Purpose: The hostile environments in which museums operate force them to be innovative. Most of them have fewer resources and are publicly owned. Because these factors may hinder their innovative potential, this paper aims to propose an open innovation model adapted to this type of organization to improve visitors’ experience.Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative method based on a thematic analysis is carried out. Data sources are: (i) focus group with stakeholders from the destination and (ii) in-depth interviews with museums experts.Findings: This new framework is important because it brings something new to a field that previous research had barely considered. The study of the implementation of open innovation in publicly owned small and medium-sized museums brings to light the growing importance of the relational, organizational, technological and experiential dimensions, their interactions and their main constituent factors.Research limitations/implications: The study is limited to a specific type of institution, and results should not be extrapolated to other contexts. The construct of open innovation is highly complex, and that advises future research to include other players. Quantitative methods and longitudinal techniques will contribute to tackling new challenges in future research works.Practical implications: Results are helpful for museum managers and policymakers. Stakeholders improve their comprehension of how an open innovation model works because the paper offers a few guidelines for its active designing. A solid networking based on trust and the emphasis on improving the visitor experience determine making-decision processes.Originality/value: The paper provides a systemic innovation management model for museums, where there is almost no previous research. It is theoretically supported in the open innovation paradigm, as well as the absorptive capacity framework. The emerging and central role of the experiential dimension constitutes another notable contribution to literature.

The current analysis of the visitors and the factors that explain the number of museum visits require approaches beyond the traditional methods normally adopted for cultural studies. The internet offers great opportunities for these audiences to plan cultural activities and rate their experiences. However, the literature does not offer conclusive results about how people use and trust online media. This study assesses the role of the TripAdvisor online platform when deciding whether to attend museum events. Our results show that presence of museums in online platforms with User-generated Content (UGC) is a common practice but has not resulted in competitive advantages. However, the online reputation of a museum and the level of its visitor engagement are crucial intangible relational factors that influence expectations and visitor decision-making.

Museums need to apply sustainable criteria in order to evaluate performance and improve results. This paper aims to determine a methodological model that allows the analysis of the economic and socio-cultural value of museums. The approach proposed is related to the local community and tourist’s perception. The research supports the conclusion that both the Choice Experiments method and the Subjective Quality Indicators are methods of interest for evaluating the functioning of museums. Therefore, the proposed methodological model takes a mixed-method approach by considering both. The application of the proposed method makes it possible to know precisely the impact of the initiatives and proposals developed by museums. This method can be extrapolated and used by the scientific community to do research in the performance of museums and the process of decision-making.

The objective of this paper is to examine how Industry 4.0 tools help to understand museum performance and to facilitate the development of co-creation strategies. A case study explores the museum customer experience through attribute identification and attribute value as perceived by the customer. Tourist opinion and perception form a crucial factor that can be explored through electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Content analysis can be used to detect attributes as perceived by tourists, with a view to improving the tourist experience. The detected attributes are evaluated in a roundtable discussion with experts and key stakeholders. The exploratory approach reported here examines the introduction of Industry 4.0 tools like eWOM to study museum visitor perception and perceived value. The results are key for designing co-creation strategies and providing precious information for implementing innovative processes such as co-creation to improve the decision-making process for museum management.

Attribute evaluation provides an understanding of the perceived quality and subjective value of the museum visitor experience. The principal contribution of this paper is to analyze the attributes perceived by tourists and the local community (Madrid residents) of the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (Madrid, Spain), utilizing the results from choice experiment and willingness-to-pay questionnaires. To analyze in depth the assessment regarding the museum attributes and the visitor perceptions of them, the relevance-determination model was applied. Data collection was achieved with a questionnaire using a convenience sample of international tourists and the local community, providing a total of 775 valid surveys. The results of the application of the relevance-determination analysis (RDA) show that there are two types of attributes: higher-impact core and lower-importance attributes. The attributes with the highest subjective value perceived by interviewed tourists and interviewed residents are the location, the building, and the permanent collection. These results show that there are substantial differences between the perception and appreciation of these attributes by interviewed residents and interviewed tourists. The results provide valuable information that can be applied in practice to devise strategies for economic and socio-cultural sustainability aimed at improving decision-making in museum management.

Purpose: In recent years, museums have been affected by various social, political and economic changes, which have forced them to adapt to an open and participatory society, where the individual takes on a very important role in organising his or her leisure time. The aim of this study is to analyse Web 2.0 tools (blogs, social networks, e-mail, mobile applications, video communities and virtual communities) as a fundamental means of communication to attract visitors to museums. Design / Methodology / Approach: To achieve this objective, a comparative analysis of the different digital communication tools most used by museums today has been carried out. Results: The results reveal that Web 2.0 tools seem to be important in establishing effective communication between museums and their audiences, making them go to visit. Limitations / Implications: Although the research focuses on the external tools provided by new technologies, it offers an approach to the importance that these currently have in the field of communication to generate engagement with audiences. Originality / Contribution: This work shows the importance of having and using ICT tools in an appropriate way by the museum institutions to be in contact with their audiences, offer them information of their interest and give them the opportunity to participate in the daily life of the museum.