Abstract

Inclusive museum practices in the United States are found within, what is articulated by George Hein and others, as a constructivist museum. Applying constructivist theory to the visitors’ experiences in museums, the researcher examined one museum’s goals to include the visitor in all areas of museum marketing in order to be inclusive and to serve the public. With changing leisure time availability and changing leisure time needs, the museum must focus on the non-visitors’ needs in order to build audience numbers. This study examined inclusive marketing practices as found in a case study of the Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa and used mixed methods of visitor surveys, staff interviews, and a social networking non-visitor leisure time needs survey. The results of the online surveys identified the non-visitors’ leisure time needs of a community-wide scope for the purpose of developing a focused marketing plan based on the visitors’ museum entry identities. The methods outlined in this study can be replicated by other museums and public organizations for marketing to non-visitors based on their leisure time needs. The results indicated a need for a variety of visuals to attract visitors to the museum, which led to a recommended list for inclusive marketing practices in the constructivist museum.