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Visitor Studies
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Issues in Museum Management Policies: Evidence from Xian, China

Chen Hui & Chris Ryan
a a b

Xian International Studies University, Xian, Shaanxi Province, China

b

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: Evidence from Xian, China, Visitor Studies, 15:1, 62-81 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10645578.2012.660843

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Visitor Studies, 2012, 15(1), 6281 Copyright C Visitor Studies Association ISSN: 10645578 print / 1934-7715 online DOI: 10.1080/10645578.2012.660843

Issues in Museum Management Policies: Evidence from Xian, China

by Chen Hui1 and Chris Ryan2
1 2

Xian International Studies University, Xian, Shaanxi Province, China University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand

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ABSTRACT This article is based on a survey of 493 visitors to Shaanxi History Museum, Xian, China. The purpose of the research was to assess attitudes toward the exhibitions and the sources of visitor satisfaction, and the consequences of a free entry policy adopted by the Museum in response to the directive of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and State Administration of Cultural Heritage of January 23, 2008. Three dimensions for visitor satisfaction were foundan affective reaction to the modes of presentation, a cognitive reaction to learning about Chinese history, and an affective reaction of a sense of awe and pride in that history. As part of the pricing policy, additional charges are made for special exhibitions, and evidence exists of a consumer surplus for signicant groups of visitors at current entry prices that are normally 20 RMB. In this article the authors discussed issues related to a need to adopt merchandising, the provision of better ancillary services, and the role that such services can play in enhancing visitor satisfaction.

Any examination of the study of museum visitors requires recognition of a complex set 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 elements that 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 means of 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 perceived need to offer complementary facilities such as restaurants, gift shops, the role these offer in terms of both merchandising and revenue generation for the museum, and the contribution they may make to the social interaction of visitors to the museum. Other managerial issues also exist such as prices to be charged for public institutions and the role of special exhibits in the revenue strategies of museums. Stylianou-Lambert (2011) noted the importance of museums within cultural tourism and highlighted the importance of differentiating tourists by reference to motives and gazes that he classied as eight museum perceptual lters. Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to examine pricing policies and (a) perceptions of
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displays at the Shaanxi History Museum in Xian, China and (b) the role of cognitive and affective factors in shaping such perceptual lters, both of which impact on the willingness to pay for non-permanent exhibitions. An additional reason for the study is 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 the methods used in the study also contextualizes the research within a Chinese setting with some specic reference to the city of Xian, while at the same time drawing upon a wider, more international literature. From a managerial perspective, given that the city has embarked upon a policy of being a Chinese Museum City (that involves plans for establishing more than 150 new museums), a better understanding of different types of visitors may be of some signicance. The article therefore reports ndings derived from a sample of 493 visitors to the Shaanxi History Museum. The sample is divided into three segments: (a) visitors from the province of Shaanxi where the museum is located, (b) other Chinese visitors, and (c) international visitors, thereby permitting a comparison between these different groups of visitors. Literature Review Differences of opinion exist as to the quantity and quality of research into the relationships between museums and tourism. For example Gill and Ritchie (2009) argued that there were few studies of what generates satisfactory museum visits on the part of tourists, whereas Slater (2007, p. 149) argued that researchers have been trying to nd out why and how people visit museums and galleries for over 100 years. Whatever the truth of the matter, little research exists, at present, in the English language on the issue in the case of mainland China. Consequently questions arise as to whether it is possible to extrapolate research from other countries to China, or does the Chinese context differ? This is not to argue that no research exists. An examination of published literature provides evidence of a signicant body of knowledge of Chinese museums, but much of this relates to technical aspects of curatorship. For example, at the Terracotta Museum in Xian, Cao et al. (2005) examined the quality of air within the Museum for the presence of aerosols and concluded that the quantity of aerosols being used posed a potential danger of eroding the statues. With reference to wider studies of visitors and their behavior in museums, Smith and Wolf (1996) commented that, in the 1990s, museum managers had signicant amounts of socio-demographic data identifying their visitors, but little about their degrees of knowledge or what they sought from museums. In their own study of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, they found that degree of prior art knowledge emerged as a signicant variable in determining a shift from the main motive for a visit being one of enjoyment to one of learning. Additionally, of more signicance, was just how comparatively small were the differences in behavior (e.g., in time spent looking at pictures or likelihood of repeat visitation) between different groups of visitors as classied by psychographics and demographics. In short, homogeneity of behavior was evident regardless of motive or stated purpose of visit. For their part Ryan and Hsu (2011) examined the motives of visitors and causes of satisfaction within a Chinese language and cultural setting of the 921 Earthquake

