Beyond Discounts: A Survey Experiment on Social Proof, Gamification, and Young Adults’ Museum-Visit Intention

In recent decades, museums increasingly seek to remain relevant to younger audiences and address barriers to cultural participation. They have progressively evolved from institutions primarily focused on the preservation of cultural heritage into spaces of exchange and community engagement. This transformation has increased the importance of cultural participation and more importantly understanding audiences in terms of needs and expectations. This dissertation examines whether adding a descriptive social-norm message and an advertised gamified museum challenge to a discounted admission offer increases young adults’ stated likelihood of participating in a museum visit. An online 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial survey randomly assigned 119 respondents aged 18–26 to four conditions combining the presence or absence of social proof and gamification; participation likelihood was the primary outcome. The analysis found no statistically significant main effect of either intervention and no interaction, and these conclusions remained unchanged across robustness and sensitivity checks. Secondary and diagnostic outcomes likewise showed no statistically significant effects. Descriptively, activity attractiveness was higher in conditions containing gamification, and word-of-mouth intention was highest in the gamification-only condition, but these patterns do not establish causal effects. The sample was relatively culturally engaged, while lack of time, lack of awareness, and price were the most frequently reported barriers. The study contributes by testing behavioural additions to an existing economic incentive and highlights the importance of evaluating specific messages empirically rather than assuming that theoretically plausible interventions will increase participation intentions.