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Psychology, Visitor Studies etc
•Visitor studies aim to understand how
visitors behave, respond to exhibits etc
•Evaluation studies sit within the area
of visitor studies, mainly but not solely,
museum based – aims to determine
the success of exhibits
•Audience research aims to describe
visitors more accurately
•Market research- big overlaps in aims
and methodologies – aims to
understand how consumers behave
Visitor Studies, Psychology, etc
•Social Marketing – the use of
techniques from marketing for a social
good
•Social psychology – the study of how
the social environment influences the
individual
•Cognitive psychology – the study of
mental processes
What do visitors bring? – Expectations, Motivations
•None
•Non-specific/ general
•Visit strategies – focused vs unfocused
•Motivations –
•pre-existing interest,
•learning,
•entertainment,
•concern for others,
On arrival
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
•Safety
•Orientation
•Physiology
Interpretation – the key issue
Will they
pay
attention?
Attention – the key issue
Any interpretive exhibit MUST:
•Grab people’s attention
•Sustain it for long enough to deliver
its key message/experience
The fraction of selection
FS =
Perceived reward
Perceived effort required
(After Schramm 1971)
Attention deployment - What is a visitor like?
•Searching for meaningful experiences, but not
likely to be deep or complex
•Sensation seeking i.e. responsive to cues
which are:
•Novel / surprising
•Eye catching
•Exciting
•Threatening / thrilling
•i.e. tend to be more responsive to peripheral cues
rather than central cues
•Avoid effort e.g. will not read in depth
•Avoid boredom
•Window shopping mode
•People oriented (but NB gender differences)
Attention - What is a visitor like?
• Individual differences in visit style
•Browsers
•Streakers
•Studiers
•Child oriented
(NB more likely to be exhibit produced
characteristics):
Memory – the basics
Input
Short term store
Long term store
rehearsal
coding
decisions
retrieval
Permanent memory
Schemas
Response output
Processing experience
Life story
Life story
Schema
Work
Relationships
Self
Definition
Leisure
Lifetime period
General event
Specific episode
Memory (sensoryperceptual
Related to
attainment
of highly self
relevant goals
Interpretation – Attitudes & Behaviour
•Through interpretation, understanding –
through understanding, appreciation –
through appreciation, protection
•Little or no evidence that enhancing
knowledge or altering attitudes changes
behaviour
•Specific behavioural intentions do predict
behaviour
•Interpretation might form a useful
component of a social marketing
programme
Interpretation – Some Conclusions
•Concrete – sensory/perceptual
•Abstract material rapidly decays
•Transience
•Retention only if direct relationship with
existing schema
•Insufficient for behaviour change
Interpretation – Some Conclusions
•Adds value to the visitor experience
•Helps people build a meaningful
relationship with the resource through
•accessibility
•enjoyment
•Could form a useful component of
behaviour change programmes
Thank you