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C. Hui and C. Ryan

Museum in Taiwan. They concluded that visitors generally valued museums for their role as guardians of human culture but visitation and satisfaction were primarily explained by an interest in a specic topic or exhibition, a wish to learn, and more prosaic 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 a school damaged by the 1999 earthquake on September 21. This echoes earlier research. For example, Harrison (1997) conducted both quantitative and qualitative research at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, and concluded that visitors to 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 was derived from obtaining a better sense of the local. In many respects this nding reects a wider debate in the tourism literature about the role of the authentic, the tourist search for the authentic (McCannell, 1976), and acts of interpretation that include or exclude silent voices (Hollinshead, 1988, 1999, 2001; Ryan, 2007). Chhabra (2008) addressed the issue of authenticity in museum interpretation and suggests a continuum comprising 5 stages. These are essentialism, essentialism with negotiation, negotiation, negotiated constructionism, and constructionism. This marks a transition from cultural continuity to a commodied tradition that is marketed based on a past constructed from nostalgia and pseudo-back stages. Certainly, today, the management of many museums encompasses not simply the conservation and preservation of artifacts but also careful consideration of modes of interpretation and storytelling. Additionally, such management requires all the paraphernalia of modern management techniques including marketing and museum image creation as museums seek to be nancially sustainable. Zan (2000) addressed the issues of managerial processes in the context of the Bologna Archaeological Museum and identied a number of problems in the application of traditional management techniques to a museum. How does one dene efciency, given the information needed for performance representation within a logic of managerial control (whatever that means), is simply not there? (Zan, 2000, p. 432). He identied different audiences to which a museum speaks, namely the general visitor, school and educational parties, the scientic community, and the online visitor who may be drawn from any of the previous categories, and additionally he discussed a need to distinguish between in house and hosted exhibitions. Much of Zans article relates to budgetary considerations and procedures, but his nal conclusions include the comment that ticket revenues cannot cover all costs and sponsorships are important. For their part Mottner and Ford (2005) analyzed what has become a popular means of raising additional revenues through merchandising. Noting the importance of sales they argued that museum stores have a second ancillary purpose, which is the education of the public. They concluded that this latter function has a marginal negative impact on merchandising by inducing slightly lower prices. They recommended that merchandising functions must be brought into any consideration of a museums strategy, and they should not be relegated to being an afterthought. Part of the inducement to purchase at any retail outlet is the impact ambience may have on the potential purchaser, and de Rojas and Camerero (2008) believed that mood setting and emotion are important determinants of satisfaction derived from a visit to a museum. Their study is derived from data collected at the Queen Isabel Interpretation Centre located
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in the Royal and Testamentary Palace in Valladolid, Spain. However they concluded that although issues of lighting and presentation are important, the prime determinants of visitor experience remain cognitive aspects and prior experience and knowledge. Within the Chinese situation this poses some interesting questions given the interest of the State in using cultural tourism and associated assets for both economic growth and the retention of social harmony. Appeals to a Chinese culture help retain pride in Chinese achievements, but as Yan and Bramwell (2008) demonstrated with their history of the Qufu Cult Ceremony, at different times this creates different presentations as tensions of political need and concern over authenticity give rise to questions of how to interpret events and present them to the public. Soeld and Li (1998) have described this process:
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Like the Chinese cheung nga kau (ivory artefact) in which a series of concentric ivory balls are carved one inside the other, the complexities of tourism development in contemporary China enclose one era after another and may only be understood by delving back into the past. A unifying theme throughout Chinas long history of tourism is the place of culture and the traditions of heritage tourism and pilgrimage. (p. 362)

These same concerns arise in the representation of the culture, history, and arts of minority ethnic peoples in China, and again as part of rural economic policies museums and 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 note the processes of commodication of history and culture. As any visitor to China can testify, even seemingly in the smallest village, items and images relating to Mao can be found and have become collectors items. Many of the items are triviala badge, a clockwork fob watch, a china platebut together they represent many different things including a folk memory where the existence of the badges proved Maos greatness and 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 wider cultural context of the Shaanxi History Museum with its permanent collections of the prehistoric to Qin Dynasty and the displays relating to Tang, Song, and Han dynasties among other collections is important in coming to any understanding of the visitor experience. For international visitors, the displays present artifacts that illustrate the long history of continuity and disruption in Chinese culturethe Tang dynasty, for example, preceding a unied Chinese state. For knowledgeable Chinese visitors, reference to the Tang may reinforce senses of provincial pride and demonstrate a nuanced cultural homogeneity that connects China to its pasta bridge that was sought to be broken during the Maoist regime with its emphasis upon the past great superstitions. For the casual visitor the museum appeals to the motives associated with edu-tainmentthe gaze upon something different and hence of interest. Attracting visitors to the museum and to subsequently purchase items or visit additional exhibitions is thus of signicancepolitically, economically, and culturally. The museum has, however, not only to compete with other museumsand Xian in 2010 commenced a policy of becoming the Museum City with a planned expansion in the number of its museums (Standing Committee of Xian Municipal Government, 2010)but with other displays of art and culture as well as the expressions of popular culture that capture the interest of an emergent consumer class. The willingness to pay
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C. Hui and C. Ryan

