The Visitor Rainbow

In this paper, Terry Cheney of T.J. Cheney Research, Inc. defines the spectrum of visitors known as a "visitor rainbow," ranging from visitors who never attend museums to visitors who visit almost daily (volunteers, patrons). Cheney explains why it is important for visitor studies researchers to acknowledge these differences amongst visitors as these groups in the spectrum are clearly different and should be studied and addressed differently. Cheney argues that any study that reports on visitors in a generalized or average form is limited and will likely be misleading.