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An Analysis of Visitor Circulation: Movement Patterns and the General Value Principle
Author(s) -
Bitgood Stephen
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
curator: the museum journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.312
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2151-6952
pISSN - 0011-3069
DOI - 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2006.tb00237.x
Subject(s) - visitor pattern , consistency (knowledge bases) , value (mathematics) , circulation (fluid dynamics) , movement (music) , psychology , outcome (game theory) , focus (optics) , social psychology , cognitive psychology , economics , computer science , aesthetics , mathematics , mathematical economics , engineering , statistics , philosophy , artificial intelligence , physics , programming language , optics , aerospace engineering
How visitors circulate through museums determines what they will see, where they will focus their attention, and, ultimately, what they will learn and experience. Unfortunately, the consistency of these movement patterns is not readily apparent. This article reviews the literature on visitor circulation in light of the general value principle which predicts choice behavior as a ratio of perceived experience outcome (benefits) divided by perceived costs (time, effort, and so on). Although this principle at first appears obvious, its implications may be more profound.