on the part of the potential museum visitor is thus a key determinant, and that question does 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 there is a non-use value to museums, that is, those who do not attend museums (or by extension, exhibitions) may nonetheless be prepared to pay to support the existence of a museum on grounds that its very existence supports a series of culturally oriented activities. Thus, in the case of the Museum of Central Finland in Jyv skyl he nds a a clear evidence of the existence of non-market benets. 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 estimating the non-market value of the heritage itself. However, it is also clearly insufcient when the principal aim of the museum is to act as an economic engine. She continued to note that more market-oriented studies reveal more about economic returns and the role of the museum as a means of regional development. In many ways such debates in China are comparatively new, but an emergent literature can be traced. He, Luo, Geng, and Huang (2009) clustered visitors to Hunan Provincial Museum as being active and negative participants and calculated a recreational 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 government circular (Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, 2008) that initiated policies of free entry to museums in China. C. Li (2009) studied the impact of a free admission policy on museums and concluded that problems could emerge from over-crowding that could reduce access to interpretation and guides and reduce the quality of the visitor experience. However, he also noted an increased attendance not only at museums in general, but also special exhibitions for which fees were charged continued to be well attended. Dong and Yang (2009) found in a survey of visitors to the Shaanxi History Museum that 52% of their sample would not favor a return to charging for admission, and only 29% were in favor, the remainder being unsure. In addition, 13% of their sample did purchase souvenirs. Gao, Guo, and Wang (2007) also included the Shaanxi History Museum in their study of ve Xian museums and found evidence that the museum succeeded in generating an appreciation of the long history of the area and provided both an educational and leisure experience. 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 not attractive and used old and outdated modes of presentation. She called for ve strategies to be adopted, namely (a) to enrich the variety of museums to meet the demand of the locals; (b) to put enterprise marketing theory into the museum management; (c) to update display methods and increase museum economic prots by increasing service items, like cafes and tea houses; (d) to raise funds in diversied 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 a similar call for more modern practices to be applied to Chinese museums, whereas Liu (2005) noted, among other aspects, how traditional Chinese presentation techniques used in museums were failing to attract out of region visitors. Similar comments are echoed by Shi (2002) and Chen, Chen, and Xu (2006). Both Liu (2005) and Chen et al. also commented on the role of museums as part of a wider portfolio of tourist
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attractions and the contribution that museums can make to city image creation, as does 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 potentially apply to any study of tourists and day visitors attending a museum. First, the premise of 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 their displays, and others may have displays strongly contextualized in national, regional, or local heritage. The Shaanxi History Museum falls strongly within this latter tradition and, arguably, it is this feature that can appeal to the international visitor seeking a better understanding of Chinese culture. Consequently the rst research question emerges, which is, what is the role of local representation in the appeal of, and subsequent evaluation of displays for different groups of visitors? A second related question is to what extent does the actual mode of display matter in terms of eliciting cognitive and affective responses? What is the interplay between what is presented and how is it presented? If what is being presented is truly unique and of signicant aesthetic value, as is the case of many of the items on display in this museum, can it be simply presented with little interpretation so that visitors assess it within their own understandings of what constitutes beauty? A further question, particularly in modern Chinese museums, relates to the ancillary services of catering and merchandising. Associated with this is the role of special exhibitions accessible only by the payment of additional entry fees. This is of importance to Chinese museums because, in comparison with many in the West, Chinese museums are underdeveloped, and any additional revenue to be obtained is beginning to be seen as having some importance in permitting future museum development. More specically the research questions are: 1. How satised with their visit to the Museum were visitors and to what degree were cognitive and affective dimensions elicited in their evaluations? 2. What were the determinants of satisfactionand what were the roles of presentation and content of exhibitions in determining that satisfaction? 3. What were the consequences of the free ticket entry and quota systems, especially with reference to calls to provide more modern image and branding exercises that included greater usage of special exhibits, merchandising, and better catering facilities? 4. What prices might visitors be prepared to pay for special exhibitions as part of a new policy of revenue generation for the museum? Location of the Study: The Shaanxi History Museum Xian and the Shaanxi History Museum have responded to calls for the modernization of Chinas museums. The Shaanxi History Museum was opened to visitors in 1991 as an important project under the 7th Five Year Plan of economic and social development of China. Its collections feature rich and high grade arrays of bronze ware of the Zhou Dynasty (11h century B.C.221 B.C.), clay gurines of different dynasties, fresco paintings, and gold and silver ware from the Tang Dynasty (618907). The exhibition halls have a space of 4,600 square meters with a permanent exhibition of seven chronologically themed halls from the prehistoric to the Qing Dynasty displaying over 3,000 artifacts. The permanent exhibitions feature representative artifacts of the different stages unearthed from Shaanxi, mainly Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang dynasties
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and the post-Tang period, stretching from 1.15 million years ago to 1840. Prior to introducing a free admissions policy in 2008 the Museum was attracting 600,000 visitors a year and, on the criterion of visitation, was among the leading museums in China. The free admissions policy was a response to a cross-sectorial government circular (Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, 2008) to adopt such policies as part of a national patriotic policy. An assessment of potential crowding issues in the Museum established a daily quota of 4,000 visitors, with potentially up to 2,500 tickets being provided before 2:00 pm and a potential maximum of a further 2,500 being provided after 2:00 pm. Tickets are provided on presentation of a valid identity 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 of the Xian Municipal Government, the museum is being encouraged to adopt Western policies of increased revenue generation by maximizing sales through catering and merchandising, which at the time of data collection in March 2010 remained underdeveloped at the museum. METHOD In determining the focus of the research after reviewing the above literature it was decided to use an exploratory mode of research given that little current academic literature on the Shaanxi History Museum seemed to exist. Thus the rst decision was to include on the rst page of the self-completed questionnaire a series of open-ended questions to give respondents an opportunity to provide lists of likes and dislikes before reading items identied by the researchers, and thereby begin to identify degrees and sources of satisfaction. As noted, it also seemed important to elicit data about the WTP for entry to exhibitions and alternative services such as merchandising, although the overall format and mode of questioning would not permit a full WTP research design other than obtaining simple responses as to how much people would be prepared to pay. Responses about the free entry policy were also sought. The questionnaire comprised four main sections. The rst related to respondents overall impressions of the museumdata elicited by open-ended questions. Data on the number of past visits made to this and museums in general were also asked on this rst 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 second section used 7-point scaled items where 7 represented the most positive response and asked questions about current pricing policies and their impressions of and satisfaction with their visit to the Museum. The questions were derived from observations of the museum, awareness of museum policies, and past literature including Chen et al. (2006), Dong and Yang (2009), and Ryan and Hsu (2011), and identied motives for visits and the degrees to which these motives are satised. These questions therefore included assessments of the standard of displays, willingness to buy souvenirs, whether the free entry policy encouraged visitation, and two questions about the role of museums (education and guardianship). The questionnaire also permitted respondents to enter a zero value on scaled and other items. The interpretation of the zero value may therefore be two-foldnamely (a) the absence of interest to attend such an exhibition or (b) a disposition to attend, but
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only if the exhibit is free. From the perspective of revenue generation, both alternatives are equivalent and are treated as such in the analysis by including zero as a legitimate value in the analysis. The third section presented a list of possible special exhibits with a brief description of those exhibits and asked respondents to indicate the price that they would be willing to pay to enter such exhibitions. The proposed exhibitions were The Maya Ancient Civilisation of South America, Maori Arts and Crafts, the Yunnan Ethnic Peoples, Qing Dynasty Furniture, Traditions of Fine Embroidery, Calligraphy, and nally the Shenzhou Space Programme. The list was devised on the basis of topics that reected local interest, ancient and modern, overseas and domestic themes, and Han and ethnic people traditions. The nal section of the questionnaire sought sociodemographic data including gender, age, income, and educational attainment. The questionnaire was in Mandarin with an English version for overseas visitors after backward translation of the text. The WTP questions involved presenting the list of the above possible potential special exhibitions and providing data about what the exhibitions could contain. Respondents were then asked to indicate how much they would be prepared to pay to see such an exhibition. This simply asked for an amount and no classications of prices were offered. For example the description of the Shenzhen Space Programme included text that read:
This exhibition includes a model of the lunar orbiter Change that orbited the moon in 2007, space suits worn by Yang Liwei on Shenzhou 5 and models of the Shenzhou 10 to be launched later 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 and stone decorated with ivory, bamboo and mother of pearl. The exhibits include chairs, wardrobes and cabinets.

