Fee or free?
Ingeborg Been
Krista Visscher
René Goudriaan
Introduction
Dutch policymakers in the cultural sector face a problem. Attendance to
museums is not rising anymore despite the growth of the population and
the number of museums. The average visitor is getting older. New visitors
are
difficult
to
attract.
Only
attendance
to
special
exhibitions
(‘blockbusters’) has increased, often at the expense of regular attendance
to the permanent collections.
The Dutch government strives for museums to reach a bigger part of the
population. Question is what the Dutch policymakers should use as a
remedy. Would free admission solve the problem?
Answering this question, policymakers get confused by the fact that the
literature reports two conflicting effects of free admission on the number
of visits. Economic studies tell us that individual preferences are much
more influential than entrance fees. Other studies and newspaper-articles
tell us the opposite. As a result of introducing free admission to the
national museums in the UK in 2001, the number of visits increased
sharply. Similar results were obtained when the French museums started
with a free Sunday once a month. In this paper we discuss possible
explanations for these contradictory effects.
In order to find an answer we take our cases from the two countries
mentioned above: the United Kingdom and France. National policy varies
in both countries. We use two case studies on how the number and
composition of visitors changed after introduction of distinct forms of free
admission. The cases are: the Victoria & Albert museum in London and the
Louvre in Paris.
First we give a brief introduction of the basic micro-economic theory, as it
frames the relation between price and demand. We then discuss some
results on the empirical relationship between price and museum visits
found in the research literature. We then move on to our two cases, and
conclude on the potential effect of free admission.
Theory
Micro economic theory can be used to describe the choice behaviour of an
individual contemplating a museum visit. From an economic point of view
the visitor is a consumer with given preferences who has enough
information to choose a set of products that maximises his utility at given
prices and disposable income.
In addition to the entrance fee the prices of complementary goods and the
prices of substitutes also determine the demand for museum visits. The
total
price
of
a
museum
visit
consists
for
a
large
part
of
the
complementary travel and catering costs. Visitors who have to make a
long journey to visit a museum, like foreign tourists, are insensitive to
changes in the relatively small entrance fee. Furthermore, the prices of
substitutes matter. The character of the museum is important for the
intensity of this substitution effect. A museum with a recreational
orientation competes with other recreational sites like amusement parks.
Therefore visitors of recreational museums may be more sensitive to
prices of substitutes than visitors of art museums. The demand for
museum visits also depends on the disposable income of the visitor. But a
higher income often implies more schooling and a stronger taste for
culture. These determinants are difficult to separate.
Besides financial determinants, a consumer’s choice is influenced by
preferences. Higher entrance fees do not deter consumers with a strong
interest in culture. Likewise people who never visit museums will not be
tempted to even if admission is free, simply because they are not
interested. Research shows that habits are very important for museum
visit behaviour. Education, cultural experiences at an early age and
socialisation, are important factors in developing a taste for culture. The
effects of admission fees may be relatively low in the short run. In the
longer run, however, socio-economic determinants could have an influence
on cultural preferences.
Literature
Although the effect of entrance fees on the number of museum visits is a
popular topic, there is not much empirical research on this subject.
Certainly research on the effect of introducing free admission is rare. The
effects of price increases have been studied more often. In general these
2
studies demonstrate that price increases tend to reduce the number of
visits by 30-40 percent. On the other hand the introduction of free
admission tends to increase visits by about 30-40 percent.
A problem with this kind of research is the quality of the data. In free
museums visitor counting is often done by hand. These counts are of
dubious accuracy (Bailey et al., 1997). Monitoring these counts with
cameras observed overrating of 20 percent or more. Charging museums
naturally use a more accurate kind of counting because they only have to
count the number of tickets sold. These differences in accuracy make it
difficult to compare the number of visits before and after the introduction
or abolishment of entrance fees.
In a few studies the price elasticity of museums visits has been estimated
(see table 1). Goudriaan (1984 & 1990) found an average price elasticity
of –0.1 to -0.2 for Dutch museums. British and American research yielded
an elasticity of –0.25 (Luksetich et al. 1996). The price elasticity of the
Beamish Open Air Museum is even higher: -0.55 (Darnell et al. 1990). This
higher elasticity is probably due to the recreational character of the
Beamish museum. Analysing the introduction of entrance fees at four
museums in Rotterdam Goudriaan (1985) observed the biggest drop in the
number of visits at the museum "de Buffel" - a recreational one.
