Hannah: 11/9/21 Visitor Identity and Motivation Assignment
The survey I gave out for this assignment was very short: there was one multiple choice question that asked visitors to select the statement that was closest to their primary reason for visiting the museum, and one free-response question where I asked them to state their reason for visiting the museum in their own words. The multiple choice question was worded as follows:
Which option best describes your PRIMARY reason for visiting MOXI today?
-I was interested to see what I personally could learn here at the museum
-I thought it would be a relaxing way to spend some of my time
-I brought children, other family members, or friends with me that I thought would enjoy the museum
-I was looking for ideas or inspiration related to my work and/or personal hobbies
-I'd heard positive things about the museum and decided it would be a good place to check out
With one exception, my participants’ free-response answers were easy to categorize into one of Falk’s five motivators. The one exception was a visitor who stated “Good vibes in SB” as his reason for visiting the museum, which, in my opinion, could most closely fall under either Experience Seeker or Recharger. This guest selected the Recharger option from the multiple choice, but I hesitate to characterize his free-response solely based on this fact. I also surveyed the person this guest was visiting with, who stated, “my friend recommended MOXI and I wanted to check it out,” and selected the Experience Seeker option. This guest also expressed that she was “always down to try something new” during my conversation with her. After this week’s readings, I now took this as a statement of “little i identity” that Falk describes, in a way that wouldn’t have registered previously!
The two guests I described above were my only survey participants visiting without children. My remaining participants all reflected the Facilitator identity in their free response answers, and with one exception, all selected the Facilitator option from the multiple choice. One guest selected the Recharger option from multiple choice, but talked about why she wanted to bring her kids to MOXI in her free response answer. This guest wrote her free response in Spanish, so it’s possible there was a degree of language barrier for her while doing my survey. However, her response also made me think about how visiting the museum could be relaxing as a parent, if it provides you with fun options to occupy and engage your kids! In retrospect, I wonder if there is a way I could have re-worded this option to better reflect Falk’s Recharger identity.
As I mentioned, I would categorize the free responses of all participants visiting with children in the Facilitator category. One response stuck out to me amongst these, which was, “We have 3 little girls and they love to create art work in the innovation workshop. It’s their favorite thing to do on the weekends.” This was the only response where the parent described their children’s motivation as the reason for the visit. All other responses mentioned the parent’s opinion, such as, “[I] want my 5 year old to really appreciate science,” or “for my child to interact with activities that allow her to use her imagination.” The most obvious explanation for this difference to me would be familiarity with the museum—children can’t develop strong motivations to visit MOXI unless they have been here before, and it was clear from this participant’s response that MOXI is a regular destination for her family. An additional survey question about visit frequency could have helped to explore this further.
Overall, my survey results were not too surprising to me. I expected that most visitors would fall under the Facilitator category, and I wasn’t too surprised not to find any Explorer or Professional/Hobbyist responses. While I am sure we do get visitors who would fall in both of these categories, I could see more content-focused museums being a greater draw for visitors with these motivations. I had a very small number of responses, so a greater sample would certainly be needed to get a better idea of whether my results are representative of MOXI visitors as a whole. My suspicion is that most guests who bring children would respond similarly to my survey participants, but I am curious to know more about the motivations of our visitors who come in all-adult groups. I don’t feel like I have a full picture of this visitor category, as I only came across two guests fitting this description while I was giving out my survey.
This assignment emphasized to me that asking guests “what brought you here to MOXI today?” can be more than just a conversation starter. Their answer is also an important piece of information to help maximize their experience at the museum! The commonality between all the parents/guardians I surveyed was their desire to have a fun and/or educational experience for their kids. Asking further questions about the types of activities their kids enjoy can be a next step for directing their visit in the way that will best fit their goals for the day. Likewise, I often direct “Experience Seekers” to the roof, and always make sure to mention that in addition to the exhibits, there’s also a great view.
I was so fascinated by Falk’s discussion of memory making in “Understanding Museum Visitors’ Motivations and Learning.” He explained how our identity not only influences our motivations, but also the way we remember experiences in the long term. In his example, a father’s “most salient long-term memory was an exhibit that his son found particularly compelling” (119). It’s something I’ll be thinking about more now when I talk with our guests. By working to tailor my recommendations to their motivations, my hope is that I can contribute to leaving our guests with impactful positive memories of their time at MOXI!
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