Museum Management Policies_Xian

This article was downloaded by: [NHTV Internationale Hogeschool]On: 26 June 2012, At: 05:37Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Visitor StudiesPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uvst20

Issues in Museum Management Policies:Evidence from Xi’an, ChinaChen Hui a & Chris Ryan ba Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province,Chinab University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand

Available online: 16 Apr 2012

To cite this article: Chen Hui & Chris Ryan (2012): Issues in Museum Management Policies: Evidencefrom Xi’an, China, Visitor Studies, 15:1, 62-81

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10645578.2012.660843

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representationthat the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of anyinstructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primarysources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uvst20

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10645578.2012.660843

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Visitor Studies, 2012, 15(1), 62–81Copyright C© Visitor Studies AssociationISSN: 1064–5578 print / 1934-7715 onlineDOI: 10.1080/10645578.2012.660843

Issues in Museum Management Policies:

Evidence from Xi’an, China

by Chen Hui1 and Chris Ryan2

1Xi’an International Studies University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China2University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand

ABSTRACTThis article is based on a survey of 493 visitors to Shaanxi History Museum, Xi’an,

China. The purpose of the research was to assess attitudes toward the exhibitionsand the sources of visitor satisfaction, and the consequences of a free entry policyadopted by the Museum in response to the directive of the Communist Party of ChinaCentral Committee and State Administration of Cultural Heritage of January 23,2008. Three dimensions for visitor satisfaction were found—an affective reaction tothe modes of presentation, a cognitive reaction to learning about Chinese history, andan affective reaction of a sense of awe and pride in that history. As part of the pricingpolicy, additional charges are made for special exhibitions, and evidence exists ofa consumer surplus for significant groups of visitors at current entry prices that arenormally 20 RMB. In this article the authors discussed issues related to a need toadopt merchandising, the provision of better ancillary services, and the role that suchservices can play in enhancing visitor satisfaction.

Any examination of the study of museum visitors requires recognition of a complexset of factors. To establish a framework for the study, these might be said to include (a)the motives of the visitor and the mix of social, cognitive, and recreational elementsthat create that motive; (b) the role of the cultural setting and the mixture of the local,regional, and global aspects of history a museum may seek to portray; (c) the meansof presentation and interpretation that a museum selects; (d) the nature of its clientele(e.g., is it local, national, or international, or a mix of these?); and (e) the perceivedneed to offer complementary facilities such as restaurants, gift shops, the role theseoffer in terms of both merchandising and revenue generation for the museum, and thecontribution they may make to the social interaction of visitors to the museum. Othermanagerial issues also exist such as prices to be charged for public institutions andthe role of special exhibits in the revenue strategies of museums.

Stylianou-Lambert (2011) noted the importance of museums within culturaltourism and highlighted the importance of differentiating tourists by reference tomotives and gazes that he classified as eight “museum perceptual filters.” Accord-ingly, the purpose of this article is to examine pricing policies and (a) perceptions of

62

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

Museum Management in Xi’an

displays at the Shaanxi History Museum in Xi’an, China and (b) the role of cognitiveand affective factors in shaping such perceptual filters, both of which impact on thewillingness to pay for non-permanent exhibitions. An additional reason for the studyis the relative lack of research literature in English that relates to Chinese museums.Given the Chinese context of the study, the literature review and discussion of themethods used in the study also contextualizes the research within a Chinese settingwith some specific reference to the city of Xi’an, while at the same time drawing upona wider, more international literature.

From a managerial perspective, given that the city has embarked upon a policy ofbeing a Chinese Museum City (that involves plans for establishing more than 150 newmuseums), a better understanding of different types of visitors may be of some sig-nificance. The article therefore reports findings derived from a sample of 493 visitorsto the Shaanxi History Museum. The sample is divided into three segments: (a) vis-itors from the province of Shaanxi where the museum is located, (b) other Chinesevisitors, and (c) international visitors, thereby permitting a comparison between thesedifferent groups of visitors.

Literature Review

Differences of opinion exist as to the quantity and quality of research into therelationships between museums and tourism. For example Gill and Ritchie (2009)argued that there were few studies of what generates satisfactory museum visitson the part of tourists, whereas Slater (2007, p. 149) argued that “researchers havebeen trying to find out why and how people visit museums and galleries for over 100years.” Whatever the truth of the matter, little research exists, at present, in the Englishlanguage on the issue in the case of mainland China. Consequently questions arise as towhether it is possible to extrapolate research from other countries to China, or does theChinese context differ? This is not to argue that no research exists. An examination ofpublished literature provides evidence of a significant body of knowledge of Chinesemuseums, but much of this relates to technical aspects of curatorship. For example, atthe Terracotta Museum in Xi’an, Cao et al. (2005) examined the quality of air withinthe Museum for the presence of aerosols and concluded that the quantity of aerosolsbeing used posed a potential danger of eroding the statues.

With reference to wider studies of visitors and their behavior in museums, Smithand Wolf (1996) commented that, in the 1990s, museum managers had significantamounts of socio-demographic data identifying their visitors, but little about theirdegrees of knowledge or what they sought from museums. In their own study ofthe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, they found that “degree of prior artknowledge” emerged as a significant variable in determining a shift from the mainmotive for a visit being one of “enjoyment” to one of “learning.” Additionally, ofmore significance, was just how comparatively small were the differences in behavior(e.g., in time spent looking at pictures or likelihood of repeat visitation) betweendifferent groups of visitors as classified by psychographics and demographics. Inshort, homogeneity of behavior was evident regardless of motive or stated purpose ofvisit.

For their part Ryan and Hsu (2011) examined the motives of visitors and causesof satisfaction within a Chinese language and cultural setting of the 921 Earthquake

Visitor Studies, 15(1), 2012 63

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

Museum in Taiwan. They concluded that visitors generally valued museums for theirrole as “guardians of human culture” but visitation and satisfaction were primarilyexplained by an interest in a specific topic or exhibition, a wish to learn, and moreprosaic reasons such as a visit being a “good” visitor activity on rainy days. However,within their text lies a concept of “rootedness in the local” as the museum is located in aschool damaged by the 1999 earthquake on September 21. This echoes earlier research.For example, Harrison (1997) conducted both quantitative and qualitative research atthe Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, and concluded that visitorsto the Museum were motivated by a wish to establish a sense of “Hawaii-ness” (i.e.,what did it mean to be “Hawaiian” beyond the gloss of the resorts), and satisfaction wasderived from obtaining a better sense of the local. In many respects this finding reflectsa wider debate in the tourism literature about the role of the “authentic,” the touristsearch for the authentic (McCannell, 1976), and acts of interpretation that includeor exclude “silent voices” (Hollinshead, 1988, 1999, 2001; Ryan, 2007). Chhabra(2008) addressed the issue of authenticity in museum interpretation and suggests acontinuum comprising 5 stages. These are essentialism, essentialism with negotiation,negotiation, negotiated constructionism, and constructionism. This marks a transitionfrom cultural continuity to a commodified tradition that is marketed based on a pastconstructed from nostalgia and pseudo-back stages. Certainly, today, the managementof many museums encompasses not simply the conservation and preservation ofartifacts but also careful consideration of modes of interpretation and storytelling.Additionally, such management requires all the paraphernalia of modern managementtechniques including marketing and museum image creation as museums seek to befinancially sustainable.

