Demographic and Behavioral Patterns of Visitors to the USAF Museum

摘要

The United States Air Force Museum, located at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, provides an overview of the Air Force's aviation history, free to the public. In 1996, the Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial support for the display of the aviation memorabilia, attempted to determine the demographic representation of the Foundation membership. In their analysis the Foundation found that the membership represented only a small portion of the actual population that visited the Museum annually. In 1997, a second survey was accomplished to establish a cursory demographic breakout and answer a variety of questions from the visitors at the Museum. Resulting from this study was a series of issues that invited further investigation. As a follow-on study, this thesis developed a group survey to collect the necessary information to establish an in-depth assessment of the motivation and behavior patterns of the full range of museum visitors in order to determine factors that influence the individuals' visitations. Survey results indicated the typical visitor is a Caucasian male with military experience and some college education. Over 70 percent of the typical visiting groups include out of town guests. In addition, the visit is most often planned within one day of the trip and suggested by an adult male. The typical visitor learned about the Air Force Museum through verbal sources.