Free entrance comes at a price. An exploration of some perceptions of museums and monuments audiences

M. Le Gall-Ely , C. Urbain , D. Bourgeon , A. Gombault , Christine Petr (1)

1 CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management

This paper considers the theme of audiences' perceptions of free of charge entrances in national
French museums and monuments. It relies partly on the results stemming from a study made at
the request of the Département des Etudes et Prospectives of the French Ministère de la Culture
et de la Communication. The results show that, from an individual perspective, perceptions of
free entrance are linked to perceptions of price, of money and of the act of payment, hence
complementing perceptions expressed by the audiences in a collective perspective, generally put
forward by advocates and opponents of free entrance in their discussions. In an individual
perspective, exemption from payment is perceived as related to fee schemes and price, while, in a
collective perspective, this is a symbolic measure, in other words a policy causing adhesion or
rejection. This different vision of free entrance has managerial implications for the managers of
museums and monuments.

Mots clés: Free entrance; price; museums and monuments; culture

Domaines: Gestion et management

M. Le Gall-Ely, C. Urbain, D. Bourgeon, A. Gombault, Christine Petr. Free entrance comes at a price. An exploration of some perceptions of museums and monuments audiences. 35th European Marketing Academy Conference Proceedings, May 2006, Athènes. ⟨halshs-00094690⟩