Zan (2000) addressed the issues of managerial processes in the context of theBologna Archaeological Museum and identified a number of problems in the ap-plication of traditional management techniques to a museum. How does one defineefficiency, given “the information needed for performance representation within alogic of managerial control (whatever that means), is simply not there?” (Zan, 2000,p. 432). He identified different audiences to which a museum speaks, namely the gen-eral visitor, school and educational parties, the scientific community, and the onlinevisitor who may be drawn from any of the previous categories, and additionally hediscussed a need to distinguish between “in house” and “hosted” exhibitions. Much ofZan’s article relates to budgetary considerations and procedures, but his final conclu-sions include the comment that ticket revenues cannot cover all costs and sponsorshipsare important.

For their part Mottner and Ford (2005) analyzed what has become a popular meansof raising additional revenues through merchandising. Noting the importance of salesthey argued that museum stores have a second ancillary purpose, which is the edu-cation of the public. They concluded that this latter function has a marginal negativeimpact on merchandising by inducing slightly lower prices. They recommended thatmerchandising functions must be brought into any consideration of a museum’s strat-egy, and they should not be relegated to being an afterthought. Part of the inducementto purchase at any retail outlet is the impact ambience may have on the potentialpurchaser, and de Rojas and Camerero (2008) believed that mood setting and emotionare important determinants of satisfaction derived from a visit to a museum. Theirstudy is derived from data collected at the Queen Isabel Interpretation Centre located

64 Visitor Studies, 15(1), 2012

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


in the Royal and Testamentary Palace in Valladolid, Spain. However they concludedthat although issues of lighting and presentation are important, the prime determinantsof visitor experience remain cognitive aspects and prior experience and knowledge.

Within the Chinese situation this poses some interesting questions given the interestof the State in using cultural tourism and associated assets for both economic growthand the retention of social harmony. Appeals to a Chinese culture help retain pridein Chinese achievements, but as Yan and Bramwell (2008) demonstrated with theirhistory of the Qufu Cult Ceremony, at different times this creates different presenta-tions as tensions of political need and concern over authenticity give rise to questionsof how to interpret events and present them to the public. Sofield and Li (1998) havedescribed this process:

Like the Chinese cheung nga kau (ivory artefact) in which a series of concentric ivory ballsare carved one inside the other, the complexities of tourism development in contemporaryChina enclose one era after another and may only be understood by delving back into the past.A unifying theme throughout China’s long history of tourism is the place of culture and thetraditions of heritage tourism and pilgrimage. (p. 362)

These same concerns arise in the representation of the culture, history, and arts ofminority ethnic peoples in China, and again as part of rural economic policies museumsand cultural centers have been developed to portray the peoples and their cultures(Zhang, 2003; Liu, Liu, & Wall, 2005). As an aside to these issues one can also notethe processes of commodification of history and culture. As any visitor to China cantestify, even seemingly in the smallest village, items and images relating to Mao canbe found and have become collector’s items. Many of the items are trivial—a badge, aclockwork fob watch, a china plate—but together they represent many different thingsincluding a folk memory where “the existence of the badges proved Mao’s greatnessand the correctness of the social and moral hierarchy of his day” (Hubbert, 2006, p.150). Consequently, although this study does not dwell on these concerns, the widercultural context of the Shaanxi History Museum with its permanent collections of theprehistoric to Qin Dynasty and the displays relating to Tang, Song, and Han dynastiesamong other collections is important in coming to any understanding of the visitorexperience. For international visitors, the displays present artifacts that illustrate thelong history of continuity and disruption in Chinese culture—the Tang dynasty, forexample, preceding a unified Chinese state. For knowledgeable Chinese visitors,reference to the Tang may reinforce senses of provincial pride and demonstrate anuanced cultural homogeneity that connects China to its past—a bridge that wassought to be broken during the Maoist regime with its emphasis upon the past “greatsuperstitions.” For the casual visitor the museum appeals to the motives associatedwith “edu-tainment”—the gaze upon something different and hence of interest.

Attracting visitors to the museum and to subsequently purchase items or visit ad-ditional exhibitions is thus of significance—politically, economically, and culturally.The museum has, however, not only to compete with other museums—and Xi’an in2010 commenced a policy of becoming the “Museum City” with a planned expansionin the number of its museums (Standing Committee of Xi’an Municipal Government,2010)—but with other displays of art and culture as well as the expressions of popularculture that capture the interest of an emergent consumer class. The willingness to pay


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

on the part of the potential museum visitor is thus a key determinant, and that questiondoes not cease to exist when entry becomes free as is the case in this example.

One example of why this matters is provided by Tohmo (2004). He noted that thereis a “non-use” value to museums, that is, those who do not attend museums (or byextension, exhibitions) may nonetheless be prepared to pay to support the existenceof a museum on grounds that its very existence supports a series of culturally orientedactivities. Thus, in the case of the Museum of Central Finland in Jyvaskyla he findsclear evidence of the existence of non-market benefits. Plaza (2010, p. 161), however,in the case of the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, noted that “the estimate of WTP[willingness to pay] of a museum as an economic reactivator is useful for estimatingthe non-market value of the heritage itself. However, it is also clearly insufficient whenthe principal aim of the museum is to act as an economic engine.” She continued tonote that more market-oriented studies reveal more about economic returns and therole of the museum as a means of regional development.

In many ways such debates in China are comparatively new, but an emergent lit-erature can be traced. He, Luo, Geng, and Huang (2009) clustered visitors to HunanProvincial Museum as being “active” and “negative” participants and calculated arecreational value of the museum as being 0.205 billion yuan. Interest in museums,their pricing, and their marketing policies were initiated by the cross-sectoral gov-ernment circular (Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, 2008) thatinitiated policies of free entry to museums in China. C. Li (2009) studied the impact ofa free admission policy on museums and concluded that problems could emerge fromover-crowding that could reduce access to interpretation and guides and reduce thequality of the visitor experience. However, he also noted an increased attendancenot only at museums in general, but also special exhibitions for which fees werecharged continued to be well attended. Dong and Yang (2009) found in a survey ofvisitors to the Shaanxi History Museum that 52% of their sample would not favora return to charging for admission, and only 29% were in favor, the remainder be-ing unsure. In addition, 13% of their sample did purchase souvenirs. Gao, Guo, andWang (2007) also included the Shaanxi History Museum in their study of five Xi’anmuseums and found evidence that the museum succeeded in generating an appreci-ation of the long history of the area and provided both an educational and leisureexperience.