Recreational museums are subject to more competition from other leisure
possibilities and have a more price sensitive public.
A main reason for the limited price elasticity of visiting museums is the
small share of entrance fees in the total costs of a visit: about 17 percent
(Bailey et al., 1997). The other 83 percent consist of travelling expenses,
food, drinks and in some cases even accommodation costs. The weight of
these costs increases along with the distance to the museum. Therefore
foreign tourists are hardly influenced by the level of the entrance fee. The
research of Johnson (2000) confirms this thesis. The big national
museums with an international public do not experience a significant effect
on the number of visits from charging or not. The smaller local museums
with generally a more regional based public do. Travelling expenses and so
on do not matter in these cases.
3
Table 1:
Literature overview: Price increases
Research
Museums
AEA consulting (1997)
British local and national museum
-
Bailey et al. (1997)
Museums in all Area Museum Council
districts in the UK (charging as well as
non-charging)b
0
Darnell et al. (1990)
Beamish Open Air Museum, North of
England (1971-1988)
-
Darnell et al. (1998)
Bowes Museum, North East of England
(1974-1994)
-
Goudriaan (1984 & 1990)
10 Dutch national museums
-
Goudriaan (1985)
4 local authority museums in Rotterdam b
-
Institut für Museumskunde
(1996)
Questionnaire paying visitors from 15
German museums
-
Johnson (2000)
Museums from the BTA/ETB database b

Local Authority Museums

Government Museums
O’Hagan (1998)
Long Room in Trinity College Dublin: Book
of Kellsb
+
Luksetich et al. (1996)
United states
-
a
b
- = decrease; 0 = no effect;
Introduction of entrance fees
Visits a
Price
elasticity
-0.55
-0.1/-0.2
0
-0.25
+ = increase
Source: APE
As it turns out, economic studies mainly deal with small price increases. So
the analyses are limited to that part of the demand curve where visitors
get more and more insensitive to price changes. Introducing free
admission, however, is of another magnitude. Furthermore, by focusing on
marginal price increases literature describes the reaction of the existing
museum public. New visitors are hardly represented in these studies. The
existing consumers have revealed a strong preference for museum visits
and are relatively insensitive for price changes.
The results of a population survey performed by Bailey et al. (1997)
demonstrate that museum visiting behaviour does not depend on the
entrance fee. Just 4 percent spontaneously mentioned the entrance fee as
a reason for not visiting a museum. Bailey et al. also interviewed
museums that recently introduced charges. These museums report
decreases as well as increases in the attendance level, although the
number of decreases outweighs the number of increases. The final effect
strongly depends on the specific characteristics and policy of a museum:
the composition of its attendance, whether price reductions for certain
4
groups are offered, its location and the presence of alternatives to spend
leisure time.
The case study of O'Hagan (1998) illustrates the influence of such factors.
After introducing an entrance fee the number of visits to the Long Room in
Trinity College Dublin increased. O'Hagan explains this contradictory result
by pointing at the large share of foreign tourists visiting the Long Room,
the absence of other museums and the improved quality of facilities and
services obtained by using the extra money from entrance fees. These
circumstances had a positive effect outweighing the negative effect of
introducing entrance fees.
AEAconsulting (1997) compared the number of visits before and after the
introduction of entrance fees in some local and national museums in the
UK. In almost all museums the number of visits decreased by 30 to 40
percent. This effect was even somewhat stronger in the local museums.
The number of visits did not recover after a while. The Imperial War
Museum was the only one whose attendance increased. But it was a
special case. Before it introduced entrance fees this museum was under
construction which had a negative impact on the number of visits. The reopening and introduction of charges coincided. The reconstruction and the
extra publicity the re-opening produced made it difficult to isolate the
effect of introducing an entrance fee. A more general problem that affects
these assessments is the previously mentioned issue of counting visits in
non-charging museums.
