television and
listening to the radio. They are least likely
to engage in entertainment such as social
outings, or to attend cinemas, art galleries
or museums.
Educated liberals (9.7%)
Educated liberals are a group of New
Zealanders comprising nearly one-tenth of
the total adult population. They are
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Family and community focus
Traditional principles
Positive outlook
Homebodies
Conservative views
Reflective and nostalgic
Socially concerned
Progressive and egalitarian
Enjoy variety and diversity
Observe rather than partake
Accepting of status quo
Content
Self-oriented
Value free enterprise
Actively ambitious
Family survival focus
Politically conservative
Determined
Outer directed
Conformist
Feel life is a struggle
sophisticated individuals with a wide range
of interests, and are concerned with social
issues and open to change. They are
characterised by their strongly individualis-
tic, confident and progressive outlook on
life. The typical educated liberal is a very
highly educated, professional female on an
above-average income, who prefers life in
the big city to that of the countryside. In
line with this, a high proportion live in
primary urban areas. Educated liberals thrive
on richness and diversity. They like
travelling and exploring new places, enjoy
new exotic foods and are generally inter-
ested in activities and ideas which stimulate
their intellect. Their level of education
fosters an interest in cultural activities such
as theatre, libraries, museums and art
exhibitions. Educated liberals are heavy
readers of books and magazines, but are the
lowest consumers of both radio and
television. The majority of them are single,
or living with their partner, with two-
thirds having no children.

Accepting mid-lifers (17.1%)
These individuals are characterised by a
general acceptance of their lives and
society. This is demonstrated by a lack of
strong feeling regarding political and social
issues. Accepting mid-lifers place limited
value on spending time with others,
seemingly content with their own com-
pany. Demographically, they are weighted
towards European males, of New Zealand
or United Kingdom descent. Although
represented in all age categories, this
group is slightly weighted towards people
in the 30–44 year-old bracket. The
majority are married or living with a
partner, with half the households having
two adult income earners, and at least one
dependent child at home. In relation to
the total sample, accepting mid-lifers have
average incomes, education and occupa-
tional levels.
Success-driven extroverts (16.4%)
Success-driven extroverts are ambitious, ac-
tive, independent people who feel in con-
trol of their lives and destiny. They possess
abundant resources and possessions, which
reflect their desire to attain the better things
in life. They are motivated by success, not
only in their careers but also socially.
Success-driven extroverts like to ‘live it up’ and
socialise, and are less attracted to simplicity
and natural living. This group is driven by
a strong urge to impress, paying careful
attention to their image and general ap-
pearance. Success-driven extroverts are leaders,
who enjoy life in the big city. They are
interested in sporting and entertainment
activities. Other interests include attend-
ing movies and theatre, and going on
family outings. Success-driven extroverts are
high-income professionals, with one in
five being self-employed. They do not
consume a great deal of radio or tele-
vision, although they are above-average
viewers of sport programmes and com-
edies. Demographically, the vast majority
Todd and Lawson
of this group are between 20 and 39 years
of age. Success-driven extroverts are well-
educated and are generally married, either
with no dependants, or with one or two
children living at home.
Pragmatic strugglers (14.7%)
The pragmatic strugglers comprise nearly
one-seventh of the New Zealand adult
population. They are characterised by
their liking of practical, simple and natural
living; their interests revolve around
practical activities related to the home and
family. They are frequent radio listeners,
and enjoy viewing television movies,
action/drama programmes, comedies and
other soap operas. Demographically, prag-
matic strugglers are skewed towards females
under 35 years of age. Although almost
two-thirds have at least one dependent
child at home, the majority are unmarried,
and thus do not represent a traditional
nuclear family. They are low in terms of
income and educational qualifications and
overrepresented in the lower occupational
categories.
Social strivers (13.0%)
Social strivers are characterised by a conflict
between their perceived ambitions and
their actual circumstances and achieve-
ments. Their outlook is generally pes-
simistic. Social strivers are concerned about
the opinions and approval of others, and
express conservative, cautious and con-
forming, but often conflicting, views.
Traditional codes such as religion, family
and the community are important to social
strivers, and these form the basis of their
interests. They frequently view televi-
sion, listen to the radio and read
magazines. Demographically, this group,
while represented in all age categories,
is weighted towards individuals over
the age of 45 years. Social strivers are
lower on educational qualifications and
household income, with a large propor-
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Lifestyle segmentation and museum/gallery visiting behaviour