Prior to the introduction of the free pricing policy Y. Li (2004) had noted that,although the number of museums in China was increasing, the majority were notattractive and used old and outdated modes of presentation. She called for five strate-gies to be adopted, namely (a) to enrich the variety of museums to meet the demandof the locals; (b) to put enterprise marketing theory into the museum management;(c) to update display methods and increase museum economic profits by increasingservice items, like cafes and tea houses; (d) to raise funds in diversified ways; and(e) to encourage private enterprises to build museums by legislation. Dai, Lu, Yang,and Wang (2007) reviewed the trends existing in non-Chinese museums and made asimilar call for more modern practices to be applied to Chinese museums, whereas Liu(2005) noted, among other aspects, how traditional Chinese presentation techniquesused in museums were failing to attract out of region visitors. Similar comments areechoed by Shi (2002) and Chen, Chen, and Xu (2006). Both Liu (2005) and Chenet al. also commented on the role of museums as part of a wider portfolio of tourist


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


attractions and the contribution that museums can make to city image creation, asdoes He et al. (2009)—in these cases for the cities of Guangzhou and Hunan.

There appear to be some consistent themes in the above literature that potentiallyapply to any study of tourists and day visitors attending a museum. First, the premiseof a museum being located or rooted in a local tradition poses issues. Some museums,such as the British Museum, may be said to be international in the reach of theirdisplays, and others may have displays strongly contextualized in national, regional,or local heritage. The Shaanxi History Museum falls strongly within this latter tradi-tion and, arguably, it is this feature that can appeal to the international visitor seekinga better understanding of Chinese culture. Consequently the first research questionemerges, which is, what is the role of local representation in the appeal of, and subse-quent evaluation of displays for different groups of visitors? A second related questionis to what extent does the actual mode of display matter in terms of eliciting cognitiveand affective responses? What is the interplay between what is presented and how is itpresented? If what is being presented is truly unique and of significant aesthetic value,as is the case of many of the items on display in this museum, can it be simply presentedwith little interpretation so that visitors assess it within their own understandings ofwhat constitutes beauty? A further question, particularly in modern Chinese muse-ums, relates to the ancillary services of catering and merchandising. Associated withthis is the role of special exhibitions accessible only by the payment of additionalentry fees. This is of importance to Chinese museums because, in comparison withmany in the West, Chinese museums are underdeveloped, and any additional revenueto be obtained is beginning to be seen as having some importance in permitting futuremuseum development. More specifically the research questions are:

1. How satisfied with their visit to the Museum were visitors and to what degree werecognitive and affective dimensions elicited in their evaluations?

2. What were the determinants of satisfaction—and what were the roles of presenta-tion and content of exhibitions in determining that satisfaction?

3. What were the consequences of the free ticket entry and quota systems, especiallywith reference to calls to provide more modern image and branding exercisesthat included greater usage of special exhibits, merchandising, and better cateringfacilities?

4. What prices might visitors be prepared to pay for special exhibitions as part of anew policy of revenue generation for the museum?

Location of the Study: The Shaanxi History Museum

Xi’an and the Shaanxi History Museum have responded to calls for the modern-ization of China’s museums. The Shaanxi History Museum was opened to visitors in1991 as an important project under the 7th Five Year Plan of economic and social de-velopment of China. Its collections feature rich and high grade arrays of bronze wareof the Zhou Dynasty (11h century B.C.–221 B.C.), clay figurines of different dynas-ties, fresco paintings, and gold and silver ware from the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Theexhibition halls have a space of 4,600 square meters with a permanent exhibition ofseven chronologically themed halls from the prehistoric to the Qing Dynasty display-ing over 3,000 artifacts. The permanent exhibitions feature representative artifacts ofthe different stages unearthed from Shaanxi, mainly Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang dynasties


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

and the post-Tang period, stretching from 1.15 million years ago to 1840. Prior tointroducing a free admissions policy in 2008 the Museum was attracting 600,000visitors a year and, on the criterion of visitation, was among the leading museumsin China. The free admissions policy was a response to a cross-sectorial governmentcircular (Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, 2008) to adopt suchpolicies as part of a national patriotic policy. An assessment of potential crowdingissues in the Museum established a daily quota of 4,000 visitors, with potentially upto 2,500 tickets being provided before 2:00 pm and a potential maximum of a further2,500 being provided after 2:00 pm. Tickets are provided on presentation of a valididentity card. The museum was one of 1,007 museums that had, by the end of 2008,complied with the circular (He et al., 2009). Following the March 2010 circular ofthe Xi’an Municipal Government, the museum is being encouraged to adopt West-ern policies of increased revenue generation by maximizing sales through cateringand merchandising, which at the time of data collection in March 2010 remainedunderdeveloped at the museum.

METHOD

In determining the focus of the research after reviewing the above literature it wasdecided to use an exploratory mode of research given that little current academicliterature on the Shaanxi History Museum seemed to exist. Thus the first decision wasto include on the first page of the self-completed questionnaire a series of open-endedquestions to give respondents an opportunity to provide lists of likes and dislikes beforereading items identified by the researchers, and thereby begin to identify degrees andsources of satisfaction. As noted, it also seemed important to elicit data about the WTPfor entry to exhibitions and alternative services such as merchandising, although theoverall format and mode of questioning would not permit a full WTP research designother than obtaining simple responses as to how much people would be prepared topay. Responses about the free entry policy were also sought.

The questionnaire comprised four main sections. The first related to respondents’overall impressions of the museum—data elicited by open-ended questions. Data onthe number of past visits made to this and museums in general were also asked onthis first page. The questions asked were “which exhibitions have you visited today,”“what appealed to you about this exhibition,” and “using three words or phrases,was there anything that you thought could have been done differently?” The secondsection used 7-point scaled items where “7” represented the most positive responseand asked questions about current pricing policies and their impressions of and satis-faction with their visit to the Museum. The questions were derived from observationsof the museum, awareness of museum policies, and past literature including Chen etal. (2006), Dong and Yang (2009), and Ryan and Hsu (2011), and identified motivesfor visits and the degrees to which these motives are satisfied. These questions there-fore included assessments of the standard of displays, willingness to buy souvenirs,whether the free entry policy encouraged visitation, and two questions about the roleof museums (education and guardianship).

The questionnaire also permitted respondents to enter a zero value on scaled andother items. The interpretation of the zero value may therefore be two-fold—namely(a) the absence of interest to attend such an exhibition or (b) a disposition to attend, but


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


only if the exhibit is free. From the perspective of revenue generation, both alternativesare equivalent and are treated as such in the analysis by including zero as a legitimatevalue in the analysis.

The third section presented a list of possible special exhibits with a brief descriptionof those exhibits and asked respondents to indicate the price that they would be willingto pay to enter such exhibitions. The proposed exhibitions were The Maya AncientCivilisation of South America, Maori Arts and Crafts, the Yunnan Ethnic Peoples,Qing Dynasty Furniture, Traditions of Fine Embroidery, Calligraphy, and finally theShenzhou Space Programme. The list was devised on the basis of topics that reflectedlocal interest, ancient and modern, overseas and domestic themes, and Han and ethnicpeople traditions. The final section of the questionnaire sought sociodemographic dataincluding gender, age, income, and educational attainment. The questionnaire was inMandarin with an English version for overseas visitors after backward translation ofthe text.

