Integrating Constraints and Benefits to Identify Responsive Target Markets for Museum Attractions

Abstract

The three research questions addressed by this study were (1) What were the major constraints that inhibited museum-goers from visiting museum attractions in Galveston, Texas? (2) What benefits did museum-goers seek from their visits? and (3) Can these constraints and benefits be meaningfully interpreted to identify target groups that are likely to be either more or less responsive to marketing efforts directed at them? A systematic sample of 1,083 museum-goers responded to an instrument containing six constraint domains and five benefit domains. Their domain scores were used to group respondents into five constraint clusters and four benefit clusters. The benefit and constraint clusters were cross-tabulated to form a 20-cell matrix. Interpretation of the matrix led to the selection of four target markets likely to yield the greatest return on marketing effort.