Engaging visitors in cultural and recreational experience at museums

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to establish the relationships between (i) motivational drivers (serious leisure, meaningfulness, prior knowledge) and levels of engagement; (ii) and between levels of engagement and outcomes (word-of-mouth and passionate desire to return). The proposed model is tested with a sample of 461 visitors’ experiences at Museum of Coaches in Lisbon, Portugal. Serious leisure and prior knowledge are important motivators of engagement with museums. Engaged visitors are more willing to return and spread the word to others. The findings contribute to better understand the visitors’ perceptions of museums as tourist attractions. Several implications can be pointed out from the study and interesting directions for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Visitor engagement
• cultural experience
• recreational experience
• prior knowledge
• meaningfulness
• word-of-mouth

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro

Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro works at Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Business Research Unit (BRU/UNIDE) and SOCIUS. Her current research interests include consumer-brand relationships and engagement and tourism marketing issues. Her papers have been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals that include International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, International Journal of Travel Research. She has been invited for conferences worldwide in this area.

Eduardo Sarmento Ferreira

Eduardo Moraes Sarmento has a PhD in Economics with tourism specialization. He has been working in tourism activity as a consultant and as an investigator. He is director of a scientific research centre at the University and is responsible for several books and international papers in this area. He is also referee of several international journals. He has been invited for conferences worldwide in this area.