Abstract:

Museums as cultural institutions serve a large number of audiences. To communicate effectively with their visitors and attract new audiences, museums have to develop new methods and tools. The competition from other alternative leisure time activities makes it increasingly harder for museums to attract visitors. “Gamification” is an effective method for museums to interact with their visitors. Gamification tools have already been implemented successfully in education, health, self-improvement, and other areas. There are various studies on the utilization of gamification in marketing, business, and communication as well. Yet studies on the gamification of museum experiences are scant. The purpose of this study is to close this gap, identify possible gamification methods in museums, and explore the impact of gamification on the visitor experience. In order to do so, interviews were conducted with eight museum professionals. Results indicate that gamification is an engaging tool for a meaningful museum experience for visitors. In addition to the benefits of gamification, some difficulties and challenges were also explored.

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