Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
M·E·L were commissioned by the Association of Independent Museums (AIM) and Art Fund to investigate which emotions drive public support for museums, why certain emotions are more powerful than others, and how museums might use these emotions to channel support amongst their communities as we emerge from the pandemic, but continue to face potentially challenging times.
We are pleased to announce the publication this insights report on behalf of Art Fund and the Association of Independent Museums, which includes an emotional model to aid thinking about engagement, as well as a toolkit, example approaches and case study examples of success to help inspire and encourage museums to more effectively engage with their audiences in the long and short term.
AIM’s recent Impacts Survey (September 2022) saw two fifths of organisations planning to scale down activity and over a third struggling to increase income given economy-wide pressures. Taking into account these challenges, Art Fund’s Looking Ahead Museum Directors Research (May 2022) found increasing earned income and developing relationships with communities were major priorities for the year ahead.
Museums are facing challenges of rising costs and budget cuts as they try to recover from the pandemic. Emotionally resonant campaigns can help in such unpredictable times, as seen by the £1 million raised for museum projects through the Art Fund’s “Art Happens” crowdfunding platform.
“With this in mind, we set out with Art Fund and AIM to try and understand what drives emotional connections to museums – so that we can support sites to leverage these emotions in their day to day operations and across business as usual campaigns, not just in times of crisis,” says Elliot Simmonds, our culture sector lead. “It’s been an amazing and deeply emotional project – much of it very positive and exciting but some of it difficult and concerning. I’d like to really thank everyone who contributed across a whole host of organisations, and the museum lovers who supported our online community.”
Our in-depth research involved speaking to a range of stakeholders from a number of museums across the UK, including senior leadership, volunteering and membership managers and other team members, as well as those very involved in museums from within their communities. We also engaged around 25 participants in a longer term online community to dig in to their experiences and reactions to museums in depth, and understand what really drives them.
Our analysis and report highlights that campaigns that evoke pleasure, connection, and purpose are the most effective, and these are the three key ‘feelings’ we discovered, underpinned by nine emotional drivers. The nine key emotional drivers identified are pride, hope, fulfilment, belonging, nostalgia, ownership, curiosity, excitement, and awe.
Museums are advised to identify their emotional resonance with audiences and foster relevant emotions to build tailored campaigns. Building long-term emotional connections can help museums continue to have positive impacts and make a more compelling case to the public and policymakers.
You can read the report in full here.
