Purpose
The hostile environments in which museums operate force them to be innovative. Most of them have fewer resources and are publicly owned. Because these factors may hinder their innovative potential, this paper aims to propose an open innovation model adapted to this type of organization to improve visitors’ experience.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative method based on a thematic analysis is carried out. Data sources are: (i) focus group with stakeholders from the destination and (ii) in-depth interviews with museums experts.
Findings
This new framework is important because it brings something new to a field that previous research had barely considered. The study of the implementation of open innovation in publicly owned small and medium-sized museums brings to light the growing importance of the relational, organizational, technological and experiential dimensions, their interactions and their main constituent factors.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to a specific type of institution, and results should not be extrapolated to other contexts. The construct of open innovation is highly complex, and that advises future research to include other players. Quantitative methods and longitudinal techniques will contribute to tackling new challenges in future research works.
Practical implications
Results are helpful for museum managers and policymakers. Stakeholders improve their comprehension of how an open innovation model works because the paper offers a few guidelines for its active designing. A solid networking based on trust and the emphasis on improving the visitor experience determine making-decision processes.
Originality/value
The paper provides a systemic innovation management model for museums, where there is almost no previous research. It is theoretically supported in the open innovation paradigm, as well as the absorptive capacity framework. The emerging and central role of the experiential dimension constitutes another notable contribution to literature.
Objective: The identification of museum attributes is essential when analysing the different factors that attract visitors and studying it in order to improve efficiency in museums, as this could affect the use of funds for developing a marketing campaign to attract visitors. This paper offers a literature review that considers museum visits and museum attributes before proposing a methodology.
Methodology: The use of big data applied to tourism research is vital, as it allows for the consideration of the opinions of museum visitors. The case study in this paper is the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid, Spain. The method for identifying the attributes consists of a textual analysis of TripAdvisor reviews written in English (2500) and Spanish (2500). The information is captured using WebHarvy and is analysed using Nvivo12.
Results: After analysing the thousand words that were used most frequently, the main attributes were detected, as well as whether the perception of these attributes was positive or negative. The museum’s location and the building itself were the most highly valued attributes. Other attributes that were valued positively were the peripheral services of the museum, such as its food and beverage services.
Limitations: The main limitation is that TripAdvisor is not an entirely reliable source of information, so it will be necessary to obtain more reviews to analyse.
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