Visitors' experience in a modern art museum: a structural equation model

This study aims to provide a better understanding on the museum experience by studying visitors’ motivation, satisfaction and likelihood to return to the Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art (MART) of Rovereto (Italy). The empirical data were obtained from a survey undertaken from September to November 2009. A theoretical model to analyze the attractiveness factors of the museum based on two exogenous variables (push and pull motivation) and two endogenous variables (satisfaction and loyalty) is used and a structural equation model is estimated as a confirmatory tool of the hypothetical model. The findings reveal that tourists visiting the MART are mainly motivated by push factors, as relaxation, looking for a new experience and learn new things. Loyalty also positively influences the probability to return to the MART and recommend to friends and family. However, visit the city or the region of Trentino has no impact on satisfaction and loyalty to the MART. Besides, loyalty to MART does not imply the probability to recommend a visit to Rovereto.