Museums of the Future

MUSEUMS OF THE
FUTURE
The New School // Market Research for Media Managers // Spring 2012 // Prof. Robert Berkman
Tuesday, 13 August, 13

MUSEUMS OF THE
FUTURE
by
Milica Stefancic
The New School // Market Research for Media Managers // Spring 2012 // Prof. Robert Berkman

MARKET RESEARCH:
OVERVIEW
For my final project I studied the museum industry and discovered a
number of challenges museums are facing today. I listened,
researched, surveyed and explored different spaces to get a broad
sense of where the industry is today and where it is headed.
Twitter and Twilert allowed me to follow museum professionals and
the general public, as well as to casually listen to conversations
under relevant hashtags.
Additionally, I gathered information and studied formal reports from
a variety of organizations discussing current use of social media and
new technologies in the museum setting.
I also created a survey that explored the general public’s perception
of technology exhibits in museums and read blogs to keep up with
latest trends.
The following presentation represents my findings.

MAIN ISSUES FACING MUSEUMS TODAY
There is much discourse in the cultural world as to the role of
museums today. The definition of a museum’s role affects:
>> How they may best reach their audiences
>> How best to keep up with the technological change in a
meaningful and sustainable way.
Market research is increasingly important to help museums develop
both a sense of identity as well as to surface real challenges they are
facing.
Concerns that frequently came up through my research were how to
deal with decreased financial resources while maintaining or
expanding the cultural offering, a desire to increase attendance, and
reaching new audiences beyond the walls of the museum building
via social and new technologies.

ISSUE # 1: DECREASED FUNDING
Museums can’t sustain themselves on earned income alone.
Government and other funding is decreasing.
Museums traditionally act in long-term interests, however are
increasingly required to start thinking like businesses.
Funders (those that remain) are asking for greater accountability,
which can be documented by making sound marketing approaches.
SOURCES:
– Ruth Rentschler Associate Head of School and Director of the Arts and Entertainment Management program, Deakin University
– American Association of Museums, Service Despite Stress: Museum Attendance and Funding in the Year of Recession, 2010
– Bridget McKenzie, The Learning Planet // http://thelearningplanet.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/seeing-museums-in-2060/
– Gene R. Laczniak and Patrick A. Murphy

ONE SOLUTION:
FOSTER YOUNG AUDIENCES
James Chung, president of market research firm
Reach Advisors
The audiences to which
museums reach out today will be
President’s Circle donors tomorrow.
Staying relevant to that growing audience
while staying true to the museum’s
mission is integral to a long-term
plan.
Young people’s aspiration for the
museums’ exhibitions is generally
characterized by focus on accessibility,
interactivity, variety and especially
relevance – both in a societal context
and in relation to themselves.
DAMVAD Research Firm, Young People and Museums
http://www.damvad.com/media/36990/
young_people_and_museums_-_executive_summary.pdf
Attracting young audiences is crucial for museums’ long terms
goals. Research shows that

ISSUE #2: IS ATTENDANCE UP OR DOWN?
There are conflicting reports as to the number of visitors in
museums and whether numbers are increasing or decreasing. It
seems that there is little standardization concerning metrics for
attendance measurement.
Certain museums measure outside events they host, or even web
traffic or social media engagement, while others only take into
account actual visitors who purchase admission.
Data released by the National Endowment for the Arts show 23
percent decrease in arts attendance, as well as double digit drops
for museums in particular, while the American Association of
Museums is showing that 57% or museums reported an increase in
total attendance for the same year, 2009.
SOURCES
– Service Despite Stress: Museum Attendance and Funding in a Year of Recession; A Report from the American Association of Museums
(February 2010) Philip M. Katz, Assistant Director for Research
– Decline in Museum Attendance, Philantropy.com / http://philanthropy.com/blogs/philanthropytoday/in-the-arts-surveys-find-decline-in-
museum-attendance/17547

A SOLUTION: STANDARDIZED ATTENDANCE
(AND OTHER) METRICS
Museum attendance is a deceptively simple measure..there is no consensus about whom to
include in the count. - American Association of Museums
Once solution to this issue would be to outline a standardized
methodology for all museums to measure attendance. A possible
challenge to this is lack of standardization between museums’
physical or virtual offering.
Standardization may initially have to include first standardizing the
use of online platforms and social media used to reach audiences,
before the metrics could be standardized. For example, every
museum would need to have a Facebook page, from which they
would link to their other online offerings as suggested by Sean
Redmond of the museum blog http://blog.litot.es:
1. Have a Facebook page, and give it the category “Museum/Art
Gallery”
2. Link to all your other online presences in your Page info (like, for
instance, The Guggenheim)

ISSUE #3: REACHING NEW AUDIENCES
Technological advancements in the last 10 years are changing
culture and ways in which we interact. Below are latest statistics for
social media use:
FACEBOOK
- 850M monthly active
- 250M photos uploaded every day
- 425M mobile users
TWITTER
- 465M accounts
- 175M tweets a day
- 1M accounts are added to Twitter every day
LINKEDIN
- 2 new members join every second
- USA leads membership at 57M, Europe has
34M members
- $552M revenue in 2011
YOUTUBE
- 3rd most visited site (Alexa)
- 2 billion views per day
- 44% of YouTube’s users are aged between
12 and 34
INSTAGRAM
- 30M users
- The release of the Android app version saw
1M downloads in 1 day
PINTEREST
- One of the top 10 largest social networks
with 11M visits per week
- 10.4M registered users
SOURCE:
(http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/all_social_networking_statistics/)