Only a few studies analyse the effect of free admission on the number of
visits. In general, free admission has a positive effect on the number of
visits (see table 2). Comparing the number of visits before and after the
introduction of free admission in 10 small British museums, AEAconsulting
(1997) found that the level of attendance rose in all 10 museums. The
increases varied from 17 up to 143 percent. The case study of Steiner
(1997) confirms that free admission has a positive effect. The number of
visits in one of the biggest museums in the United States appeared to be
two times as high on the weekly free Tuesday as on regular weekdays. Of
course this effect should be balanced against the drop in visits on other
days. The size of this substitution effect is not clear.
5
Table 2:
Literature overview: Free admission
Research
Museums
AEA consulting (1997)
10 small British museums
Steiner (1997)
One of the biggest museums in the US
a
b
- = decrease;
A free day
0 = no effect;
Visits a
+
b
+
+ = increase
Source: APE
Free admission probably leads to more frequent visits from the existing
public. This consists largely of higher educated people with higher
incomes. The introduction of free admission however could attract new
audience as well. Removing financial barriers may boost the accessibility of
museums and potentially has a positive effect on the attendance of the
lower incomes. Free admission, therefore, could change the composition of
the attendance. A few studies discuss this effect of free admission (see
table 3). It appears that the effect of charging a fee on the composition of
the visitors is negligible.
Comparing the attendance of different socio-economic classes before and
after the introduction of charges Bailey et al. (1997) finds that the
composition does not change. A small proportion of the museums they
investigated reports a smaller number of visits from the lowest socialeconomic class. The subject and nature of the exhibition have a stronger
impact on visits.
Especially the marginal visits decrease when an entrance fee is introduced.
Usually these visits are not culturally motivated. Goudriaan (1985) finds
that a relatively strong decrease of short visits brings about an increase in
the duration of visits. The results of the survey of the German Institut für
Museumskunde (1996) support the positive effect of price increases on the
duration of visits.
6
Table 3:
Literature overview: composition of attendance
Effect on the
compositiona
Researcha
Museums
AEAconsulting (1997)
5 national museums in London
0
Bailey et al. (1997)
Museums in all Area Museum Council
regions in the UK (different types and
charging as well as non-charging)
0
Creigh-Tyte & Selwood (1998)
Several British museums
0
Ganzeboom & Haanstra (1989)
142 Dutch museumsb
0
Goudriaan (1985)
4 local authority museums in Rotterdamb
0
Institut für Museumskunde
(1996)
Visitors survey in 15 German museumsb
0
O’Hagan (1998)
Museum of London
-
a
b
- = decrease; 0 = no effect;
On price increases.
+ = increase;
Source: APE
The influence of price increases on the attendance of visitors with a low
social-economic status is limited. The Museum of London even reports a
better representation of lower socio-economic groups after introducing
entrance fees (O'Hagan, 1998). The results of the research by Goudriaan
(1985), Creigh-Tyte and Selwood (1998) and Ganzeboom and Haanstra
(1989) support this. The segment of low incomes increased in four
Rotterdam museums after the introduction of charges. Creigh-Tyte and
Selwood compare the composition of the attendance in charging and noncharging
museums.
Lower
socio-economic
groups
are
not
better
represented in non-charging museums. Ganzeboom and Haanstra also do
not find a significant effect of the entrance fee on the attendance's
composition.
Goudriaan (1985) studied the effect of introducing an entrance fee on the
composition of attendance in four Rotterdam museums. He defined
fourteen visitor characteristics of which only six were significantly affected
by the fee. Charging a fee increases the duration of visits, the share of
visitors with a year-ticket, the travel distance and the average size of
group visits. Interestingly, the share of low-income groups decreased less
than that of higher incomes. Apparently, low-income persons with a taste
for culture are less price-sensitive. Other characteristics like age, level of
education, first visits and frequency did not change significantly.
7
Case studies
In contrast to the results of the empirical analysis stated in the literature,
several newspaper-articles reported large increases in the level of
attendance after introducing free admission in the United Kingdom. France
claims to have a very successful free admission policy as well. On basis of
the results of an experiment in the Louvre the French government decided
to introduce free admission in all national museums. Two case studies
illustrate these successes of free admission: the Louvre in Paris and the
Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London. Both museums have an
international orientation, do thorough visitor research and have several
years of experience with different forms of admission policy. The
experiment in the Louvre with a free Sunday once a month is extensively
monitored since it started in 1996. The V&A was free of charge from its
opening in 1857 up until 1986. Subsequently, the museum experimented
with a voluntary entrance fee, followed by a mandatory one. Now the
museum is non-charging again. These consecutive changes in admission
policy make the V&A an interesting case.