tion being unemployed, working part-

time or retired. Many are divorced or
widowed, and over half have at least one
dependent child at home.
Museum and art gallery visits
As shown in Table 2, just over half the
sample indicated that they visit an art
gallery or museum at least once or several
times a year. When lifestyle cluster mem-
bership is cross-tabulated with the be-
havioural variable regarding the frequency
of visiting museums and art galleries, a
highly significant relationship is observed
(p ⫽ 0.000).
From Table 3 it is apparent that edu-
cated liberals are the most frequent visitors,
while conservative quiet lifers and accept-
ing mid-lifers are the least likely to visit.
These latter two segments do not share
demographic characteristics, and thus seg-
mentation purely on a demographic basis
would not provide such an insight. When
the profiles of each of the lifestyle seg-
ments is studied, it is apparent also that the
Table 2: Frequency of museum/gallery
visits
Never Yearly Monthly Weekly
41.2% 51.4% 6.0% 1.5%
reasons for visiting or not visiting also
differ by group. For example, conservative
quiet lifers are the least likely group to look
outside of their home environment for
entertainment, and are also less motivated
to join in social occasions. Accepting mid-
lifers, on the other hand, appear less likely
to visit museums and art galleries because
of the effort involved, preferring passive
entertainment opportunities such as those
offered on television. Success-driven ex-
troverts and active ‘family values’ people ap-
pear to have similar visiting behaviour. A
look at their psychographic profiles sug-
gests that the former will be there more
for the status and prestige often associated

Table 3: Visiting behaviour by lifestyle segment

Visited an art gallery or museum

Nevera Yearly Monthly Weekly
Segments % % % %

Active ‘family values’ 34.7 59.0 5.0 1.3

11.9 16.1 11.7 12.7
Conservative quiet lifers 55.1 41.4 2.5 1.0
14.1 8.5 4.5 7.3
Educated liberals 11.8 66.7 18.3 3.1
3.5 15.6 36.9 25.5
Accepting mid-lifers 55.9 41.1 2.7 0.3
24.3 14.3 8.1 3.6
Success-driven extroverts 32.7 60.4 5.6 1.3
15.3 22.5 18.0 16.4
Pragmatic strugglers 48.2 45.4 4.7 1.7
18.1 13.7 12.2 15.5
Social strivers 49.1 43.9 4.7 2.2
12.9 9.2 8.6 16.4

a
⫽ The top figure is the percentage within the segment and the bottom figure is the percentage within that
visit frequency

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 Todd and Lawson

Table 4: Visitors versus non-visitors regression

B S.E Wald d.f. Sig. Exp(B)

Step 1
Education 0.301 0.019 261.464 1 0.000 1.352
Constant 0.983 0.089 122.137 1 0.000 0.374
Step 2
Gender 0.255 0.071 12.802 1 0.000 0.249
Education 0.304 0.019 264.243 1 0.000 0.946
Constant ⫺1.389 0.145 91.634 1 0.000 1.305
Step 3
Segments ⫺0.056 0.019 8.596 1 0.003 0.946
Gender 0.266 0.071 13.885 1 0.000 1.305
Education 0.300 0.019 255.512 1 0.000 1.350
Constant ⫺1.161 0.164 49.996 1 0.000 0.313
Step 4
Segments ⫺0.058 0.019 9.323 1 0.002 0.944
Gender 0.293 0.072 16.4323 1 0.000 1.341
Education 0.285 0.020 211.798 1 0.000 1.330
Total income 0.037 0.014 6.777 1 0.009 1.038
Constant ⫺1.273 0.170 56.084 1 0.000 0.280

with such institutions. Active ‘family values’
people, however, are more likely to be
visiting for educational reasons and be-
cause museums and galleries offer a form
of entertainment/education in which the
whole family can participate.
Non-visitors versus visitors
A binary logistic regression (WALD
method) was run to give an insight into
which variables best described those who
had visited a museum/gallery and those
who had not. Lifestyles cluster (segment)
membership, gender, education, number
of children under 16 years of age and total
household income were the independent
variables. The dependent variable com-
prised two groups, namely those who had
not visited a museum/gallery ever (or not
in the last year), and those who had visited
at least yearly.
Based on that regression (see Table 4),
it is evident that the demographic descrip-
tors gender and level of education
contribute more to whether one visits a
museum/gallery or not than do the
lifestyle segments alone. While the seg-
mentation variable did not go into
the model in the first step, the two
demographic descriptors that did enter
first (gender and education) are strongly
associated with the two lifestyle segments
that comprise the most frequent visitors to
museums/galleries (namely the educated
liberals and the success-driven extroverts).
Both these segments consist of highly
educated people, with educated liberals
being predominantly female and success-
driven extroverts male. Of all the lifestyle
groupings, these are the two that have the
strongest gender and education associa-
tions.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
An often-cited problem with research
undertaken by institutions such as
museums and galleries is that little or no

