Museum visitors, identity,

motivation and experience

John Falk (plus Morris

Hargreaves & McIntyre)

Audience & Public

2022
 A typical museum:
Horniman Museum and Gardens

• https://www.horniman.ac.uk
 A typical museum:
with typical visitors

• https://www.horniman.ac.uk
Their visitors
• What assumptions might you make about
these visitors?
• What might you want to know about them to
test or explore these assumptions?
• What assumptions might you make about
these visitors?
• What might you want to know about them to
test or explore these assumptions?
• Please write some points down and we’ll
share them
 John Falk
This book addresses museum visitors’ :
• Identity
• Motivation
• Experience

• He argues that identity and motivation are

important in understanding people’s
experiences
 Questions I asked you to think about
• Why does Falk say “Museums are settings that allow
visitors to play the role of one or more of the following…
etc” instead of saying “visitors fall into the following
categories”? Is there a difference?
• What is the significance of there being different sorts of
identity? [identity & Identity]
• In what ways is visitor analysis important for the
museum? Is it enough to say it enables audience
development?
• (a reminder.... we will return to these)
 About Falk
• Dr. John H. Falk is a leading figure in research on free-
choice learning, museum visitor studies and science
education in the United States. He is co-founder of
the research firm, Institute for Learning Innovation.
• He is the author of over one hundred scholarly
articles and chapters in the areas of biology,
psychology and education, many co-authored with
Lynn Dierking.
• Dr. John H. Falk is a leading figure in research on free-
choice learning, museum visitor studies and science
education in the United States. He is co-founder of
the research firm, Institute for Learning Innovation.
• He is the author of over one hundred scholarly
articles and chapters in the areas of biology,
psychology and education, many co-authored with
Lynn Dierking.
• Falk’s studies are notable for their use of qualitative
and longitudinal research
 John Falk & Lyn Dierking
If the identity & motivation are important in
understanding people’s experiences then:
• what are factors influence the way that
visitors experience a museum?

(make a list of bullet points)

 Answers =
• the factors are the things that create the
conditions for the visit
 Answers =
• the factors are the things that create the
conditions for the visit
• The factors are the context in which identity
and motivation are played out, take place or
are explored
 Answers =
• the factors are the things that create the
conditions for the visit
• The factors are the context in which identity
and motivation are played out, take place or
are explored
• This is what Falk calls ’the museum
experience’
 The Museum Experience 1992
• This book introduced the Interactive Experience
Model, later renamed the Contextual Model of
Learning.  This model states that a museum visit
takes place within three contexts: 
1. Personal
2. Socio-cultural
3. Physical
• Museums should be aware of these contexts
because they can influence visitors through them.
Falk & Dierking, The Museum Experience Model (1992)
 1. Personal context
• Motivation and expectations
• Prior knowledge and experience
• Prior interests and believes
• Choice and control personal context

• The visitor’s personal context is made up of their

preconceptions and expectations for the visit.  This
context is often influenced by previous experiences and
existing knowledge. 
• This personal context creates an agenda for the visit.
• “People come to museums carrying with them
the rest of their lives, their own reasons for
visiting and their specific prior experience.”
(Eilean Hooper-Greenhill)
 2. Physical context
• Orientation to the physical space
• Architecture and large scale environment
• Design of exhibits and interpretation / content
delivery
• Reinforcing events and experiences outside
the museum      
• Falk and Dierking share the idea that physical
settings are not just backdrops for an
experience.  These settings influence the
behavior people exhibit—they are behavior
settings.  Certain behavior is acceptable in a
library.  Different behavior is acceptable in a
movie theaters, churches, or shopping malls.
 3. Socio-cultural context
• People are intrinsically social
• Visits often take place in groups
• Or individuals are aware of other people
around them
• People have different relationship dynamics
depending on who they are with (mother,
friend, daughter, pupil, employee)
• Sociocultural is not a ‘thing’ it is mediation
• The concept of ‘culture’ is complex. In this
context it is wise to see culture in relationship
to learning.
• Culture is not genetically transferred. People
grow up in a society within an existing culture
• They develop their identity within the practices
and expectations of that culture.
Falk & Dierking, The Museum Experience Model (1992)
• “Each of the contexts is continuously
constructed by the visitor, and the interaction
of these creates the visitor’s experience. This
constructed reality is unique to the individual;
no two people ever see the world in quite the
same way.”
• (1992:3)
Falk on identity:
 John Falk, Identity and the Museum Visitor
Experience 2009
The essential premise:
• it is important that we understand who visits
and why
 The essential premise:
understanding who visits and why
• “Although museums have long wondered about who
visits the institutions, why and to what end, today they
feel economically, socially, and politically compelled to do
so. Today's museum has no choice but to think seriously
about who their visitors are and why they come, as well
as who does not visit and why not.
 The essential premise:
understanding who visits and why
• “Although museums have long wondered about who
visits the institutions, why and to what end, today they
feel economically, socially, and politically compelled to do
so. Today's museum has no choice but to think seriously
about who their visitors are and why they come, as well
as who does not visit and why not.
• Visitors are at the heart of the 21st-century museum's
existence. Understanding something about museum
visitors is not a nicety; it is a necessity! Asking who visits
the Museum why and to what end are longer mere
academic questions. These are questions of great
importance.” (p.20)
• “If we knew the answers to the questions of who goes to
museums, what people do in the museum, and what
meanings they make from the experience, we would gain
critical insights into how the public derived value and
benefits from museum going (or not, as the case may be)
which we could use to improve museums.” (p.21)
 Questions (asked in advance)
• Why does Falk say “Museums are settings that allow
visitors to play the role of one or more of the following…
etc” instead of saying “visitors fall into the following
categories”? Is there a difference?
• (class feedback)
 Why do museums think people visit?
Content:

• Content is not the single most important factor

influencing the decision of people to visit a museum
• Only a small percentage of visitors come because of
advertising promoting the museums content
• Learning and engagement can be independent of
content
• Frequent visitors are those who care about and know
the most about the museum's content
• Visitors who already know something about the content
of the museum before visiting will be those who derive
the most learning benefit from their museum visit
• Both prior interest and prior knowledge are important
and vital predictors of what and how much someone
learns from a museum experience
 Note:
• Studies by Andrew Pekarick, Zahava Doering
and James Schreiber:
• Visitor entrance narratives have a lasting
impression on what visitors response
 Problems with existing visitor studies
• Most studies of visitors have used quantitative
measures
• These have produced measurable categories such
as demographics which produce patterns but it is
not clear if these patterns are actually meaningful
• Demographic patterns (and other information like
visited frequency) give important information
about people who attend but does not explain
why they attend.
A new model of museum visitor experience

Falk argues:
• We need to have a holistic view of the museum
experience which considers factors pertinent to
the individuals that go beyond the time spent in
the Museum.
A new model of museum visitor experience

Falk argues:
• Studies of museum visitor experience should
consider the visitors identity and motivations
"the series of specific reasons that visitors use to
justify as well as organise the visit and ultimately
use in order to make sense of their museum
experience" (p.35).
 Museums and leisure:
• Museum going need to be seen within the
broader context of leisure experiences offered in
society.
• Leisure is related to identity because activities
which involve a large amount of choice and
control can be amenable to identity building.
• “People pursue engagement in recreation and
leisure in order to satisfy inner needs or
problems” (p. 46).
• People's motivation to take part in leisure
activities can be defined into major categories
and subcategories.
• Examining and comparing approaches by
different researchers shows the diversity in
conclusions but also shows some important
common threads. These emphasise that
motivation cannot be simplified and is related to
learning behaviours and that people often
behave in unpredictable ways.
 Learning and identity:
• Museum visitors are using learning as a vehicle
for building their personal identity (visitors to
use museums in order to support lifelong, free
choice learning, but the purpose of that learning
is not to gain competence in a subject as in a
school or work-based context) (p.59).
 Learning and identity:
• Museum visitors begin with a desire to fulfill
some inner identity related need. These identity
related needs, more than demographics or social
group or even museum content, largely drive the
nature of the visit. (p.61).
 Questions
• What is the significance of there being different sorts of
identity? [identity & Identity]
• How would you define your own identity and Identity
• DISCUSS IN GROUPS – did you say similar things? Did you
say different things? If so , why?
• (15 mins)
Next: in his own words
 Falks next development
• Expanding on these ideas into questions of
identity and motivation
John Falk – lecture on visitor motivation and identity
(Denmark 2013)
• 3.10 People have identity related needs
• 12.20 the reasons why people visit museums
• 21.00 Knowing why people come is useful –
understanding trajectories
John Falk – lecture on visitor motivation and
identity
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-p8kUr
UWd4
Falk’s 5 identity-related categories
• Museums are settings that allow visitors to play
the role of one or more of the following:
1. Explorer
2. Facilitator
3. Experience seeker
4. Professional/ hobbyist
5. Recharger
(p. 64).
 1. Explorers
Visitors who are curiosity‐driven with a generic interest
in the content of the museum. They expect to find
something that will grab their attention and fuel their
learning.
** “I remember thinking I wanted to learn my science
basics again, like biology and that stuff. . . . I thought
[before coming], You’re not going to pick up everything,
you know, but you are going to learn some things.”
 
