The importance of values research for nonprofit organisations: the motivation‐based values of museum visitors

TLDR

Marketing is crucial for nonprofit museums, which must prioritize customer service and understand visitor wants rather than solely focusing on profitability. This study argues that museums should replace demographic segmentation with psychographic segmentation based on visitor values. The authors conducted exploratory research at Otago Museum in New Zealand to examine patrons’ motivation‑based values. The research found that socially oriented values—such as spending time with friends and family—dominate museum visits, suggesting managers can target specific segments or design distinct museum sections accordingly. © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.

Abstract

Abstract Marketing is very important to nonprofit organisations, and museums, being nonprofits, need to consider different market segments when designing and implementing their strategic and marketing plans. Marketing has traditionally been linked to concepts of profitability and providing a competitive edge, however with nonprofit organisations, marketing needs to focus on customer service. To achieve the best customer service, the organisation needs to know what the customer wants. Therefore this paper advocates that research on museums move away from demographic segmentation and factual recall, to psychographic segmentation and values. This paper discusses exploratory research undertaken on the Otago Museum, New Zealand, which looks at the motivation‐based values of the museum patrons. The most important finding in this study is the prevalence of socially oriented values (being with friends and family), whereas traditionally a museum visit has been linked to more individualistic values, such as education and knowledge. These findings have important implications for museum managers (and other nonprofit organisations) in that they show the value of psychographic segmentation. A museum, and other arts organisations, can decide if they will target one particular segment, for example, families, or if they will design their museum with quite different sections that will appeal to different target markets. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications