Why Do People Visit Art Museums? Examining Visitor Motivations and Visit Outcomes

People visit museums with differing motivations. We use Falk’s visitor identity model to examine visitors’ motivations an art museum. assess (1) the prevalence of different motivation types; (2) how and outcomes relate satisfaction length; (3) relation between fulfillment expectations. found that visitors most strongly endorsed related exploration least facilitating another’s visit; predicted length more than did motivations; largely met or exceeded pre-visit The present findings suggest matter for visiting. examining entirety a visit—pre-visit post-visit outcomes—may provide new insights about museum visits may be obscured when focusing on just one these aspects.