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Lifestyle segmentation and museum/gallery visiting behaviour
insight is offered into non-users. Thus,
there is little information available on
which to base promotional efforts to
attract new users or visitors. Linking in
with global lifestyle surveys offers the
opportunity not only to understand better
those who are visiting, but also to gain an
understanding of why people are not
visiting. Lifestyle (AIO) data provide a
fuller profile of an individual’s interests
and activities, and thus marketers can see
how their product should be promoted in
a way that is compatible with the market’s
lifestyle.
While not explicitly asking about
motivations or reasons for visiting, it is
evident from the findings discussed above
that even frequent visitors, who may be
described in a similar way if merely using
demographics (eg younger, highly edu-
cated professionals earning high incomes),
may be further segmented in terms of
their reasons for visiting. For example,
success-driven extroverts are more likely to
respond to status and image-related ap-
peals than are educated liberals. The next
most frequent visitor group comprises
active ‘family values’ people and, on the basis
of other knowledge gained about this
segment, it is apparent that they visit
because museums/galleries are considered
to offer an educational experience the
whole family can participate in together.
In a similar vein, inferences can be
made about the types of exhibitions each
group is likely to enjoy and to which
they will be most attracted. Additionally,
lifestyle segments have been found to
be characterised by their use of par-
ticular media, and such information can
be used when making decisions about the
placement of promotional messages. For
example, promotional appeals which posi-
tion the museum/gallery as a place to
which the whole family can go and be
entertained would appeal to the active
‘family values’ segment, but would be likely to
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dissuade the educated liberals from visiting.
Success-driven extroverts, who display simi-
lar visiting behaviour to the active family
values group, are more likely to be at-
tracted to ‘big name’ exhibitions that carry
with them a distinct image. With distinct
relationships evident between media con-
sumption and lifestyle segment, media
vehicles can be carefully selected to en-
sure that no cross-over of the different
positionings occurs, allowing for distinct
targeted messages to be placed, rather than
promotional efforts which focus on the
product (museum or gallery) itself. In
terms of fundraising appeals, and attracting
donations, it is evident that some people
are more involved with their visits, as
compared to those who visit only to
acquire the associated status. That is not to
say that the latter group may not be
interested in donating, as that in itself can
be handled in such a way that status is
accrued. However, the types of appeals
used should be different for the two
groups.
It is also evident that a sizeable segment
of the population is unlikely ever to visit
a museum or gallery. This study suggests
that that is not dependent on the actual
exhibition or institution, but rather that
such visits are incompatible with their
lifestyle. For example, conservative quiet
lifers are homebodies who do not search
beyond the bounds of their home en-
vironment for entertainment, and nor do
they particularly enjoy social occasions.
Bearing these significant differences in
attitudes and behaviours in mind, it is
apparent that promoters of museums and
galleries must make strategic choices as to
whether they wish to try and attract
those who are currently non-visitors, or
whether they would be better working
towards increasing the number of visits
and involvement of those currently visit-
ing.
Overall, it can be concluded that the

use of generic lifestyle studies has the
advantage of enhancing an understanding
of non-visitors, with the finding that
visiting museums and galleries appears
incompatible with the lives of a number
of social groupings. Such understanding
cannot be gleaned from surveys that are
restricted to those who already do visit
the museum or gallery. Furthermore, the
more comprehensive knowledge gained
of the segments and their wider lifestyle
has implications for the nature of appeals
and appropriate media that can be used in
promotional campaigns.
While this study did not touch directly
on motivations for visiting, or benefits
sought from the visits, some underlying
motivations can be inferred. Future re-
search should pursue this avenue more
directly, looking at the motivations not
only for those segments who do visit, but
also those of non-visitors. While some
segments demonstrated similar visiting be-
haviour, from the other attitudinal and
lifestyle data gathered, it is postulated that
each segment will have differing reasons
for visiting or not visiting.
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