The Louvre - France
The Louvre is an international top museum located in the centre of Paris.
The world famous collection consists of various forms of historical art. The
museum receives about 6 million visits a year. Foreign tourists take
account of two thirds of the visits.
In 1996 the Louvre started an experiment with a free Sunday once a
month. This frequency was a deliberate choice:
1. A frequency of once a month reduces substitution between regular
days and days free of charge. Visitors who are willing to pay will be
less inclined to choose the free day for their visit because it could be
more crowded.
2. A monthly free admission day gives it the character of a special event.
A weekly free day is more ordinary. Free admission at weekly intervals
makes it easier to postpone the visit till the next week.
3. A monthly recurrence is sufficient to get accustomed to visiting
museums and the new audience could develop a habit. Once a year
would not have this effect.
4. A monthly recurrence affects the financial independence of the
museum less.
The Louvre and the French government consider the experiment a great
success. As a result, the French government introduced a free Sunday
8
once a month in all national museums. The French tradition of equality of
all its citizens is the basis of the political acceptance of the monthly free
Sunday. Each citizen should have access to the French cultural heritage
without
financial
barriers.
A
monthly
free
Sunday
is
a
relatively
inexpensive way to make this possible.
The Louvre reports a 60 percent higher attendance level at free Sundays
as compared to regular Sundays. Especially the attendance of French
residents is higher (130 percent more France residents). Foreigners pay 20
percent more visits on a free Sunday. Part of this growth is due to a
(internal) substitution between free and regular days. The free day
attracts people who would normally pay. This is almost 25 percent of the
visits on free Sundays. But it also works the other way around. Some
people avoid the crowded free days and choose a regular day for their
visit. Visitor research of the Louvre establishes that this substitution effect
is about 12 percent.
Taking account of substitution effects the overall effect is smaller than the
direct effect. On free Sundays the attendance level is about 60% higher as
compared to regular Sundays. So the index is 160. To correct for those
that would have gone anyway we multiply the index by 0,75 (1-0,25). This
leads to a net increase of 20 percent. This increase in the attendance level
takes place only twelve times a year. On an annual basis the effect of free
entrance
is
therefore
rather
small.
In
this
calculation
we
ignore
substitution between charging and non-charging museums. Part of the
extra visits on the free Sunday of the Louvre is from other museums that
charge a fee. However, it is not clear how strong this external substitution
effect is.
Beside this volume effect the French observe a change in the composition
of the public on free Sundays. On a free day 25% of the French visitors
are between age 15 and 25. On a charged day this is 18%. Families with
small children are better represented as well. The attendance of the lower
socio-economic groups, however, only increases proportionally. This is not
surprising
because
lower
income
groups
were
already
entitled
to
reductions.
The extra visits on free Sundays do not yield extra revenues for the
Louvre. Spending per capita is lower compared to regular Sundays, but
this is compensated by the increase in visits. Moreover the margin on the
products sold on a free Sunday is better. Financially the Louvre plays
even. The French government compensates the lost revenues, with the
entrance fee revenues on a regular Sunday as a basis.
9
The Victoria & Albert Museum - United Kingdom
The Victoria & Albert is one of the larger national museums in London. The
collection consists of various British, European, Asian and Islamic artobjects. The museum has 1.5 million visitors per year. Almost 40 percent
of the visitors are foreign tourists.
The V&A has a long history of free admission. Since its opening the
museum was free accessible. In the Mid Eighties financial difficulties, as a
consequence of changed governmental policy, forced the museum to
introduce a voluntary entrance fee. This had a tremendous adverse effect
on the number of visits. The voluntary fees confused the public and
thereby probably caused the sharp decrease in visitors. Thereupon the
level of attendance slightly recovered. In 1996 the V&A introduced a
mandatory entrance fee. The level of attendance declined again.