The survey was conducted in March, 2010; exactly 2 years after the museum introduced the free entry with quota policy. It was also 6 days after the museum commenced a 2-month-long special exhibition on Master Huang Binhongs paintings and calligraphic works for which the entry fee was 20 yuan. In modern Chinese painting circles, Master Huang Binhong is acknowledged as a major mountain and water painter paralleled only by Qi Baishi who is famous for his owers and birds paintings. Altogether 500 questionnaires were handed out, 496 were returned, and 493 of them were found valid. Data collection was completed during the week by the rst 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
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the special exhibit or to obtain entry thereby bypassing the queue for free tickets. A combination of random and quota sampling was used where every 10th person leaving the museum was asked to self-complete the questionnaire, the quota being used to achieve an even balance between morning and afternoon visitors. As noted above, the nal sample comprised 493 respondents, of whom 245 were male, 242 female, and 6 respondents not indicating their gender. As is common in research in China at domestic tourism attractions, the greater number were from the 19- to 35-year-old age group (n = 397), it being this age group that has been the main beneciaries of Chinas economic growth of the last decade and its expansion of university education (Ryan & Gu, 2008). However a small subsample of 41 overseas tourists was also interviewed. The Chinese tourists included many from outside of Shaanxi Province (226) and thus permitted a three-fold categorization of overseas, local domestic, and other Chinese visitors to the museum. Conrming the economic boom nature of the sample, of the total, 346 had or were studying for a university degree, 63 had post-graduate qualications, and 37 had professional qualications. A total of 21 respondents had full-time employment in the tourism industry, and 42 were part-time employees in that industry. The attraction of the no entry fee policy in being able to attract a larger group of visitors is reected in the self-designation of 245 respondents stating that they had a low level of annual income, although the great majority of this group were in the younger age groups and thus includes many currently in full-time study. RESULTS Before analyzing the data, tests of reliability and sampling adequacy were calculated and the assessment scale (comprising items shown in Table 1) possessed an alpha coefcient of 0.789, and split half coefcients of 0.70. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin statistic of sampling adequacy was 0.78. Additionally factor analysis was undertaken as a test of convergent reliability. This technique reduces the total numbers of items used in a scale to their underlying dimensions. An oblimin rotation was used with Predictive Analytics SoftWare (PASW) to obtain coefcients of correlation between the dimensionsa lack of correlation being the desired result. This was achieved and four independent factors (maximum r = 0.29 among them) were found to explain 57.7% of the variance in the scale. These four factors were labeled satisfaction with the museum and its displays, ticket policy and impacts on visitor patterns, other consequences of the ticket policy and structural componentsa two-item factor that comprised the items about the preference for a cafe/restaurant and the importance of the content of the special exhibits. This highlighted the importance of special exhibits to both visitors and the museumin the case of the former as an inducement to visit the museum, and in the case of the latter as part of a portfolio of exhibitions with consequences for revenue, leading to an analysis of the willingness to pay for a proposed list of exhibits. Table 1 provides the basic descriptive statistics detailed by the three-fold categorization of place of residency referred to above. The rst conclusion is that place of residence has no signicant impact on assessments other than overseas visitors would prefer to have better cafe or restaurant facilities as part of the museum complex. Currently catering provision is provided within a tea house that also doubles as an area
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Table 1. Assessments of the Shaanxi International Museum and its pricing policy Assessment I believe that Museums are important as guardians of human culture The current policy of a free ticket, but a limit on the daily number of visitors, is very good. The current policy has, I think, encouraged more people in general to visit the museum. I felt I learnt a lot from my visit to the Museum today I was very satised with my visit to the Museum today The current policy has encouraged me personally to make more visits. I thought the standard of displays in the Museum were very good For me the content of a special exhibition would be the primary factor in deciding whether or not to visit that exhibition in the Museum I often bring to the Museum friends and relatives who are visiting me from outside the city. Generally I do not think the galleries are too crowded. I would like to see a proper cafe/restaurant serving light refreshments as part of the Museum I would like to buy gifts based on exhibits in the Museum I nd that I am now more willing to pay to see special exhibitions because of the policy of free entry to the Museum. Because of the free ticket I buy more souvenirs and items from the Museum shop. n 478 479 M 6.28 6.06 SD 1.19 1.33 Overseas 6.50 6.10 Local 6.23 6.26 Other 6.30 6.01 p NS NS

