Action at the exhibit face: video and the analysis of social interaction in museums and galleries

ABSTRACT

Whilst we can observe a considerable increase in importance of arts and museum marketing, research of people’s engagement with art in exhibitions is relatively rare. This neglect of people’s action and interaction in exhibitions is somewhat surprising considering that it is in exhibitions where museums are in direct contact with their audience. This article begins with a review of the emergence of video-based research in the social sciences before turning to the use of video for the study of visitor behaviour in exhibitions. It contributes to recent debates on experiential and sensory marketing by examining three video-recorded fragments of interactions at exhibits in museums. The analysis of the fragments suggests that people’s experience of exhibits arises in social interaction with others. The article ends with a discussion of the theoretical and methodological contribution of video-based research in museums and of implications of such research for those involved in the management and design of museums and other experiential environments.

KEYWORDS:

• Arts marketing
• consumer experience
• experiential marketing
• multisensory environment
• social interaction
• multimodality
• video

Acknowledgement

We would like the thank the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal Observatory in London for providing us with access to their exhibitions and the visitors for participating in the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The research has been funded by the ESRC [Grant number L328253030] ‘ Design for Interaction and Collaboration’.

Notes on contributors

Dirk vom Lehn

Dirk vom Lehn is Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Interaction and Technology. He is a member of the Work, Interaction & Technology Research Centre. His research explores the interplay of technology and social interaction in museums and galleries, optometric consultations and on street-markets.

Christian Heath

Christian Heath is Professor of Work and Organisation and leads the Work, Interaction and Technology Research Centre. He specializes in video-based studies of social interaction, drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, with a particular interest in the interplay of talk, bodily conduct and the use of tools and technologies.