The WTP questions involved presenting the list of the above possible potentialspecial exhibitions and providing data about what the exhibitions could contain.Respondents were then asked to indicate how much they would be prepared to payto see such an exhibition. This simply asked for an amount and no classifications ofprices were offered. For example the description of the Shenzhen Space Programmeincluded text that read:

This exhibition includes a model of the lunar orbiter Chang’e that orbited the moon in 2007,space suits worn by Yang Liwei on Shenzhou 5 and models of the Shenzhou 10 to be launchedlater in 2010 to start a new space history.

Whereas the furniture exhibition included the descriptors:

Furniture from this period is noted for its solemnity in a range of materials including wood andstone decorated with ivory, bamboo and mother of pearl. The exhibits include chairs, wardrobesand cabinets.

The survey was conducted in March, 2010; exactly 2 years after the museumintroduced the free entry with quota policy. It was also 6 days after the museumcommenced a 2-month-long special exhibition on Master Huang Binhong’s paintingsand calligraphic works for which the entry fee was 20 yuan. In modern Chinesepainting circles, Master Huang Binhong is acknowledged as a major mountain andwater painter paralleled only by Qi Baishi who is famous for his flowers and birdspaintings. Altogether 500 questionnaires were handed out, 496 were returned, and493 of them were found valid. Data collection was completed during the week bythe first author with alternate days being spent in the mornings and in the afternoons,thereby capturing situations where it was or was not possible to purchase a ticket for


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

the special exhibit or to obtain entry thereby bypassing the queue for free tickets. Acombination of random and quota sampling was used where every 10th person leavingthe museum was asked to self-complete the questionnaire, the quota being used toachieve an even balance between morning and afternoon visitors.

As noted above, the final sample comprised 493 respondents, of whom 245 weremale, 242 female, and 6 respondents not indicating their gender. As is common inresearch in China at domestic tourism attractions, the greater number were from the19- to 35-year-old age group (n = 397), it being this age group that has been themain beneficiaries of China’s economic growth of the last decade and its expansion ofuniversity education (Ryan & Gu, 2008). However a small subsample of 41 overseastourists was also interviewed. The Chinese tourists included many from outside ofShaanxi Province (226) and thus permitted a three-fold categorization of overseas,local domestic, and other Chinese visitors to the museum. Confirming the “economicboom” nature of the sample, of the total, 346 had or were studying for a universitydegree, 63 had post-graduate qualifications, and 37 had professional qualifications.A total of 21 respondents had full-time employment in the tourism industry, and 42were part-time employees in that industry. The attraction of the no entry fee policyin being able to attract a larger group of visitors is reflected in the self-designationof 245 respondents stating that they had a low level of annual income, although thegreat majority of this group were in the younger age groups and thus includes manycurrently in full-time study.

RESULTS

Before analyzing the data, tests of reliability and sampling adequacy were calcu-lated and the assessment scale (comprising items shown in Table 1) possessed analpha coefficient of 0.789, and split half coefficients of 0.70. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkinstatistic of sampling adequacy was 0.78. Additionally factor analysis was undertakenas a test of convergent reliability. This technique reduces the total numbers of itemsused in a scale to their underlying dimensions. An oblimin rotation was used withPredictive Analytics SoftWare (PASW) to obtain coefficients of correlation betweenthe dimensions—a lack of correlation being the desired result. This was achievedand four independent factors (maximum r = 0.29 among them) were found to ex-plain 57.7% of the variance in the scale. These four factors were labeled satisfactionwith the museum and its displays, ticket policy and impacts on visitor patterns, otherconsequences of the ticket policy and structural components—a two-item factor thatcomprised the items about the preference for a cafe/restaurant and the importance ofthe content of the special exhibits. This highlighted the importance of special exhibitsto both visitors and the museum—in the case of the former as an inducement tovisit the museum, and in the case of the latter as part of a portfolio of exhibitionswith consequences for revenue, leading to an analysis of the willingness to pay for aproposed list of exhibits.

Table 1 provides the basic descriptive statistics detailed by the three-fold catego-rization of place of residency referred to above. The first conclusion is that place ofresidence has no significant impact on assessments other than overseas visitors wouldprefer to have better cafe or restaurant facilities as part of the museum complex. Cur-rently catering provision is provided within a tea house that also doubles as an area


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


Table 1. Assessments of the Shaanxi International Museum and its pricing policy

Assessment n M SD Overseas Local Other p

I believe that Museums are importantas guardians of human culture

478 6.28 1.19 6.50 6.23 6.30 NS

The current policy of a free ticket, buta limit on the daily number ofvisitors, is very good.

479 6.06 1.33 6.10 6.26 6.01 NS

The current policy has, I think,encouraged more people in generalto visit the museum.

458 5.95 1.19 6.40 5.96 5.94 NS

I felt I learnt a lot from my visit to theMuseum today

470 5.85 1.19 6.00 5.74 5.85 NS

I was very satisfied with my visit tothe Museum today

470 5.79 1.21 6.40 5.63 5.73 NS

The current policy has encouraged mepersonally to make more visits.

455 5.64 1.46 N/A 5.81 5.75 NS

I thought the standard of displays inthe Museum were very good

468 5.45 1.35 6.30 5.40 5.40 NS

For me the content of a specialexhibition would be the primaryfactor in deciding whether or not tovisit that exhibition in the Museum

434 5.15 1.55 5.30 5.32 5.29 NS

I often bring to the Museum friendsand relatives who are visiting mefrom outside the city.

325 5.08 1.48 N/A 5.20 5.09 NS

Generally I do not think the galleriesare too crowded.

477 4.71 1.66 5.00 4.57 4.76 NS

I would like to see a propercafe/restaurant serving lightrefreshments as part of the Museum

405 4.55 1.75 6.20 4.36 4.53 .007

I would like to buy gifts based onexhibits in the Museum

424 4.37 1.51 4.00 4.52 4.32 NS

I find that I am now more willing topay to see special exhibitionsbecause of the policy of free entry tothe Museum.

419 4.31 1.64 5.10 4.51 4.28 NS

Because of the free ticket I buy moresouvenirs and items from theMuseum shop.

