Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Sensory cues are critical in triggering visitors’ memorable and immersive experiences, and more and more museums are using them as strategic tools in the exhibition design process. Despite some discussions about the effect of sensory inputs in the museum context, academic research on different exhibition types with different levels of sensory inputs remains rare. Building on Mehrabian and Russell’s SOR model and Pine and Gilmore’s four experience dimensions, this study compares visitor responses to two exhibition types varying in sensory inputs and investigates the effect of perceived intensity of sensory attributes on satisfaction. A field study in a traditional and an immersive exhibition demonstrates that, compared with the traditional exhibition, the immersive one leads to a higher level of sensory intensity, attention, aesthetic, education, entertainment, and satisfaction, but not escapism. Our mediation findings also show that the effect of perceived sensory intensity on visitor satisfaction is fully mediated by visitors’ attention control system and their aesthetic, entertainment, and escapism experiences. This research extends previous findings on the impact of sensory cues and the further understanding of the sensory process in museum experiences. It also gives managerial implications on museum exhibition design by introducing more intense sensory attributes in museums.