The museum claims that the introduction of charges had no effect on the
composition of the visitors. Both ethnic minorities and the lower social
groups are under-represented among the visitors of the Victoria and Albert
Museum. A great part of its attendance consists of foreign tourists.
In 1997 the British Labour government decided to introduce free
admission. The British find that residents already pay for their national
museums by paying taxes. Being part owner they have the right to visit
their museums free of charge. Because of financial reasons free admission
was introduced in three phases. Charges for children up to the age of 16
were abolished in April 1999, followed a year later by charges for senior
citizens (over 60). The V&A never charged children under 17.
The V&A observed no substantial effect of free admission for seniors on
the attendance level. From the first of December 2001 the United Kingdom
abolished admission charges in all national museums. Shortly thereafter
the museums reported visitor numbers twice as high as the same period
the year before. The attendance level of the V&A was even four times as
high. The introduction of free admission coincided with the opening of a
new department in the V&A, 'The British Galleries'. It is, therefore, difficult
to tell what the main cause of the increase is. Furthermore it is too soon to
determine the effect of free admission in the long run and also to conclude
anything on the composition of the attendance.
Because the V&A introduced permanent free admission – in conformity
with national policy – there is no substitution between free days and days
with a charge. Therefore the net effect should equal the gross effect.
However visits may shift from charging to non-charging museums,
10
because only the national museums abolished entrance fees. There is no
information available to determine the strength of the substitution
between charging and non-charging museums.
In the following overview we summarise the strong and weak aspects of
both cases. For example, the frequency of free admission in the Louvre is
a strong aspect because it remains a visitor attracting monthly event. At
the same time it provides an opportunity to get acquainted with museums.
Table 4
a
Case overviewa
Louvre
Victoria & Albert
Frequency free admission
++
-
Media exposure (happening effect)
++
-
Substitution (internally)
-
+
Substitution (externally)
0
--
New audience
+
0
Expenses for the museum
0
--
Long run effect
+
0
+ strong aspect; 0 neutral; - weak aspect
Conclusions: apparent contrast
So far the results of the case studies seem to be in contrast with the
empirical findings in literature. The survey of literature concludes that free
admission has a modest effect on the level and the composition of
attendance. The price elasticity of museum visits is low: about –0.2. The
case studies seem to show the opposite: free admission causes strong
increases in the level of attendance and slight changes in the composition.
Museum attendance increased by about 60% at the Louvre and even
400% at the V&A.
The apparent contradiction between the empirical findings in literature and
the present case studies may be explained by the following observations:

First, most of the literature focuses on small percentage changes in
admission fees. Introducing free admission however is of another
magnitude. Results on the effect of increases in admission fees can not
be compared one to one with the effect of abolishing of admission. In
addition, we know that point elasticity may not be constant along the
demand curve. Apparently research has focussed on a limited part of
the curve.
11

Second, literature mainly describes the reaction of the existing
museum audience. Roughly, the population can be split into three
groups: The first group are those with a strong preference for museum
attendance who are price insensitive. The second has a taste for
culture but is price sensitive as well, owing to their budget constraint.
The third group is not interested in museums and is, therefore,
insensitive to prices. A large part of the literature focuses on the first
two groups by studying the effect of an increase of the admission price
on the number of visits. The effect on new visitors is ignored in these
studies. As they are mainly concerned with existing museum visitors
these studies find a small price elasticity. Only a few publications
discuss a decrease in admission fees (introduction of free admission),
compared with at least ten publications on price increases.

A third explanation is that the entrance fee is just a part of the whole
admission policy of a museum. In addition to the admission fee other
factors such as marketing, communication and the educational content
of an exhibition play an important role. For example the educational
content can make a museum visit more interesting and therefore more
worthwhile. Maybe of more importance in relation to the economic
theory is marketing and communication. Economic theory assumes full
and perfect information. When potential visitors are not aware of a
price change, a change in their behaviour can not be expected.
Whether or not the public will be informed depends on the magnitude
of the change in admission fee. The marketing effort or mediaexposure of a marginal price in- or decreases is small. On the other
hand, it can be expected that a museum will communicate an
abolishment of the entrance fee extensively.