373 3.99 1.67 3.60 3.97 4.23 NS

selling books and brochures, and observation and anecdotal evidence suggests that theprovision is seen as inadequate in terms of both size and style. All respondents expressa belief that an important function of the museum is the role of “guardian of humanculture” (overall mean of 6.28 out of a possible 7), tend to support the free ticketentry/quota system, and express satisfaction with their visit to the museum. However,in terms of the consequences of the free ticket entry, although people express satis-faction that the quotas meant uncrowded galleries, there is an absence of agreementthat the policy encourages a shift of expenditure into more merchandising throughthe purchases of gifts, or in increased attendance at special exhibitions. Rather, itis the nature of those exhibitions that will be the determinant of visitation to thoseexhibitions.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

Table 2. Pricing (RMB) and special exhibits

ShaanxiOverseas Province Other

Special exhibit n M SD visitors residents Chinese p

Maya Ancient Civilisation 493 21.08 28.36 15.09 21.20 22.81 NSCalligraphy 492 20.35 24.91 12.82 22.02 20.72 NSShenzhou Space Programme 493 18.24 24.08 12.71 21.76 16.32 0.017Qing dynasty furniture 493 16.78 21.65 12.12 18.50 16.52 NSFine Embroidery 493 16.65 20.29 12.34 18.85 19.76 NSMaori Arts and Crafts 493 15.57 21.63 14.02 16.78 15.15 NSYunnan Province Ethnic

Peoples493 14.63 19.00 12.56 16.13 13.84 Ns

Table 2 reports the data relating to the prices respondents were prepared to pay onthe basis of their place of normal residence. For the most part, there was no statisticallysignificant difference between subsamples. The finding that the two least attractiveexhibitions are those devoted to the culture of minority groups is consistent with otherresearch where comparisons are made between such attractions and others (e.g., seeRyan & Huyton, 2002, on Australian Aboriginal culture and McIntosh, 2004, p. 12,who wrote “Maori culture . . . may not represent a primary motivation for visiting adestination”).

Of note is that the standard deviations in all cases exceed the mean value, indicatinga wide range of prices that respondents are willing to pay. Indeed, examination ofthe frequencies showed in all cases a range from zero to several hundreds of RMB.Additionally the frequencies showed that price values of 10, 20, 30, 50, and 100 RMBtended to be values that attracted clusters of respondents. Consequently the data wererecoded with a view to assess who was willing to pay more and why. In undertakingthis exercise, in addition to the price data and the scores on the seven-point scales, theresponses to the open-ended questions also were used.

This required creating codes to record data derived from the responses to open-ended questions pertaining to overall levels of satisfaction, what specifically appealedto respondents, and where they thought improvements might be made. This requiredtwo linking processes. The first required familiarization with the text, re-reading itseveral times, and identifying themes. This aided the second process, which was useof the text analysis program CatPac (www.galileoco.com). Based on neural networkanalysis the program allocates spaces to the words in the text and then creates spatiallinks to indicate not only frequency counts but also proximities of words that createa theme or concept. As noted, this requires several readings of the text to standardizethe text (e.g., standardize the tenses of verbs, remove ambiguities due to negativeand positive expressions of a theme, standardize a usage of singular or plural, orcreate word combinations that distinguish between different usage of the same word),whereupon the software can create dendograms and spatial maps (Woefl & Richards,1989). Using these methods permitted the development of categories of statements.Each respondent’s open-ended responses were then analyzed for the presence orabsence of the coded themes as listed below.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


With reference to reactions to the museum as a whole, the overwhelming responsewas positive, with respondents generating classifications such as “the magnificentcollection,” “the impressive display of Tang culture,” “the rich collection of historicartefacts,” and “the stunning collection.” Of the 493 respondents all but 12 madesome comment about the collection. Of the sample, 43 rated the museum as “veryexcellent”; superlatives were used by at least half of the respondents in the open-ended questions. Using the textual analysis program, it was found that a further 51respondents used the word great as either a stand-alone word or in conjunction withothers as an adjective to describe the collection or a sense of history.

It can be concluded that levels of satisfaction with the visit to the museum are high.The next question was the degree to which cognitive or affective motives were reasonsfor such satisfaction. Using the mapping function of the program it was found thatthe Museum had a “rich collection,” “induced a sense of a long history,” and “wasimpressive in both the collection and the history it portrayed.” Studying the text thefollowing overlapping themes emerged:

1. Favorable impressions of the museum and the displays themselves—their presen-tation and the range of items shown;

2. Favorable impressions of the history being portrayed by the museum—a sense ofhistory, the richness of past Chinese civilization—such impressions being basedon intellectual assessments;

3. More specific emotional responses to the above—feelings of wonder, amazement,a better appreciation of Chinese culture.

To which can be added a fourth, minority view:

4. That there was nothing extra-ordinary about the museum or its displays—that itwas ordinary, the displays poorly lit; there was nothing special about the museum.Including those who had no comment to make about the museum, 20 respondentsfell into this category.

Consequently, taking into account all the comments made by the visitors, visitorswere categorized as being (a) “objective” in their assessments of the museum, (b)“impressed by the history presented,” (c) “having emotive responses” (i.e., an emo-tional response is shown separate from the objective and intellectual), (d) a “holisticresponse” that encompasses at least two of the previous categories, and finally (e)“unimpressed.” In many respects this exercise is bedeviled with problems of languageusage and it should be noted that several semantic problems exist. For example, theuse of the word awesome can denote a range of meanings from literally looking onsomething that genuinely creates a sense of awe to the more colloquial cool. Dealingwith translations from Mandarin to English meant this was a time-consuming exerciseand it is recognized that the categorization is not free from criticism. However, it didprove to be useful, and it was possible to allocate respondents to the categories asindividuals recorded comments such as a sense of pride in Chinese history, the senseof an continuous stream of human record, being impressed with the range of thecollection, of finding items “mysterious,” of having a sense of the profound, and ofcommenting on the excellence (or otherwise of the lighting) and the comprehensivenature of the collection.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

The final outcome of this exercise was 280 visitors were categorized as being “ob-jective”; that is, primarily commenting on verifiable aspects of the displays althoughthe figure is inflated by including those who simply designated the Museum as being“good,” “very good” or used similar terms. A total of 112 visitors made specificreferences to a sense of history, 70 were categorized as making primarily emotionalresponses other than a sense of history by using terms like awesome, having a sense ofthe profound, mystery, insights into another’s culture, and so forth, whereas 25 werecategorized as being “unimpressed.” A further six were not categorized because themeanings of their statements were unclear.

Using this nominal classification as the independent variable in analysis of variancetests then showed statistically significant differences in degrees of satisfaction withthe visit to the museum, but post hoc Tukey tests showed that this was whollygenerated by the presence of a group categorized as “unimpressed.” Removing thisgroup generated statistically insignificant results. However, with reference to theprices that respondents were willing to pay, while again the “unimpressed” were theleast willing to pay a price in excess of 10 RMB, what also emerged was a generallinear trend whereby the “objective” tended to be more prepared to pay a higher price,followed by the “impressed by history” group with the third group being the “emotiveresponders.” This implies that the technical aspects of museum display are thereforeimportant. The total revenue that could be obtained from the sample was calculatedfrom the prices the sample indicated they were prepared to pay, which were MayaAncient Civilisation (10,393 RMB), Calligraphy (10,014 RMB), Shenzhen SpaceProgramme (8,995 RMB), Qing Dynasty Furniture (8,275 RMB), Fine Embroidery(8,208 RMB), Maori Arts and Crafts (7,678 RMB), and Yunnan Province EthnicPeoples (7,212 RMB).

