Understanding the motivation of museums, galleries and cultural exhibition visits – evidence from Taiwan internet use types

Abstract

Are museums, galleries and cultural institutions (MGC) educational institutions or accommodations of leisure market? The aim of the present study is to understand why people visit MGCs through analysing a potential link between internet use types and MGC visits. Internet use is categorized into three types: independent activities, recreational activities and social activities. The empirical results indicate that internet use for recreational activities is negatively related to MGC visits, while internet use for independent activities is positively related to MGC visits. The findings suggest that MGCs are expected to provide visitors with educational experience rather than with social or recreational experience.

Keywords:

• museum visits
• internet use types
• education
• leisure
• Taiwan

Acknowledgement

The authors thank the Center for Survey Research, RCHSS, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, for providing data used in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.