I: Museums

The Impact of Technology on Visitor Immersion in Art Exhibitions: Evidence from the Modigliani Art Experience Exhibition

Introduction

The digital transformation process now occurring in many sectors has influenced the way in which art is consumed and has contributed to making arts consumption more interactive and dynamic (Giannini & Bowen, 2019). In the light of increasing technological developments in the 21st century, cultural production and consumption patterns have been diversified and cultural spaces have transformed (Karayilanoglu, 2019). Digital technologies have changed how visitors interact and engage with their surroundings and a growing number of museums and art galleries extensively apply digital technology (Bowen, Giannini, Ara, Lomas & Siefring, 2019) and social media (Karayilanoglu, 2019) to their daily work and exhibitions.

Traditionally, museums have placed emphasis on preserving artifacts, collections, and relationships with artists (Kolb, 2013). However, the growing market competitiveness has led these institutions to consider the relationship with their visitors as a critical element of success.

Many contributions underlined the relevance of a marketing approach as a museum’s relevant strategic issue (McLean, 1995a, b; Kotler & Kotler, 2000; Caldwell, 2000), but nowadays, most research concerns the so-called “experience economy” (Pine & Gilmore, 1998; Schmitt, 1999; Roussou & Katifori, 2018). There has been an increasing adoption of the notion of “user experience” by cultural institutions, such as museums, which compete with other venues for visitors’ recreational time.

In the attempt to broaden the offer and attract new audiences, museums’ managers have been trying to develop enjoyable customer experiences through relevant marketing strategies (Rentschler & Hede, 2009), “embracing the design of experiences for their visitors; that is, holistic, meaningful, personally encountered events or stories emerging from the dialogue of a person with her or his world through action” (Roussou & Katifori, 2018, p. 2). This mesh of psychological, social, and physiological qualities requires a particular emphasis on emotions. Visitors should feel at ease and not frustrated, anxious, or disoriented during their museum visit (Goulding, 2000) by the creation of mindful activities, involvement and engagement, inner reflection and imagination, and variation of stimuli. Successful institutions challenge themselves with innovative approaches to enhance the visitor experience. For these approaches, based on experiential marketing (Schmitt, 1999) and experiential platform (Addis, 2005), increasing attention is paid to the role of digital technologies (Marty, 2008; De Blas, Bourgeon-Renault & Jarrier, 2015; Roussou & Katifori, 2018). These have been considered an effective tool to add value to the cultural experience and to stimulate curiosity in museum visitors too (Collin-Lachaud & Passebois, 2008; Roussou & Katifori, 2018). Thus, digital technologies become facilitators of the visitors’ immersion in the artistic contexts (Bowen et al., 2019).

In recent years, some interest has been paid to the immersive exhibitions created thanks to digital technologies that allow the creation of an environment designed to encourage consumers’ immersion, making them live a unique and engaging experience (Karayilanoglu, 2019). The commercial success of several of these digital immersive exhibitions makes it interesting to further investigate and understand the experience lived by consumers in such contexts: described as a way of presenting physical artifacts in a digital way (Dumitrescu, Lepadatu & Ciurea, 2014).

To this end, the aim of this chapter is to analyze the relevance of immersion in the artistic and cultural contexts with a specific focus on visitors’ experience in the immersive exhibitions, mediated by digital technologies.

The first part of the chapter presents some conceptual issues related to the literature on postmodern consumption experiences, focusing on the concept of immersion as a way for consumers to escape their ordinary life routines. The chapter then focuses on the digital technology-driven immersive exhibitions by the integration of digital tools/media and physical artifacts, connected or disconnected to the original site, describing how various exhibitions can enhance the visitor experience and immersion. This classification introduces the subsequent study of the Modigliani Art Experience exhibition. The second part of the chapter presents an exploratory study using an introspection-based research methodology conducted on the Modigliani Art Experience exhibition held at the MUDEC Museum in Milan with the aim of understanding the consumer experience by the characteristics of the immersion process. The final part of the chapter is dedicated to an initial reflection on the impact of these experiential settings on visitor experience and on how arts managers can navigate the emerging era of digital in the museum setting.

Consumption experience, immersion, and escape

In today’s society, the consumption experience has become increasingly important as a consequence of the transformation of the role of consumption inpostmodern society (Firat 8c Dholakia, 1998; Maclaran, 2009). Throughout the 21st century, several art museums have changed their main objective according to technological developments, socio-cultural changes, and expanded in line with contemporary social needs, which has led them to define new scopes and goals. The primary goal is to be inclusive of all segments of society (Karayilanoglu, 2019).

Such visitors don’t employ a utilitarian approach and seek a functional dimension in their purchase, but rather a holistic dimension (O’Connor 8c Wynne, 2017). They are more interested in experiences where to immerse themselves: “Life is to be produced and created, in effect, constructed through multiple experiences in which the consumer immerses” (Firat 8c Dholakia, 1998, p. 96). It is widely acknowledged that today’s consumers seek immersion in a variety of experiences ranging from a hyper-real (Goulding, Shankar 8c Elliott, 2002) to a brand-related environment (Roussou 8c Katifori, 2018).

Consumers strive to escape their everyday lives by immersing themselves in experiential contexts with specific boundaries, since this allows them to break with (and step outside of) their daily lives, bringing them into a separate alternative world (Firat 8c Dholakia, 1998; Silva, Duarte, Machado 8c Martins, 2019) where all the usual worries and hardships they face disappear.

While Holbrook and Hirschman’s (1982) seminal work shows that consumers look for sensory-emotional arousal and escape from reality, other studies show that consumers constantly pursue forms of escapism from everyday life through shopping (Babin, Darden 8c Griffin, 1994) or extraordinary experiences (Canniford 8c Shankar, 2013). Individuals want to escape routine. Consumer research has shown that individuals who live in unsatisfactory or frustrating situations try to change the status quo to enhance (De Groot, 1998; Budge 8c Burness, 2018) or escape their reality through consumption (Budge 8c Burness, 2018).

The need to escape may refer not only to the market and family, as historically considered, but also to work life as a specific area from which individuals want to escape (Scott, Cayla 8c Cova, 2017). Many jobs put pressure on individuals, limiting their creativity and resembling factory assembly lines (Crawford, 2009). Organizational life has become a rigid structure that puts pressure on individuals (Cederstrom 8c Fleming, 2012) who are seeking flexibility and detachment (Bardhi 8c Eckhardt, 2017).

Consumer immersion in experiential contexts allows them to step outside their daily lives in a defined space where they do not need to pay attention to threats to safety (Caru 8c Cova, 2006), can experience multiple identities (Budge 8c Burness, 2018) and develop an alternative self (Belk 8c Costa, 1998). Therefore, the consumers’ final aim is not to experience a specific, defined mode, but to find their way through different ones.

The debate on escapism has also addressed the role of technology: from traditional television, that has represented the ultimate form of escapism since the 1960s (Kubey, 1986) to virtual experiences. Some authors have focused on the risks of addiction to virtual experiences in youth (e.g. Blinka & Smahel, 2011), while others (e.g. Calleja, 2010) attempt to understand the impact of virtual experiences and escapism in consumers’ lives. Given the pervasive role of technology and digital transformation in our daily lives, researchers identify digital virtual consumption as compulsive (Kozinets, 2008) and self-gratifying (Denegri-Knott & Molesworth, 2010). Digital consumption is a typical context for liquid consumption (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2017) where consumers’ selves can be extended, moving easily among multiple identities (Belk, 2014).