Gender and locality-related differences in circulation behavior in a museum setting

Abstract

The authors present the results of a case study conducted at the Sadberk Hanim Museum in Istanbul, which explored the relationship between gender and locality (being a native resident or foreign tourist) of visitors and their circulation behavior. Results indicated that visitor characteristics, particularly locality, had a significant impact on range and duration of circulation, but not on general patterns of route selection, such as the right-turn bias. Results are discussed with respect to the related literature.

Keywords:

• museum exhibitions
• visitor experience
• visitor behavior
• visitor circulation patterns
• visitor characteristics
• gender
• locality

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on extended statistical and theoretical analyses of the data collected as part of a Master's thesis by the second author under the supervision of the first author. The authors thank the staff of Sadberk Hanim Museum for their help, support and patience during the study.