Taken together the data set now contained a number of variables by which thedeterminants of a willingness to pay for specific special exhibitions could be assessed.Such data included entry price groupings as dependent variables with, as independentvariables, socio-demographic variables, attitudes toward museums and their roles,and a categorization of visitors based upon open-ended responses to their visit tothe Shaanxi History Museum. Given that the data contained a mix of continuousand nominal data, whereas the dependent variable was also categorical in nature, ananalysis using multinomial logistic regression was carried out. Table 3 provides asummary of the results. The table shows that the level of fit and predictive capabilityof the model is generally weak, but determining variables would appear to be thecontent of the exhibition and a wish to be accompanied by friends and relatives. Withreference to the last variable, there is some weak evidence that being accompaniedby friends and relatives may encourage the buying of souvenirs and gifts and thepatronage of a museum cafe, which indicates the social nature of many museum trips.Level of education also appears to have a role along with age and income—but itdoes need to be again mentioned that the fits and classifications are not high, meaningthese findings are tentative although arguably fitting the results from prior researchreported above.

The relationships illustrated in Table 3 are, however, not conclusive, for someof the data are problematic because of singularities in the Hessian matrix that aredue to small frequencies in some cells; however, it is thought a second reason alsoexists. (Hessian matrices measure derivatives of error measures with reference to


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

Tabl

e3.

Det

erm

inan

tsof

wil

ling

ness

topa

ysp

ecia

lexh

ibit

pric

es

Nom

inal

Var

iabl

esC

oxan

dSn

ell

Mot

ivat

iona

lvar

iabl

esw

here

Pseu

doR

2 /E

xhib

it(p

<0.

05)

p<

0.05

clas

sific

atio

nfit

May

aA

ncie

ntC

ivili

satio

nB

ring

frie

nds

and

rela

tives

toth

em

useu

mC

onte

ntof

spec

iale

xhib

ition

sB

uyso

uven

irs

Mus

eum

sar

egu

ardi

ans

ofhu

man

cultu

re

Age

Edu

catio

nFu

ll-tim

ean

dpa

rt-t

ime

empl

oym

enti

nth

eto

uris

min

dust

ry

0.80

668

.8%

Cal

iigra

phy

Bri

ngfr

iend

san

dre

lativ

esto

the

mus

eum

Tole

arn

Free

polic

yen

cour

ages

visi

tsW

ould

use

cafe

Gen

der

Vis

itor

cate

gory

0.43

666

.7%

Shen

zhou

Spac

ePr

ogra

mm

eFr

eepo

licy

enco

urag

esvi

sits

Stan

dard

ofdi

spla

ysIn

com

eE

duca

tion

Part

-tim

eem

ploy

men

tin

the

tour

ism

indu

stry

Vis

itor

cate

gory

0.00

066

.7%

Qin

gdy

nast

yfu

rnitu

reB

ring

frie

nds

and

rela

tives

toth

em

useu

mB

uyso

uven

irs

Vis

itor

cate

gory

Part

-tim

eem

ploy

men

tin

the

tour

ism

indu

stry

0.00

057

.8%

Fine

Em

broi

dery

Con

tent

ofth

eex

hibi

tion

0.54

150

.4%

Mao

riA

rts

and

Cra

fts

Mor

ew

illin

gto

pay

for

spec

iale

xhib

ition

sC

urre

ntpo

licy

mak

esm

em

ore

will

ing

tovi

sits

peci

alex

hibi

tions

The

cont

ento

fth

eex

hibi

tion

Mus

eum

sas

guar

dian

sof

cultu

re

Gen

der

Age

Inco

me

Edu

catio

n

0.63

760

.5%

Yun

nan

Prov

ince

Eth

nic

Peop

les

Wou

ldus

eca

fe0.

444

58.4

%

75

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

weights attributed to frequencies in a cell—and hence small numbers of frequenciesin a cell render the calculations less effective). One problem in this type of researchis that many Chinese tourists were being asked to assess possible behavior aboutsomething they had not experienced if they had not visited overseas museums andthus not experienced the sophistication of museums’ ancillary services. In addition,the Shaanxi History Museum does not have a web page from which “virtual” visitorscan directly purchase merchandise, something comparatively common for other majormuseums. At the time of writing the only indication that merchandise is available forsale is in a “Q and A” section in Mandarin only, and no sales are available through theweb. This compares poorly with, for example, the British Museum online shop.

Finally, visitors were asked for their overall level of satisfaction with the visit. Thistended to be reasonably high with a value of 5.74 out of a possible score of 7 (SD =1.21). One means of assessing the determinants of satisfaction, and the contributionof attributes to the creation of that satisfaction, is to use regression analysis. Linearregression is a robust means of such regression, even where data need not necessarilybe wholly linear (King, Rosopa, & Minium, 2011). There is a need to ensure thatdetermining variables are independent and not correlated with each other. Varioustests exist to test for multicolinearity, including the Durbin-Watson test where thedesired outcome is a value of 2.0, and an examination of the variance inflation factorand its reciprocal, the tolerance measure.

Using the stated level of satisfaction as a determined variable in a linear regressionin a stepwise calculation provided a coefficient of determination of 0.589 (i.e., thevariables “explained” 58.9% of the variance in satisfaction) and the determiningvariables were “I felt I learnt a lot from my visit to the Museum today” (β = 0.46),“I thought the standard of displays in the Museum were very good” (β = 0.27), “Ibelieve that Museums are important as guardians of human culture” (β = 0.17), and“I would like to see a proper cafe/restaurant serving light refreshments as part of theMuseum” (β = 0.07). The Durbin-Watson statistic was 1.82, the variance inflationand tolerance statistics were within the conventional ranges of less than 10.0 and 1.0,respectively, thereby indicating no issues of multicolinearity. Examination of plots ofthe residuals indicated a normal distribution of residuals with an actual standardizedresidual mean of 0.54 against an expected residual of 0.16—the difference primarilyexplained by predicted values having a slighter higher standard deviation.

DISCUSSION

The Chinese authorities have expressed a desire to establish Xi’an as a ChineseMuseum City with current and planned museums adopting global best practices. Thesetechniques include not only means of presentation and display, but also the provisionof ancillary services such as gift shops and quality catering. Shaanxi History Museumhas moved significantly in this direction in terms of display techniques and the useof a quota-based free entry ticketing system designed to comply with the 2008 StateDirective on entry policies. Analysis of the answers made by respondents to open-ended questions revealed high levels of satisfaction based on dimensions of modesof presentation, deriving a sense of history of Shaanxi and an emotive response ofa sense of wonder. The quantitative data supported the finding of high degrees ofsatisfaction, and that satisfaction was determined by the quality of the presentation


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


that aided learning, and a belief in the role of museums, implying that it was feltShaanxi Museum was properly discharging that duty.