A SOLUTION: SOCIAL AND NEW MEDIA
As new media are exactly that – new – many museums are reluctant
to spend already scarce resources on new “gimmicky” technologies
without being able to demonstrate their success.
As a result of museums lacking in an integrated new media
approach or strategy, most museums are using new technologies as
“additive” elements rather than as replacements for the traditional
type of exhibit involving physical objects.
This includes, but is not limited to: augmented reality used to
enhance an already existing collection or take the experience
outside the building, QR codes used for scavenger hunts, RFID tags
that personalize the experience, or interactive exhibits that add a
game or entertainment element to the exhibit space.

Social media, however, are readily available and free to use to
promote exhibits and engage with users.
Museums are already effectively using social media to engage with
their audiences; however, lacking a formal strategy, it remains to be
seen just how effective this way of communication is for monetizing
their efforts.
Source:
– MuseumAnalytics.Org

Results of primary research, whose subjects were mainly between the
ages of 20-40, indicated interest in the following activities:
– Contributing to the exhibit = 33.3%
– Collaboration with others = 33.3%
– Learn and remember the content = 78.4%
– Have a personalized experience = 51.0%
– Interact with the scientists or curators 56.9%
These results are consistent with the results discovered during
secondary research, A number of museums are already implementing
these strategies to engage and attract their visitors.
Nina Simon, Editor of popular museum blog
Museums and Web 2.0
“A successful experience
uses social interaction to enhance
the individual experience; it gets
better the more people use it.
The social component is a
natural extension of the
individual actions.”
‘The value of
these applications is often lost
under the perception of constant
change, privacy concerns and high
barriers to entry. You don’t have to be
a teenager to ‘get it.’

ISSUE # 4: MARKET RESEARCH
Traditional ways of evaluating success and metrics are useful,
however recent changes from curator-centric to user-centric culture
in museums is also requiring a reassessment of market research
methodologies museums are using to inform on their programs and
exhibits.
Museums need to be responsive to changing desires, changing
culture and the changing market. Museums would do well to take
advantage of what new technologies have to oﬀer in order to gain
an immediate understandings of their audiences’ needs.
By the time a study is published, it is already out of date. (AAM already experiences this
with the Museum Financial Information report—when we trot out three years of carefully
analyzed data and the immediate question is, “But what is happening this year? Now things
are diﬀerent!”). – THE CENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF MUSEUMS an initiative of the American Association of Museums
“While traditional ways of conducting evaluations are necessary and useful” – such as
surveys and interviews – “to remain viable, audience research needs to be more strategic,
working across the sector in new ways and utilising new methods.”
SOURCES
– Lynda Kelly, Australian Museum, Head of Audience Research Evaluation, Research and Communities of Practice: Program Evaluation
in Museums, 2005
– Center for the Future of Museums in collaboration with The University of Chicago

A SOLUTION:
SEAMLESS AND IMMEDIATE METRICS
Audience research reveals the behaviour of ‘grazing’ – or wandering
slowly past many artworks, spending only seconds looking at any
work in particular. It is relatively rare to watch a visitor spend more
than a minute with any individual artwork. – Evaluating the Practical Applications of Eye
Tracking in Museums | museumsandtheweb.com
Technologies such as eye tracking or RFID are useful in tracking
visitor movement through the museum space as well as enhancing
museum exhibits. RFID, for example, can be (and is being) used to
measure visitor path prediction without intrusion. Other options
include Bluetooth, Wireless LAN and Indoor Mobile GPS built into
smartphones. Most of these technologies allow for sensing, or no
disruption of visitor experience.
The downside is that these technologies are fairly new and may be
expensive to implement. Yet, social media like Twitter and Facebook
are also useful yet free tools that allow for strategic listening.
Museums need to think deeply about how to best integrate these
technologies so that the beneﬁts encompass curatorial requirements
as well as those of market research.

IN CONCLUSION
Main issues museums are facing are being addressed through the
use of new technologies. Funding in the long term is being
inﬂuenced by teaching new generations about importance of
museums as places that speak to them, in their language and in
hopes that this will stimulate attendance now, and funding in the
future. Museums are also working on staying or becoming culturally
relevant by adding new technologies and interaction to their
oﬀering.
Museums are also beginning to operate more like businesses and are
accordingly working on their “brands”, by stimulating dialogue and
engaging users through social media. Although it is still inconclusive
as to whether this does or will translate directly into revenue, it is
becoming a necessary component of the marketing plan of any
successful business.
In addition, market research strategies need to be responsive and
relevant. By combining new technologies that allow for seamless
market research while enhancing curatorial requirements and visitor
desires, museums of the future are well-positioned to prosper.

Museums of the Future

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