Free museums and heritage cultural sites [CE-2008-1]

The question of free admission has generated numerous debates, highlighting various viewpoints of professionals involved in Culture, effects on the measured volumes of attendance and on the management of museums and monuments. One question has been left aside: that of the reception of free admission measures by the destined audiences. The analysis of the representations of these measures, which are found to be multiple, contradictory and not very congruent with the ideals put forth by the institutions themselves, shows the subtlety of the complex interactions between the tariff amount, the comprehension of a cultural policy, impact on the representations of museums and monuments and frequentation of these venues. This analysis thus points to a renewal of the marketing of free admission offers, in terms of the validation of proposed cultural content as well as through positioning, segmentation and communication of these measures.