The research also provides support for the changed policy on ticket pricing andindicates some evidence for the policy encouraging more visits and patronage ofancillary services. With reference to the price people might be willing to pay forentry to a given specified group of special exhibitions it was found that the range ofprices had maxima far in excess of current charges. The mean prices for the proposedspecial exhibitions varied from 14.63 to just over 21.00 RMB, whereas the entry feefor Huang Binhong exhibition was 20 RMB. The mean prices reported in Table 2include the zero return of those not prepared to pay for a special exhibit, where the 20RMB being charged would only be met by those willing to pay for such an exhibition.If the calculation for the proposed exhibitions relates only to those prepared to pay,then the mean entry fees range from 22.13 RMB for Yunan Ethics People’s Exhibitionto 29.28 RMB for the Calligraphy Exhibition. Interestingly 20 RMB represents themedian price in every case, so in a sense the present charge is defensible but by thesame token it implies that half of those attending are gaining a consumer’s surplus.

One issue related to patronage of a cafe and other merchandising. Table 3 showsthat these are not only possible means of raising additional revenue for the museum butcan potentially add to people’s enjoyment because they offer opportunities for socialinteraction, which reinforces the overall pleasure derived from the visit. In short,being able to discuss what they have seen and to purchase mementos, reinforces therelaxation and leisure motives associated with a visit to the museum.

Conceptually the results reinforce the role of museums as guardians of humanculture and the importance of modern modes of presentation as sources of visitorsatisfaction. Again, however, a caveat may possibly be expressed with reference tothe second of these observations. Although untested, the process of data collectionand examination has initiated a thought that currently, for many Chinese, the fact thatmore modern approaches are being used is itself a source of satisfaction—that is, nospecific preferences exist between different modes of interpretation and presentation.This was not explored in the current research design and so represents an area forfuture study.

For the reasons given in the literature review, the research was exploratory innature and so tested no specific set of hypotheses. From an inductive perspective, theoutcomes are summarized in Figure 1. First, the learning objectives of the museumare determined by choice of items being exhibited, the mode of presentation, andthe quality of interpretation being offered. All three aspects are within the control ofmuseum management. These three factors also encourage social interaction withinthe groups of visitors. Learning and social interaction can also be supported by thepurchase of books and other materials from a museum bookshop. It can also be notedthat learning can be affected by social interaction. Exhibits prompt discussion amongmembers of a group visiting the museum, and this in itself aids interpretation andlearning.

Modes of presentation are also important in arriving at degrees of learning—socialinteraction may give rise to an exchange of opinion, but opinions may have differentlevels of “truth” about what is being displayed. The visit experience and a bookshopcontribute to visitor satisfaction, and the process is reinforced by an opportunity to


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

Content of the Exhibi�on

Mode of Presenta�on

Quality of Interpreta�on

Sa�sfac�onDerived fromVisit

Learning

Opportunityfor SocialInterac�on

Gi�s, Books,Guides, Souvenirs

Cafe/restaurant

Figure 1. Satisfaction possesses three dimensions—objective assessment of presentation, cognitiveunderstanding of history, and emotional response to that history. Here satisfaction relates to motivesfor the visit being met.

remain longer in the museum area by having refreshments, thereby integrating thefunctions of cultural guardian and location for social interaction. Thus the willingnessof visitors to a Museum to purchase ancillary services of catering and merchandising(which is deemed important as a source of museum revenue) is in part determinedby, and then determines in a re-iterative fashion, the satisfaction derived from a visit.Initially, satisfaction is achieved through meeting motives of wanting to learn (whichcan engage the affective beside the cognitive in the sense of being amazed by theachievements of a past civilization). The learning process is aided by the modes ofpresentation used, but equally the learning motive can be triggered by the nature of theexhibition—is it something that interests the potential visitor. In this sense, as shownin Table 3, the content and theme of an exhibition has a role to play. In short, theprocesses of visitor prior knowledge, subject matter of the exhibition, motives for thevisit, and modes of presentation are all interactive in shaping any visitor evaluationof a museum visit.

In any research project that is time- and place-specific there are inherent problemsin attempting to generalize results. One response to such a problem is to argue thatthe museum and the visitors that comprise the study are representative of the widerpopulation of museums. Indeed one reason for the selection of Shaanxi HistoryMuseum is that it is more representative of Chinese museums than the better knownXi’an Museum housing the terracotta warriors. Presentation methods in Chinesemuseums have lagged behind that of their Western counterparts but are fast catchingup in terms of the use of lighting and interpretative techniques including the use ofaudio guides. However, the role of ancillary services such as merchandising, catering,


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


and bookshops that contain souvenirs based on exhibits is still in its infancy, and inthis the Shaanxi History Museum is representative of many Chinese museums.

It was noted in the introduction that a question existed as to whether concepts andresearch derived from a Western literature could be applied within a Chinese location.It is suggested that the answer is in the affirmative because, although the cultural lensmay differ, the global professionalism of what constitutes good museum managementrests on core components of interpretation, presentation, the use of modern modesadopted to achieve these ends, and the development of museum brands and images.The policies of the national and city-level governments are premised on what isperceived as good museum practice derived from global examples, and in Xi’an aselsewhere investment is being made to achieve these standards. However, the culturallens may yet still be important in determining what is thought of value to be presented,and the context in which an interpretation is being offered.

This article began with an observation derived from the work of Stylianou-Lambert(2011). She noted that museum perception filters are of eight types: professional, artloving, self-exploration, cultural tourism, social visitation, romantic, rejection, and in-different. Using different research techniques and in a cultural setting far removed fromCyprus, evidence exists within this study to support such gazes. The affective/emotiveresponses showed evidence of the romantic and aesthetic art loving when referring tosenses of history and wonder about past Chinese civilizations. The objective/cognitivebears relationship with cultural tourism noted by depth and purposefulness of visit. Inthis study the theme of social visitation also weaves its ways through the findings, notso much as a purpose of the museum visit, but as factor that aided learning, apprecia-tion, and enjoyment, and as a determinant that added to a requirement of better cateringand peripheral facilities that aided such socialization. In addition, although this maybe because of the nature of the museum, the findings assert the importance of a senseof the local as conceptualized by de Rojas and Camerero (2008) and others noted inthe literature review. Chhabra (2008, p. 441) noted in her study that “representation ofthe past, documented history, and ‘from the actual period’ were deemed to be the mostimportant criteria of what constitutes the authentic for museum curators.” She alsonoted that a majority supported this professional approach, and again, in this study,it was noted that 280 of the 493 in the sample tended to favorable impressions of themuseum based on verifiable aspects of professional presentation. Taking Chhabra’s(2008) and Stylianou-Lambert’s (2011) findings, both are consistent with the currentfindings derived from China, thus supporting a finding of commonality of, on the onehand, the motives for museum visitation, and on the other, a tendency among museumcurators to move to common sets of what constitutes professional behavior.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to acknowledge a grant provided by the University of Waikato Contestable Bids fund to finance travelcosts for the Chris Ryan, and to acknowledge the help of the journal reviewers.

REFERENCES

Chhabra, D. (2008). Positioning museums on an authenticity continuum. Annals of Tourism Research,35, 427–447.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

C. Hui and C. Ryan

Cao, J., Rong, B., Lee, S., Chow, J. C., Ho, K., Liu, S., & Zhu, C. (2005). Composition of indoor aerosolsat Emperor Qin’s Terra-cotta Museum, Xi’an, China, during summer, 2004. China Particuology, 3,170–175.

Chen, C., Chen, L., & Xu, X. (2006). On urban museum tourism. Journal of Guilin Institute of Tourism,17, 361–365.

Dai, X., Lu, L., Yang, X., & Wang, J. (2007). On the study progress of overseas museum tourism and itsenlightenment. Tourism Tribune, 22(3), 84–89.

de Rojas, C., & Camerero, C. (2008). Visitors’ experience, mood and satisfaction in a heritage context:Evidence from an interpretation center. Tourism Management, 29, 525–537.

Dong, Y., & Yang, Z. (2009). A case study of museum visitor behaviour; free of price factor influence.Business Time, 16, 122–123.

Gao, J., Guo, W., & Wang, J. (2007). The satisfaction of tourists’ demand in Xi’an tourism market:Taking museums as an example. Journal of Xi’an University of Engineering Science and Technology.21, 870–875.

Gil, S. M., & Ritchie, J. R. B. (2009). Understanding the museum image formation process: A comparisonof residents and tourists. Journal of Travel Research, 47, 480–495.

Harrison, J. (1997). Museums and touristic expectations. Annals of Tourism Research, 24, 23–40.

He, X., Luo, F., Geng, J., & Huang, J. (2009). An analytical study of recreational value of HunanProvincial Museum. Journal of Central South University of Forestry and Technology (Social Science),3, 94–97.

Hollinshead, K. (1988). Disney and commodity aesthetics: A critique of Fjellman’s analysis of ‘Distory’and ‘Historicide’ of the past. Current Issues in Tourism, 1, 58–97.

Hollinshead, K. (1999). Surveillance of the worlds of tourism: Foucault and the eye-of-power. TourismManagement, 20, 7–23.

Hollinshead, K. (2001). Tourism and the forbidden zone: The underserved power of qualitative survey.Tourism Management, 22, 63–82.

Hubbert, J. (2006). (Re)collecting Mao: Memory and fetish in contemporary China. American Ethnolo-gist, 33, 145–161.

King, B., Rosopa, P. J., & Minium, E. W. (2011). Statistical reasoning in the behavioral sciences (6thed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Li, C. (2009). Museum open for free: Reality, challenges and countermeasures. Journal of SouthwestAgricultural University (Social Science), 7, 97–100.

Li, Y. (2004). The analysis on developing situation and strategy of the museum tourism products inChina. Human Geography, 19(4), 30–32.

Liu, J. (2005). Behavioral research on the museum visitor: A case study on museum of the Western HanDynasty Mausoleum of the Nanyue King, Guangzhou. Journal of Guilin Institute of Tourism, 16(2),40–44.

Liu, P., Liu, A., & Wall, G. (2005). Eco-museum conception and Chinese application: A case studyin Miao Villages, Suoga, Guizhou Province. Resources and Environment in the Yangtze Basin, 14,254–257.

McCannell, D. (1976). The tourist: A new theory of the leisure class. New York: Shocken.

McIntosh, A. J. (2004). Tourists’ appreciation of Maori culture in New Zealand. Tourism Management,25, 1–15.

Mottner, S., & Ford, J. B. (2005). Measuring nonprofit marketing strategy performance: The case ofmuseum stores. Journal of Business Research, 58, 829–840.

Plaza, B. (2010). Valuing museums as economic engines: Willingness to pay or discounting of cash-flows? Journal of Cultural Heritage, 11, 152–162.

Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and State Administrationof Cultural Heritage. (2008). Policy on the Implementation of Free Entry and Access to Museums,Statement of January 23rd, 2008. Beijing: Publicity Department of the Communist Party of ChinaCentral Committee and State Administration of Cultural Heritage.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012


Ryan, C. (2007). Battlefield tourism: History, place and interpretation. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.

Ryan, C., & Gu, H. (2008). Tourism in China: Destinations, cultures and communities. New York:Routledge.

Ryan, C., & Hsu, S-Y. (2011). Why do visitors go to museums? The case of 921 Earthquake Museum,Wufong, Taichung. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 16, 209–228.

Ryan, C., & Huyton, J. (2002). Tourists and Aboriginal people. Annals of Tourism Research, 29, 631–647.

Shi, P. (2002). A research on the visitor market of Shanghai Museum. Journal of Beijing InternationalStudies University, 13, 68–72.

Slater, A. (2007). “Escaping to the gallery”: Understanding the motivations of visitors to galleries.International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 12, 149–162.

Smith, J. K., & Wolf, L. F. (1996). Museum visitor preferences and intentions in constructing aestheticexperience. Poetics, 24, 219–238.

Sofield, T., & Li, F. M. S. (1998). Tourism development and cultural policies in China. Annals of TourismResearch, 25, 362–392.

Standing Committee of Xi’an Municipal Government. (2010, March 31). Capital of museums. Xi’an,Shaanxi: Author.

Stylianou-Lambert, T. (2011). Gazing from home: Cultural tourism and art museums. Annals of TourismResearch, 38, 403–421.

Tohmo, T. (2004). Economic value of a local museum: Factors of willingness-to-pay. Journal of Socio-Economics, 33, 229–240.

Woefl, J., & Richards, W. (1989, November). A general theory of intelligent, self referencing networks.Paper presented at the Buffalo Conference on Networks, University of Buffalo, New York.

Yan, H., & Bramwell, B. (2008). Cultural tourism, ceremony and the state in China. Annals of TourismResearch, 35, 969–989.

Zan, L. (2000). Managerialisation processes and performance in arts organisations: The ArchaelogicalMuseum of Bologna. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 16, 431–454.

Zhang, G. (2003). China’s tourism since 1978: Policies, experiences and lessons learned. In A. Lew, L.Yu, J. Ap, & G. Zhang, (Eds.), (Tourism in China: Geographic, political, and economic perspectives(pp. 13–34). Binghampton, UK: Haworth.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Chen Hui lectures at Xi’an International Studies University, China, with research interests in guiding and culturaltourism. E-mail: tina [email protected].

Chris Ryan lectures at the University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand. Address corre-spondence to: Department of Tourism Management, University of Waikato, Waikato Management School, PrivateBag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected].


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

NH

TV

Int

erna

tiona

le H

oges

choo

l] a

t 05:

37 2

6 Ju

ne 2

012

Museum Management Policies_Xian

Documents

nhtv internationale

maya ancient

qing dynasty

shenzhou space

xian municipal

free admissions

waikato management

china central