 2. Facilitators
Visitors who are socially motivated. Their visit is
focused on primarily enabling the experience
and learning of others in their accompanying
social group.
** “[I came] to give [my] kids a chance to see
what early life was like . . . it’s a good way to
spend time with the family in a non‐commercial
way. They always learn so much.”
 3. Professional/Hobbyists
Visitors who feel a close tie between the museum
content and their professional or hobbyist passions.
Their visits are typically motivated by a desire to
satisfy a specific content‐related objective.
** “I’m starting to put together a saltwater reef
tank, so I have a lot of interest in marine life. I’m
hoping to pick up some ideas [here at the
aquarium].”
 
 4. Experience Seekers
Visitors who are motivated to visit because they
perceive the museum as an important destination.
Their satisfaction primarily derives from the mere
fact of having “been there and done that.”
** “We were visiting from out‐of‐town, looking for
something fun to do that wouldn’t take all day. This
seemed like a good idea; after all, we’re in Los
Angeles and someone told us this place just opened
up and it’s really neat.”
 5. Rechargers
Visitors who are primarily seeking to have a
contemplative, spiritual and/or restorative
experience. They see the museum as a refuge from
the work‐a‐day world or as a confirmation of their
religious beliefs.
** “I like art museums. They are so very quiet and
relaxing, so different than the noise and clutter of
the rest of the city.”
 Falk’s conclusions
• Unlike demographic categories, these categories are
not permanent qualities of the individual.  
• An individual can be motivated to go to a museum
today because they want to facilitate their children’s
learning experience and go to the same or a different
tomorrow because it resonates with their own
personal interests and curiosities.  
• Because of the differing identity‐related needs, the
nature and quality of that single individual’s museum
experience will be quite different on those two days.
• “Visitors enter the museum expecting to satisfy one of
these leisure identity-related needs; they proceed to use
the museum as a setting for enacting these needs; they
exit, and weeks and months later, the meanings they
make of their visit shaped by these expectations”
• “Visitors enter the museum expecting to satisfy one of
these leisure identity-related needs; they proceed to use
the museum as a setting for enacting these needs; they
exit, and weeks and months later, the meanings they
make of their visit shaped by these expectations”
• "The result is that most visitors describe a successful
museum visit as one that allowed them to enact the
identities – the traits, roles, attitudes and group
memberships – associated with one or more of these
categories” (p.64).
 Questions
• Does this makes sense to you?
• Think about situations in which you have visited a
cultural organisation or activity (museum, gallery,
theatre, event etc) –
• What identity related categories do you think you might
have come into? (There could be multiple ones)
 Consider:
• Jay Rounds:
 Questions
• In what ways is visitor analysis important for the
museum?
• Is it enough to say it enables audience development?

• (your immediate responses – we’ll return to this later)

How these ideas are applied elsewhere:
SEGMENTATION
Morris Hargreaves & McIntyre
Culture Segments
 8 segments within the market for arts,
culture and heritage
Enrichment
• Mature, traditional, heritage, nostalgia

Entertainment
• Consumers, popularist, leisure, mainstream

Expression
• Receptive, confident, community, expressive
Perspective
• Settled, self-sufficient, focused contented

Stimulation
• Active, experimental, discovery, contemporary

Affirmation
• self-identity, aspirational, quality time, improvement
Release
• Busy, ambitious, prioritising, wistful

Essence
• Discerning, spontaneous, independent,
sophisticated
 How segmentation and audience identity is
used for marketing and audience development

Andrew McIntyre of Morris Hargreaves McIntyre

https://vimeo.com/379131067
from 28.40 –
• How we see the world the fundamental tenants of
the way we see ourselves and the world
• Why segmentation systems are important in the
cultural sector
• Its also about building relationships

• 33.50 – 50.00
• Describes the segments (its humorous)
 What segmentation are you?
Online self-assessment
• https://mhminsight.com/segmentme
 More on the MHM segmentation
• Morris Hargreaves & McIntyre
• https://mhminsight.com/articles/top-10-tips-f
or-great-segmentation-467
Segmentation and audience identity in action
for marketing and audience development

Andrew McIntyre of Morris Hargreaves McIntyre

https://vimeo.com/379131067
@Creative Victoria: from 28.40 –
how we see the world the fundamental tenants of the
way we see ourselves and the world

• Quick Segmentation tool and analysis

https://mhminsight.com/culture-segments/survey

• On Marketing and Audience Engagement 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t79YXtlNyI

• On audience capital
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IRaan4USlE
 Questions
• In what ways is visitor analysis important for the
museum?
• Is it enough to say it enables audience development?
end
 See also
• https://slideplayer.com/slide/5790514/

• Rethinking the Museum Visitor Experience

• Slideshare (with voiceover)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNldaINd
c54
• Falk – Smithsonian lecture