The research paper investigates the reasons why Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore's theory of the Experience Economy can be a blessing or a curse when adapted on contemporary museums' displays. As an aggressive competitive leisure environment surrounds contemporary museums this examination is important for directors and curators to think about the image and management style of their institution. The research paper identifies the museum's main purposes like education, preservation and recreation to find out whether Pine and Gilmore's strategy helps to support them or rather undermines their position. Furthermore, the study works out the primary aspects of Pine and Gilmore's marketing strategy which are inter alia to provide visitors with enhanced experiences - educational, esthetic, escapist and/or entertaining ones - and also to make profit out of these approaches. Examples, case and research studies of authors that operate within the scopes of both culture and commerce are used to find out which impacts Pine and Gilmore's strategy can have on museums. On the one hand it turns out that the strategy is able to increase customer rates as well as to enhance visitors' experiences. One main outcome is that predominantly science museums can benefit from Pine and Gilmore's approach when they manage to combine education and experience in a proper way. On the other hand the strategy also leads to an immense commercialization of museums which increasingly try to attract customers with the help of extra facilities or experience opportunities. Above all art museums seem rather to suffer from that shift. They are accused of losing the focus on their main purpose which is the display of art. Out of these reasons, it is stated that the theory of the Experience Economy can not be a useful tool for every museum. It depends on nature and type of the museum and also on how exactly the strategy is applied to.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Approach
3. Context
3.1 The museum's original purpose
3.2 Pine and Gilmore's theory of the Experience Economy
4. Why the experience economy's theory can be both a curse and a blessing for the contemporary museum
4.1 Why it can be a blessing
4.2 Why it can be a curse
4.4 Entertaining or educating, commerce or culture?
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This research paper examines the application of Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore’s "Experience Economy" theory within contemporary museums. It aims to determine whether adopting commercial marketing strategies focused on providing memorable experiences supports or undermines the museum’s primary functions, such as education, preservation, and cultural enlightenment.
- The impact of commercialization on museum management and visitor experiences.
- The tension between traditional cultural mandates and modern leisure-market demands.
- Distinguishing the effects of the Experience Economy on art museums versus science museums.
- Analysis of the four experiential realms: educational, escapist, esthetic, and entertaining.
- The role of "superstar museums" and the potential risks of homogenization and loss of institutional distinctiveness.
Excerpt from the Book
4.2 Why it can be a curse
Is it credible now that Pine and Gilmore's theory can invade the contemporary museum only in a blaze of glory? The above mentioned example of the NMNH immediately reveals it is not. Kotler & Kotler (2000) show that though the museum overtly could increase its customer rate, the critique arose that it should better have financed a renovation of its displays which are about 50 years old. Some people were not pleased about the money having been invested in amusement novelties (p.284).
Further examples mentioned by Saumarez Smith (2006) are the Tate at St Ives and the Getty Center in Brentwood, both accused of bereaving their art collections of their exclusive status as museum shops, extraordinary located cafés, gardens or the architecture itself seem to marginalize the works of art (p.547). Therefore, it is a well-founded fear of Stephen (2007) that the art museum loses its original purpose when assigning works of art a secondary place after the experience of the museum's environment and extra facilities (p.306). Already in 1991, Filler recognizes the aggressive commercialization shift of art museums and scathed: “The spirit as well as the substance of the works of art on view within the new popular pleasure palaces have been given much less attention in many of the most publicized new museums of the past two decades." (In Stephen, 2007, p.306).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the rise of the modern leisure industry and the impetus for museums to adopt marketing strategies to remain competitive and secure governmental funding.
2. Approach: Describes the methodology, which is based on literature research and the juxtaposition of economic and cultural professional perspectives.
3. Context: Examines the foundational purposes of the museum and details the core pillars of Pine and Gilmore’s Experience Economy theory.
4. Why the experience economy's theory can be both a curse and a blessing for the contemporary museum: Analyzes the dichotomy of the theory's impact, weighing increased visitor engagement against the risk of diminishing the museum's core mission.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes that the suitability of the Experience Economy depends on the specific type of museum, concluding that while some facilities benefit, art museums face a high risk of losing their unique cultural identity.
Keywords
Experience Economy, Museum Management, Cultural Institutions, Commercialization, Leisure Industry, Museum Education, Visitor Satisfaction, Art Museums, Science Museums, Marketing Strategy, Institutional Identity, Public Funding, Pine and Gilmore, Consumer Culture, Cultural Preservation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper investigates how the "Experience Economy" theory, as formulated by Pine and Gilmore, influences contemporary museums and whether this marketing approach is beneficial or detrimental to their institutional goals.
What are the central themes addressed?
The core themes include the intersection of commerce and culture, the changing role of museums in a leisure-driven society, the tension between entertainment and education, and the preservation of institutional authenticity.
What is the ultimate research objective?
The objective is to analyze whether applying commercial experience strategies—such as café culture, interactive technology, and themed environments—enhances or undermines the museum’s original mission of education and preservation.
Which methodology does the author utilize?
The research is based on a comprehensive literature review, juxtaposing arguments from economic and cultural experts, and utilizing various case studies of museums to illustrate the potential impacts of the theory.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It provides an overview of the museum's traditional purpose, details the four realms of the Experience Economy, evaluates the positive "blessing" aspects such as increased engagement, and highlights the "curse" aspects like the potential loss of scholarly focus.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The study is characterized by terms like Experience Economy, Museum Management, Commercialization, Cultural Institutions, and Visitor Experience.
Why might science museums benefit differently than art museums from this theory?
Science museums often rely on interactive learning, which aligns well with the "educational" realm of the Experience Economy. In contrast, art museums risk marginalizing the art itself when they prioritize environment and secondary facilities over contemplative silence.
What is the risk of "homogenization" in museums?
Critics argue that applying identical commercial strategies across all museums leads to a "cookie-cutter" effect, where museums lose their idiosyncratic character and become indistinguishable from theme parks or shopping malls.
- Citar trabajo
- Bachelor of Arts Anna-Theresa Lienhardt (Autor), 2013, Commerce or culture? Why the experience economy can be a curse and a blessing for the contemporary museum, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/279980