Fourth, the frequency of free admission is important. The Louvre has
chosen a frequency of once a month in contrast to the British
government that has introduced permanent free admission. The French
policy has the character of a recurrent event generating publicity each
time. The overall trend is that special events attract a large audience.
See for example the positive trend with special exhibitions or so-called
blockbusters. In addition to publicity, the event character of occasional
free admission days reduces the possibility to easily postpone a visit,
because the next possibility is only after some time. Introducing
permanent free admission in the UK has generated a lot of publicity but
its long run effects are yet unknown. The current results should be
judged with due care.

Last, the nature of the museum is relevant. Only top museums with a
large national or international exposure have enough publicity power to
introduce free admission on their own. Attempts by local museums, or
even groups of local museums, have not enough impact to become a
success. Moreover, top museums have more financial possibilities for
12
publicity-campaigns.
This
makes
it
easier
to
communicate
the
introduction of free admission.
Taking all this into consideration free admission to museums could be a
partial solution for the problem Dutch policymakers in the cultural sector
face. It appears that the French model combines best with the Dutch
status quo. Monthly free admission gives people the opportunity to visit a
museum for free on a regular basis. It gives them the opportunity to get
used to visiting museums. At the same time attendance remains high at
this frequency. However, free admission is not a solution for all problems:
it will enlarge the audience, but it will not bring every citizen to the
museum, at least not the ones without cultural preferences. The costs, on
the other hand, are more acceptable compared with permanent free
admission. The costs of once a month means that museum remains its
financial independence, while the costs for the government are acceptable.
Free admission once a month has a positive effect on attendance at
relatively low costs.
13
Literature
AEA
Consulting,
1997,
The
impact
of
charging
on
visitor
profile,
Unpublished study commissioned by the British Museum.
Bailey, S.J. et al,. 1998, To charge or not to charge? Full report. A study of
museum admission policies commissioned by the MGC and undertaken
by
Glasgow
Caledonian
University.
London:
Museum
&
Gallerie
Commission.
Creigh-Tyte, S., and S. Selwood, 1998, Number of museums, their funding
and access, Journal of Cultural Economics, 22 (2-3), p. 151-165.
Darnell, A., P. Johnson and B. Thomas, 1990, Beamish Museum –
modelling
visitor
flows,
Museum
Management,
september
1990,
p. 251-257.
Darnell, A.C., P.S. Johnson and R.B. Thomas, 1998, The demand for local
authority museums: management issues and hard evidence, Local
Government Studies, 24 (4), p. 77-94.
Fourteau, C., 2001, La gratuite au bois dormant, Paris: Musée du Louvre.
Ganzeboom, H.B.G., and F. Haanstra, 1989, Museum en publiek, Rijswijk:
Ministerie van Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en Cultuur.
Goudriaan, R., 1984, De prijselasticiteit van het museumbezoek, in:
Rapport van de werkgroep privatiseringsonderzoek podiumkunsten en
rijksmusea, Rijswijk: Ministerie van Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en Cultuur.
Goudriaan, R., 1985, Musea, een prijs waard?, Rijswijk: Sociaal en
Cultureel Planbureau.
Goudriaan, R., 1990, Kunst en consumentengunst, Boekmancahier, 2 (5),
p. 245-262.
Goudriaan, R., I. Been and C.M. Visscher, 2002, Musea en plein publique,
Den Haag: APE bv.
IFM, 1996, Heft 46: Eintrittspreise von Museen und Ausgabeverhalten von
Museumsbesuchern, Berlin: Institut für Museumskunde.
Johnson, P., 2000, The size-age-growth relationship in not-for-profit
tourist attractions: evidence from UK museums, Tourism Economics:
the business and finance of tourism and recreation, 6 (3), p. 221-232.
Luksetich, W.A., and M.D. Partridge, 1997, Demand functions for museum
services, Applied Economics, 29 (12), p. 1553-1559.
Octobre, S., 2000, Evaluation mesures tarifaires musées, Parijs: Ministère
de la Culture et de Communication.
14
O’Hagan, J., 1998, The state and the arts: An analysis of key economic
policy issues in Europe and the United States, Cheltenham: Edward
Elgar Publishing.
Steiner, F., 1997, Optimal pricing of museum admission, Journal of
Cultural Economics, 21 (4), p. 307-333.
15