458

5.95

1.19

6.40

5.96

5.94

NS

470 470 455 468 434

5.85 5.79 5.64 5.45 5.15

1.19 1.21 1.46 1.35 1.55

6.00 6.40 N/A 6.30 5.30

5.74 5.63 5.81 5.40 5.32

5.85 5.73 5.75 5.40 5.29

NS NS NS NS NS

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325

5.08

1.48

N/A

5.20

5.09

NS

477 405

4.71 4.55

1.66 1.75

5.00 6.20

4.57 4.36

4.76 4.53

NS .007

424 419

4.37 4.31

1.51 1.64

4.00 5.10

4.52 4.51

4.32 4.28

NS NS

373

3.99

1.67

3.60

3.97

4.23

NS

selling books and brochures, and observation and anecdotal evidence suggests that the provision is seen as inadequate in terms of both size and style. All respondents express a belief that an important function of the museum is the role of guardian of human culture (overall mean of 6.28 out of a possible 7), tend to support the free ticket entry/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 satisfaction that the quotas meant uncrowded galleries, there is an absence of agreement that the policy encourages a shift of expenditure into more merchandising through the purchases of gifts, or in increased attendance at special exhibitions. Rather, it is the nature of those exhibitions that will be the determinant of visitation to those exhibitions.
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Table 2. Pricing (RMB) and special exhibits Shaanxi Province residents 21.20 22.02 21.76 18.50 18.85 16.78 16.13

Special exhibit Maya Ancient Civilisation Calligraphy Shenzhou Space Programme Qing dynasty furniture Fine Embroidery Maori Arts and Crafts Yunnan Province Ethnic Peoples

