How people make choices in relation to cultural and leisure consumption has been explored from the viewpoint of motivation, lifestyle segmentation, and lifecycle. Little is known about the specific characteristics associated with choices to visit, re-visit, or not to visit a museum. Understanding characteristics of choice, developing incentives, bundled packages, and levels of pricing is an essential element in marketing strategies for museums operating in a competitive leisure marketplace. However, determining what really matters to cultural consumers is complex and methodologies to assist in unraveling such complexities are not easily identified. This study aimed to address ways in which people respond to specific incentives as influences in choosing museum visitation. The study was conducted in two major museums in Australia to determine how useful choice modeling is in identifying features that matter to cultural consumers. The results suggest that choice modeling has much to offer in relation to understanding the benefits people are seeking from a museum experience as well as offering strategic insight into potential collaborative ventures and re-combinations of existing museum products and services.
This paper considers how organizational practices facilitate and inhibit the social inclusion of Muslim women in a community sport setting. A case study of social inclusion practices in an Australian community sport organization (CSO) was built through interviews, focus groups, secondary data, and documentary evidence. Drawing on the work of Bailey (2005, 2008) the analysis employed a social inclusion framework comprised of spatial, functional, relational, and power dimensions. Findings indicated that there are a range of practices which facilitate social inclusion. Paradoxically, some of the practices that contributed to social inclusion at the club for Muslim women resulted in social exclusion for non-Muslim women. Examining each practice from multiple perspectives provided by the social inclusion framework allowed a thorough analysis to be made of the significance of each practice to the social inclusion of Muslim women at the club. Implications for social inclusion research and sport management practice are discussed.
Preferences of tourists and visitors are varied in a number of markets, making it difficult for managers to understand how underlying segments might respond to changes in service offerings. Market segments differ in preferences for specific features, as well as how consistently they make their choices. In this article, we illustrate recent developments in choice modeling that allows for simultaneously modeling feature preferences and consistency of choice. We use the Scale-Adjusted Latent Class Model (SALCM) to better understand choices in the context of a research project conducted in collaboration with six major Australian museums involving a sample of 3,685 museum visitors. We identify three preference classes of museum-goers that explain preferences for levels of26 museum attributes: Life Force (two thirds of visitors), Educated Thinkers, and Wealthy At-Homes. Our results indicate sensitivity to general entry prices, including preference for free entry or entry "by donation." Tours are preferred if smaller, lengthier, and conducted by paid museum staff. Not unexpectedly, the findings suggest that museums should cater for children, with some classes responding positively to providing supervised child areas. Most visitors prefer museums that are dynamic, offer new experiences, and regularly update permanent displays. However, the three classes identified have different overall experience preferences; for example, Educated Thinkers see museums as an educational opportunity, but Wealthy At-Homes prefer entertaining experiences. Incentives for return visits and cross-museum promotional offers are valued by the Life Force class, but have little effect on Educated Thinkers. The SALCM approach may be attractive to other areas of tourism analysis, especially where offerings contain many attributes and potential market segments are difficult to define and understand.
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