PhD Study : Museum Consumption: the influence of identity, culture and nostalgia in the creation of unique customer experiences

Summary

In the 21st Century and in the digital age consumers have focused on the use of technology to aid and co-create consumption. This has encouraged consumers to demand different experiences when consuming services in the ‘bricks and mortar’ environment. Recent emphasis on the high street has been to create leisure activities to increase footfall to town centres and to rejeuventate  empty buildings  and spaces. Within Northern Ireland this has been prevalent within the museum  environment as many themed museums have been developed and are delivering unique experiences to a carefully segmented marketplace. This has facilitated a shift in current thinking regarding the servicescape that museums are currently operating within. There is now more emphasis on institutional museum-audience interaction with studies to date focusing on consumers’ motivations and memories. There is a gap within current academic thinking on museum-audience discourse and the co-construction of memories within the servicescape.

Currently researchers focus on users ‘making sense’ and ‘making meaning’ of their museum encounters, but there is a need to provide a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of how users experience and ‘make sense’ of museums and their servicescape.  This gap in current research mirrors  the ‘outward’ focus museums have taken, shifting from a collection-based orientation to one more focused on engaging audiences (consumers). Within this context the consumer is now considered as central to the meaning making and identity construction.

The aim of this research is to extend the understanding of consumption  with respect to identity, meaning-making and native nostalgia focusing on the museum servicescape in N Ireland. The project will examine the unique customer experience created within this context and investigate these experiences in relation to identity, meaning-making and native nostalgia. This will enable the development of a contextual servicescape that includes these dimensions.

This project will follow a qualitative approach, which will provide a rich understanding of identity, meaning making and nostalgia in the context of the museum servicescape of N Ireland.  Data collection methods will ultilise a multiple case study approach including methods such as interviews, participant observation and focus groups.

Given the nature of this research a multidisciplinary approach will be taken, it will be necessary to make reference and draw knowledge from the political and legal environments in which museums in N. Ireland operate.

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

• Sound understanding of subject area as evidenced by a comprehensive research proposal
• A comprehensive and articulate personal statement

Funding and eligibility

The University offers the following levels of support:

Department for the Economy (DFE)

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

• Candidates with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who also satisfy a three year residency requirement in the UK prior to the start of the course for which a Studentship is held MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance.
• Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals who satisfy three years’ residency in the UK prior to the start of the course MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance (ROI nationals don’t need to have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to qualify).
• Other non-ROI EU applicants are ‘International’ are not eligible for this source of funding.
• Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies. Further information on cost of living