n 493 492 493 493 493 493 493

M 21.08 20.35 18.24 16.78 16.65 15.57 14.63

SD 28.36 24.91 24.08 21.65 20.29 21.63 19.00

Overseas visitors 15.09 12.82 12.71 12.12 12.34 14.02 12.56

Other Chinese 22.81 20.72 16.32 16.52 19.76 15.15 13.84

p NS NS 0.017 NS NS NS Ns

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Table 2 reports the data relating to the prices respondents were prepared to pay on the basis of their place of normal residence. For the most part, there was no statistically signicant difference between subsamples. The nding that the two least attractive exhibitions are those devoted to the culture of minority groups is consistent with other research where comparisons are made between such attractions and others (e.g., see Ryan & Huyton, 2002, on Australian Aboriginal culture and McIntosh, 2004, p. 12, who wrote Maori culture . . . may not represent a primary motivation for visiting a destination). Of note is that the standard deviations in all cases exceed the mean value, indicating a wide range of prices that respondents are willing to pay. Indeed, examination of the 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 RMB tended to be values that attracted clusters of respondents. Consequently the data were recoded with a view to assess who was willing to pay more and why. In undertaking this exercise, in addition to the price data and the scores on the seven-point scales, the responses to the open-ended questions also were used. This required creating codes to record data derived from the responses to openended questions pertaining to overall levels of satisfaction, what specically appealed to respondents, and where they thought improvements might be made. This required two linking processes. The rst required familiarization with the text, re-reading it several times, and identifying themes. This aided the second process, which was use of the text analysis program CatPac (www.galileoco.com). Based on neural network analysis the program allocates spaces to the words in the text and then creates spatial links to indicate not only frequency counts but also proximities of words that create a theme or concept. As noted, this requires several readings of the text to standardize the text (e.g., standardize the tenses of verbs, remove ambiguities due to negative and positive expressions of a theme, standardize a usage of singular or plural, or create word combinations that distinguish between different usage of the same word), whereupon the software can create dendograms and spatial maps (Woe & Richards, 1989). Using these methods permitted the development of categories of statements. Each respondents open-ended responses were then analyzed for the presence or absence of the coded themes as listed below.
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With reference to reactions to the museum as a whole, the overwhelming response was positive, with respondents generating classications such as the magnicent collection, the impressive display of Tang culture, the rich collection of historic artefacts, and the stunning collection. Of the 493 respondents all but 12 made some comment about the collection. Of the sample, 43 rated the museum as very excellent; superlatives were used by at least half of the respondents in the openended questions. Using the textual analysis program, it was found that a further 51 respondents used the word great as either a stand-alone word or in conjunction with others 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 reasons for such satisfaction. Using the mapping function of the program it was found that the Museum had a rich collection, induced a sense of a long history, and was impressive in both the collection and the history it portrayed. Studying the text the following overlapping themes emerged: 1. Favorable impressions of the museum and the displays themselvestheir presentation and the range of items shown; 2. Favorable impressions of the history being portrayed by the museuma sense of history, the richness of past Chinese civilizationsuch impressions being based on intellectual assessments; 3. More specic emotional responses to the abovefeelings 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 displaysthat it was ordinary, the displays poorly lit; there was nothing special about the museum. Including those who had no comment to make about the museum, 20 respondents fell into this category. Consequently, taking into account all the comments made by the visitors, visitors were categorized as being (a) objective in their assessments of the museum, (b) impressed by the history presented, (c) having emotive responses (i.e., an emotional response is shown separate from the objective and intellectual), (d) a holistic response that encompasses at least two of the previous categories, and nally (e) unimpressed. In many respects this exercise is bedeviled with problems of language usage and it should be noted that several semantic problems exist. For example, the use of the word awesome can denote a range of meanings from literally looking on something that genuinely creates a sense of awe to the more colloquial cool. Dealing with translations from Mandarin to English meant this was a time-consuming exercise and it is recognized that the categorization is not free from criticism. However, it did prove to be useful, and it was possible to allocate respondents to the categories as individuals recorded comments such as a sense of pride in Chinese history, the sense of an continuous stream of human record, being impressed with the range of the collection, of nding items mysterious, of having a sense of the profound, and of commenting on the excellence (or otherwise of the lighting) and the comprehensive nature of the collection.
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The nal outcome of this exercise was 280 visitors were categorized as being objective; that is, primarily commenting on veriable aspects of the displays although the gure is inated by including those who simply designated the Museum as being good, very good or used similar terms. A total of 112 visitors made specic references to a sense of history, 70 were categorized as making primarily emotional responses other than a sense of history by using terms like awesome, having a sense of the profound, mystery, insights into anothers culture, and so forth, whereas 25 were categorized as being unimpressed. A further six were not categorized because the meanings of their statements were unclear. Using this nominal classication as the independent variable in analysis of variance tests then showed statistically signicant differences in degrees of satisfaction with the visit to the museum, but post hoc Tukey tests showed that this was wholly generated by the presence of a group categorized as unimpressed. Removing this group generated statistically insignicant results. However, with reference to the prices that respondents were willing to pay, while again the unimpressed were the least willing to pay a price in excess of 10 RMB, what also emerged was a general linear 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 emotive responders. This implies that the technical aspects of museum display are therefore important. The total revenue that could be obtained from the sample was calculated from the prices the sample indicated they were prepared to pay, which were Maya Ancient Civilisation (10,393 RMB), Calligraphy (10,014 RMB), Shenzhen Space Programme (8,995 RMB), Qing Dynasty Furniture (8,275 RMB), Fine Embroidery (8,208 RMB), Maori Arts and Crafts (7,678 RMB), and Yunnan Province Ethnic Peoples (7,212 RMB). Taken together the data set now contained a number of variables by which the determinants of a willingness to pay for specic special exhibitions could be assessed. Such data included entry price groupings as dependent variables with, as independent variables, socio-demographic variables, attitudes toward museums and their roles, and a categorization of visitors based upon open-ended responses to their visit to the Shaanxi History Museum. Given that the data contained a mix of continuous and nominal data, whereas the dependent variable was also categorical in nature, an analysis using multinomial logistic regression was carried out. Table 3 provides a summary of the results. The table shows that the level of t and predictive capability of the model is generally weak, but determining variables would appear to be the content of the exhibition and a wish to be accompanied by friends and relatives. With reference to the last variable, there is some weak evidence that being accompanied by friends and relatives may encourage the buying of souvenirs and gifts and the patronage of a museum caf , which indicates the social nature of many museum trips. e Level of education also appears to have a role along with age and incomebut it does need to be again mentioned that the ts and classications are not high, meaning these ndings are tentative although arguably tting the results from prior research reported above. The relationships illustrated in Table 3 are, however, not conclusive, for some of the data are problematic because of singularities in the Hessian matrix that are due to small frequencies in some cells; however, it is thought a second reason also exists. (Hessian matrices measure derivatives of error measures with reference to
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Table 3. Determinants of willingness to pay special exhibit prices

Exhibit

Motivational variables (p < 0.05)

Nominal Variables where p < 0.05

Cox and Snell Pseudo R2/ classication t 0.806 68.8%

Maya Ancient Civilisation

Caliigraphy

Age Education Full-time and part-time employment in the tourism industry Gender Visitor category

0.436 66.7%

Shenzhou Space Programme

Bring friends and relatives to the museum Content of special exhibitions Buy souvenirs Museums are guardians of human culture Bring friends and relatives to the museum To learn Free policy encourages visits Would use cafe Free policy encourages visits Standard of displays

0.000 66.7%

Qing dynasty furniture

Bring friends and relatives to the museum Buy souvenirs

Income Education Part-time employment in the tourism industry Visitor category Visitor category Part-time employment in the tourism industry

0.000 57.8%

Fine Embroidery

Content of the exhibition Gender Age Income Education

Maori Arts and Crafts

0.541 50.4% 0.637 60.5%

Yunnan Province Ethnic Peoples

More willing to pay for special exhibitions Current policy makes me more willing to visit special exhibitions The content of the exhibition Museums as guardians of culture Would use caf e

0.444 58.4%

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weights attributed to frequencies in a celland hence small numbers of frequencies in a cell render the calculations less effective). One problem in this type of research is that many Chinese tourists were being asked to assess possible behavior about something they had not experienced if they had not visited overseas museums and thus not experienced the sophistication of museums ancillary services. In addition, the Shaanxi History Museum does not have a web page from which virtual visitors can directly purchase merchandise, something comparatively common for other major museums. At the time of writing the only indication that merchandise is available for sale is in a Q and A section in Mandarin only, and no sales are available through the web. This compares poorly with, for example, the British Museum online shop. Finally, visitors were asked for their overall level of satisfaction with the visit. This tended 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 contribution of attributes to the creation of that satisfaction, is to use regression analysis. Linear regression is a robust means of such regression, even where data need not necessarily be wholly linear (King, Rosopa, & Minium, 2011). There is a need to ensure that determining variables are independent and not correlated with each other. Various tests exist to test for multicolinearity, including the Durbin-Watson test where the desired outcome is a value of 2.0, and an examination of the variance ination factor and its reciprocal, the tolerance measure. Using the stated level of satisfaction as a determined variable in a linear regression in a stepwise calculation provided a coefcient of determination of 0.589 (i.e., the variables explained 58.9% of the variance in satisfaction) and the determining variables were I felt I learnt a lot from my visit to the Museum today ( = 0.46), I thought the standard of displays in the Museum were very good ( = 0.27), I believe that Museums are important as guardians of human culture ( = 0.17), and I would like to see a proper cafe/restaurant serving light refreshments as part of the Museum ( = 0.07). The Durbin-Watson statistic was 1.82, the variance ination and 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 of the residuals indicated a normal distribution of residuals with an actual standardized residual mean of 0.54 against an expected residual of 0.16the difference primarily explained by predicted values having a slighter higher standard deviation. DISCUSSION The Chinese authorities have expressed a desire to establish Xian as a Chinese Museum City with current and planned museums adopting global best practices. These techniques include not only means of presentation and display, but also the provision of ancillary services such as gift shops and quality catering. Shaanxi History Museum has moved signicantly in this direction in terms of display techniques and the use of a quota-based free entry ticketing system designed to comply with the 2008 State Directive on entry policies. Analysis of the answers made by respondents to openended questions revealed high levels of satisfaction based on dimensions of modes of presentation, deriving a sense of history of Shaanxi and an emotive response of a sense of wonder. The quantitative data supported the nding of high degrees of satisfaction, and that satisfaction was determined by the quality of the presentation
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that aided learning, and a belief in the role of museums, implying that it was felt Shaanxi Museum was properly discharging that duty. The research also provides support for the changed policy on ticket pricing and indicates some evidence for the policy encouraging more visits and patronage of ancillary services. With reference to the price people might be willing to pay for entry to a given specied group of special exhibitions it was found that the range of prices had maxima far in excess of current charges. The mean prices for the proposed special exhibitions varied from 14.63 to just over 21.00 RMB, whereas the entry fee for Huang Binhong exhibition was 20 RMB. The mean prices reported in Table 2 include the zero return of those not prepared to pay for a special exhibit, where the 20 RMB 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 Peoples Exhibition to 29.28 RMB for the Calligraphy Exhibition. Interestingly 20 RMB represents the median price in every case, so in a sense the present charge is defensible but by the same token it implies that half of those attending are gaining a consumers surplus. One issue related to patronage of a caf and other merchandising. Table 3 shows e that these are not only possible means of raising additional revenue for the museum but can potentially add to peoples enjoyment because they offer opportunities for social interaction, which reinforces the overall pleasure derived from the visit. In short, being able to discuss what they have seen and to purchase mementos, reinforces the relaxation and leisure motives associated with a visit to the museum. Conceptually the results reinforce the role of museums as guardians of human culture and the importance of modern modes of presentation as sources of visitor satisfaction. Again, however, a caveat may possibly be expressed with reference to the second of these observations. Although untested, the process of data collection and examination has initiated a thought that currently, for many Chinese, the fact that more modern approaches are being used is itself a source of satisfactionthat is, no specic preferences exist between different modes of interpretation and presentation. This was not explored in the current research design and so represents an area for future study. For the reasons given in the literature review, the research was exploratory in nature and so tested no specic set of hypotheses. From an inductive perspective, the outcomes are summarized in Figure 1. First, the learning objectives of the museum are determined by choice of items being exhibited, the mode of presentation, and the quality of interpretation being offered. All three aspects are within the control of museum management. These three factors also encourage social interaction within the groups of visitors. Learning and social interaction can also be supported by the purchase of books and other materials from a museum bookshop. It can also be noted that learning can be affected by social interaction. Exhibits prompt discussion among members of a group visiting the museum, and this in itself aids interpretation and learning. Modes of presentation are also important in arriving at degrees of learningsocial interaction may give rise to an exchange of opinion, but opinions may have different levels of truth about what is being displayed. The visit experience and a bookshop contribute to visitor satisfaction, and the process is reinforced by an opportunity to

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Gi s, Books, Guides, Souvenirs

Content of the Exhibi on Learning Mode of Presenta on Sa sfac on Derived from Visit Opportunity for Social Interac on

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Quality of Interpreta on

Cafe/restaurant

Figure 1. Satisfaction possesses three dimensionsobjective assessment of presentation, cognitive understanding of history, and emotional response to that history. Here satisfaction relates to motives for the visit being met.

remain longer in the museum area by having refreshments, thereby integrating the functions of cultural guardian and location for social interaction. Thus the willingness of 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 determined by, 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 (which can engage the affective beside the cognitive in the sense of being amazed by the achievements of a past civilization). The learning process is aided by the modes of presentation used, but equally the learning motive can be triggered by the nature of the exhibitionis it something that interests the potential visitor. In this sense, as shown in Table 3, the content and theme of an exhibition has a role to play. In short, the processes of visitor prior knowledge, subject matter of the exhibition, motives for the visit, and modes of presentation are all interactive in shaping any visitor evaluation of a museum visit. In any research project that is time- and place-specic there are inherent problems in attempting to generalize results. One response to such a problem is to argue that the museum and the visitors that comprise the study are representative of the wider population of museums. Indeed one reason for the selection of Shaanxi History Museum is that it is more representative of Chinese museums than the better known Xian Museum housing the terracotta warriors. Presentation methods in Chinese museums have lagged behind that of their Western counterparts but are fast catching up in terms of the use of lighting and interpretative techniques including the use of audio guides. However, the role of ancillary services such as merchandising, catering,
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and bookshops that contain souvenirs based on exhibits is still in its infancy, and in this the Shaanxi History Museum is representative of many Chinese museums. It was noted in the introduction that a question existed as to whether concepts and research derived from a Western literature could be applied within a Chinese location. It is suggested that the answer is in the afrmative because, although the cultural lens may differ, the global professionalism of what constitutes good museum management rests on core components of interpretation, presentation, the use of modern modes adopted 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 is perceived as good museum practice derived from global examples, and in Xian as elsewhere investment is being made to achieve these standards. However, the cultural lens 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 lters are of eight types: professional, art loving, self-exploration, cultural tourism, social visitation, romantic, rejection, and indifferent. Using different research techniques and in a cultural setting far removed from Cyprus, evidence exists within this study to support such gazes. The affective/emotive responses showed evidence of the romantic and aesthetic art loving when referring to senses of history and wonder about past Chinese civilizations. The objective/cognitive bears relationship with cultural tourism noted by depth and purposefulness of visit. In this study the theme of social visitation also weaves its ways through the ndings, not so much as a purpose of the museum visit, but as factor that aided learning, appreciation, and enjoyment, and as a determinant that added to a requirement of better catering and peripheral facilities that aided such socialization. In addition, although this may be because of the nature of the museum, the ndings assert the importance of a sense of the local as conceptualized by de Rojas and Camerero (2008) and others noted in the literature review. Chhabra (2008, p. 441) noted in her study that representation of the past, documented history, and from the actual period were deemed to be the most important criteria of what constitutes the authentic for museum curators. She also noted 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 the museum based on veriable aspects of professional presentation. Taking Chhabras (2008) and Stylianou-Lamberts (2011) ndings, both are consistent with the current ndings derived from China, thus supporting a nding of commonality of, on the one hand, the motives for museum visitation, and on the other, a tendency among museum curators 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 nance travel costs for the Chris Ryan, and to acknowledge the help of the journal reviewers.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Chen Hui lectures at Xian International Studies University, China, with research interests in guiding and cultural tourism. E-mail: tina chen@hotmail.com. Chris Ryan lectures at the University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand. Address correspondence to: Department of Tourism Management, University of Waikato, Waikato Management School, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand. E-mail: caryan@waikato.ac.nz.

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